Hi Readers — especially, today, moms! While you eat your burnt toast and funky eggs in bed (something, by the way, my kids never did for me), here’s news to brighten your day and life, from a Washington Post article: “Five Myths About Missing Children.” It’s by David Finkelhor, who was an extremely helpful and insightful source for me when I wrote my Free-Range Kids book. He’s director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center, where he looks at facts and trends, not myths and fears, abut kids’ safety. Here’s Myth #1- L. Five Myths about Missing Children by…
Author: lskenazy
Readers — Here’s a phenom unbeknownst to me (a mom of boys): the de-adventuring of American Girl dolls. Once marketed as pint-size players in America’s great sweep of history, now they go to the spa. According to Amy Schiller in The Atlantic: With a greater focus on appearance, increasingly mild character development, and innocuous political topics, a former character-building toy has become more like a stylish accessory. What does that look like? Washington Post blogger Alexandra Petri picks up on Schiller’s story and says she remembers her youth spent with dolls fighting slavery and the Great Depression: Contrast what Saige…
Hi Folks! This is a documentary done by Carla Reid and Franny Plumridge, two university students who were raised in the country 16,000 kilometres apart (Carla in Australia, Franny in Canada), but both encouraged by their parents to actively explore and experience their world. Their rural Free-Range upbringing and shared passion for filmmaking inspired them to investigate the important issue of overprotective parenting in a documentary film. ‘Playtime’ explores raising Free-Range kids in this wonderful, seductive, and fast-paced technological world. The film was produced for Documentary Production, Ryerson University 2012: Carla Reid — Director, Cinematographer & Co-Editor Franny Plumridge —…
Readers — Like the rest of you, I am shaken by the story of the three young women held hostage in Cleveland for years. Like you, I’m guessing, this brings up other stories — of Elizabeth Smart, Jaycee Dugard. I hope you will understand I am not dishonoring their trauma by trying to keep it in perspective. A story like this makes many parents re-think any freedom for their kids. That’s because we immediately feel for the prisoners — which is as it should be — but also because it will be used as a reference point whenever at least…
Hi Folks! This lovely and simple idea comes to us from Heike Larson, who is the Vice President of Parent Outreach at LePort Schools, a group of six private Montessori schools in Orange County, CA. She writes about education in general and Montessori in particular on the LePort Schools blog. – L. . IF SUMMER IS FOR PLAYING, HOW CAN WE MAKE THAT HAPPEN? This summer, instead of just enrolling my 6-year-old in camp, I decided to find a way to get her some real Free-Range experiences. I’ve organized for a group of about ten 5- to 7-year-old girls…
Readers –Here’s a sit-up-and-go-yikes oped by Thomas Friedman of the The New York Times. Friedman sort of specializes in these, but this one talks in particular about how we are facing a “401k future.” That is: Unlike the salad days of long-term jobs and pensions, we’re in a new era of morphing and even disappearing jobs, so we are now responsible for constantly re-inventing/marketing ourselves, even as we must secure our own long-term solvency: If you are self-motivated, wow, this world is tailored for you. The boundaries are all gone. But if you’re not self-motivated, this world will be a…
Readers — Here’s a story to make your weekend: A school in Seattle cancelled classes after months of dreary weather so kids could enjoy the sunshine and PLAY. I was going to say maybe other schools will catch on, but heck — maybe other companies will, too! Bosses: Think how energized, creative and GRATEFUL your workers would be after a sudden, sunny day off! Monday’s coming, so THINK FAST! – L Thanks for appreciating the glory of a beautiful day! (signed) The Sun
Readers — Here’s a story from Australia sure to make any parent shudder: YOUNG mother Elizabeth Cardwell thought she was doing the right thing when she strapped her precious eight-week-old baby, wrapped in a blanket, into a hand-me-down car seat. Her daughter, Isabella Rose, was still tucked inside her blanket when her tiny body was found by the road after a horror triple-fatal in December. The State Coroner is now considering safety issues surrounding hand-me-down child restraints. The infant, who weighed only 3kg, died shortly after she was thrown from her baby car seat when the speeding Commodore she…
Folks — Here you go. This is just sort of an hors d’oeuvre (world’s hardest word to spell) for the day: Your daily dose of Zero Tolerance insanity WITH a dash of hope at the end! According to WRAL in North Carolina: PRINCETON, N.C. — The Princeton High School community is rallying around a student who was arrested and expelled for having an unloaded shotgun in his car in the school’s parking lot. David Cole Winthrow, 16, was charged Monday with bringing a weapon on educational property, which is a felony. He was expelled from school and won’t be allowed…
Readers: This is a story about an unpredictable scientific reaction — and an all too predictable school over-reaction. According to the Miami New Times blog: Kiera Wilmot got good grades and had a perfect behavior record. She wasn’t the kind of kid you’d expect to find hauled away in handcuffs and expelled from school, but that’s exactly what happened after an attempt at a science project went horribly wrong. On 7 a.m. on Monday, the 16 year-old mixed some common household chemicals in a small 8 oz water bottle on the grounds of Bartow High School in Bartow, Florida. The…