Hi Readers: This one made me worry, then smile, then realize that one part of Free-Range is remembering it’s not just us adults who are the problem-solvers. – L. Dear Free-Range Kids: I can’t tell you how much this blog and its community have meant to me. I have come a long way as a Free-Range parent. This place is a haven of rationality in the turmoil of the current tragedy. After beginning to read this blog, I started to let my kids walk short distances in our neighborhood by themselves. I will continue to do so.…
Author: lskenazy
Hey readers — Just got this note and I found it revelatory! – L. Dear Free-Range Kids: The ability to get very scared of danger that strikes around us has probably been extremely important throughout evolution. I would say that it is a basic instinct. Having media triggering this for issues that have no relevance to our own survival is one of our time’s biggest challenges. It’s not too different from overeating and obesity. We need to see that our bodies and our instincts do not always give us the right information. Lenore here: What a great analogy! Throughout most…
Dear Readers — Like no doubt most of you, I am horrified and dismayed by the disappearance of Jessica Ridgeway and what may be the recovery of her body. My heart is pounding as I read the stories. And of course, I am reading the reactions to the case, too. Here’s one woman’s essay, from the website Chicago Now: When I read that a body has been found in Colorado a few miles from where Jessica Ridgeway went missing, I got a lump in my throat. ….This case hits close to home. My tween is 10 years old, just…
Hi Folks! Just spoke at the Wellesley Mothers Forum — really fun. And now comes this nice note. Hope springs! – L Dear Free-Range Kids: I wanted to share with you my Free-Range moment with my fourth grade students. In Ontario, we’re experiencing some political unrest in our schools due to the legislation of Bill 115, which strips teachers of their right to strike or take job action. As a result, teachers are individually deciding NOT to volunteer with extra-curricular activities, especially ones that take place outside of the school hours. I’m not trying to get into a debate about…
Hi Folks! Just another note from the frontiers of where our worst-first thinking is taking us. Now it’s being built into the infrastructure. — L. Dear Free-Range Kids: This “child predator hysteria” in America today is getting waaaay out of hand. I recently toured the new YMCA we have here in town and I was surprised, or perhaps not surprised, to find out that this state-of-the-art Y had not two, not three, but FIVE dressing rooms. It was equipped with a men’s dressing room, a women’s dressing room, a boys’ dressing room, a girls’ dressing room and a family…
Hi Readers! Here’s part of a letter to the editor in this week’s New Yorker that I found wonderful. It concerns an article from a few weeks back by Malcolm Gladwell — a long, upsetting piece about Jerry Sandusky and some other child molestors. Gladwell detailed the ways some predators appear to be so kind, caring and even goofy that they worm their way into our hearts and homes. We more than trust them with our kids — we love to have them around. The article was disturbing for two reasons. First of all, it’s awful to think how devious…
Hi Folks! As you may or may not know, I give Free-Range Kids talks all over the place. This coming Tuesday, Oct. 9, I will be speaking at the Wellesley Mothers Forum in Wellesley, MA, at 8 p.m. Last week I was in Wyndham, NH, keynoting the New Hampshire Children in Nature Coalition — a great group of teachers, naturalists and government types dedicated to getting kids back outside, connecting with dirt, trees, bugs and everything else that kids have always (until just recently) connected with! Here’s a post-speech note I just got that made my day. – L Lenore,…
Hi Readers! We’ve been talking about over-the-top “security” measures lately (including parents required to have background checks to watch their kids on field day, and parents not allowed to hold the door open at day care for other parents), but I do believe this reader’s Sunday school takes the cake (and several slices of pizza, and a gallon of ice cream, and all the milk). – L. . Dear Free-Range Kids: This past summer Vacation Bible School (VBS) was just plain ridiculous. In order to get my kids dropped off, I had to (in this order): – Walk them into…
Yes, Readers — It’s the day when even hovering parents and litigation-fearing administrators are encouraged to let their kids walk or bike to school! Here are the details as I run off to Windham, New Hampshire, where I will be giving a talk tomorrow at the Children in Nature Conference. It’s all about what happens WHEN we let kids go outside! If you’re up there — hope to see you. (After your kids have walked or biked today!) — L.
Hi Readers! A month or two ago I was interviewed by the website care.com rbnfiinbda about, of all things, my thoughts on “quitting.” Reading the Q&A over, I decided to post part of it here. This is an excerpt from a slightly longer piece over at care.com: What is your personal philosophy on quitting? I think quitting is underrated. While “quitters never win,” neither do kids forced to participate in activities they have very little interest in. Give them some space – and time – and they will probably find something they love and don’t want to quit. Have you…