Hi Readers — I’ve got sons, so I have not been privy to what’s happening to Girl Scouts. This letter, in response to the blog post about Iowa Girl Scouts selling four of its rustic camps for being TOO rustic, has me dismayed. – L. Dear Free-Range Kids: I co-led a troop from 1st grade-6th grade. Girl Scout regulations made it so complicated to go even “cabin camping” that we never got into tents. Full-day training to even stay overnight in a cabin and one of us had to be re-certified for CPR every year even though there was a…
Author: lskenazy
Hi Folks! I love this lesson, brought to us by Free-Range teacher Jennifer Tobin of Whitby, ON. (Where I recently gave a talk.) In my ramping-up efforts to get Free-Range projects into the schools, I welcome any more tales from teachers or principals who have used Free-Range in the classroom…or outside it. Thanks! – L. Dear Free-Range Kids: I had wanted to do a Free-Range project with my students for a long time and I was inspired by my 8-year-old son. I am a teacher and I volunteer with Scouts Canada as a Beavers leader. My son recently…
From the Brave New World of Fearing Everything (probably including lawsuits), as sent to us by Judy in Warrington, PA: Dear Free-Range Kids: Today at Wegman’s, I was unable to purchase a King’s Cake (Fat Tuesday tradition) with the lucky baby trinket hidden inside. It seems it is now a choking hazard, even though the tradition is all ABOUT THE TRINKET– everyone KNOWS it’s hidden inside! The whole POINT of the cake is that you want the slice with the baby hidden as you will get luck for the year…but I guess only if you live from…
Hi Readers — Yes, yes, I understand that if no Girl Scouts actually sign up for these rustic camps, there’s little point in preserving them. BUT…I really wish parents would see how wonderful a little nature-absorbing/squirrel-watching/fire-building/A.C.-missing/WiFi-not-connecting/latte-lacking time can be. Here’s the letter the Scout leaders sent out to local parents the other day. — L. Dear Parents: Our founder, Juliette Gordon Low said that ‘the work of today is the history of tomorrow, and we are its makers.’ It is with that charge that I share the recent recommendation of our council board of directors: to sell all four of…
Hi Readers — Fear is a virus. It spreads from country to country, infecting age-old traditions. The latest evidence of this is the fact that more and more parents in the Netherlands are driving their kids to school. The result? Or, rather, results? 1 – More traffic. 2 – Kids less adept at riding their bikes. 3 – More parents driving their kids because of 1 and 2. It’s a vicious cycle. (And what an apt word!) Here’s the story about it. – L. Is it tilting at you-know-whats to hope that Dutch kids go back to riding their bikes…
Dateline: Montreal — and talk about scary: A middle-aged woman was seen offering a 13-year-old girl a lift. But wait! It gets worse. Possibly the SAME woman also recently offered a ride to a 10-year-old. Can you believe it? How brazen! As if she’s just some nice lady and it’s cold outside! She didn’t drag the kids into the car or insist they get in, but still — isn’t it pretty obvious she’s a pedophile on the loose, or part of the white slave trade? Why ELSE would any adult ever be nice to a child? I wish I could…
Hi Readers! This came in response to the post about a mom who unexpectedly left her 3-year-old alone at a table at Taco Bell for two minutes and got screamed at by the woman at the next table for “endangering” the child. “Please tell me I didn’t do something crazy,” wrote the mom. Most of us reassured her we all have moments of imperfection, and besides — the child was never actually in any danger! But then there was this note: Dear Free-Range Kids: I hear and empathize with the idea of, “Don’t you dare judge me!” We had our…
Hi Readers — Here’s the latest from our friends down under, where the national pastime seems to have switched from throwing shrimp on the barbie to throwing common sense on there and gleefully watching it go up in flames. (Don’t touch! Barbecue glowing red may be HOT.) – L. KIDS will be banned from blowing out candles on communal birthday cakes, under strict new hygiene rules for childcare. But doctors warn the latest National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines go too far in “bubble-wrapping” children…. And daycare staff will now have to wash toys, doorknobs, floors and cushion…
Hi Folks! My friend Ellen just sent me this wonderful story from the Christian Science Monitor by Lisa Suhay about the intrepid Mary Leakey and her kids. It begins: Today’s helicopter parents might want to explore the parenting techniques of famed paleoanthropologist Mary Leakey, whose birth 100 years ago is celebrated today. Instead of hovering over or reigning-in her three sons, Ms. Leakey handed them responsibilities early in life and brought them out on dig sites from infancy. “Mother gave us every freedom to learn by experience as early as I can remember,” says her youngest son, Philip, 64, who…
Hi Readers — Can you EVER leave your child unattended for a few minutes in a public place? That’s today’s big question. – L. Dear Free-Range Kids: Last night I took my 5-year-old son and almost 3-year-old daughter to Taco Bell. High class, I know. The restaurant was pretty busy, about five full tables at any one time. My son needed to use the restroom and upon hearing this my daughter decided she needed to go, too. My son went to the men’s room, which has no stalls, just a toilet and a locking door. I took my daughter to…