Hi Readers — I thought this was an interesting comment on the post about doing “everything” for our kids (and taking away the opportunity for them to learn how to do stuff themselves). “NT” is shorthand for “neurotypical” — i.e., a child without neurological difficulties. — L. Dear Free-Range Kids: I see moms like this at my daughter’s school, where the lockers for the special-needs preschool kids are right across from the NT second-graders. While the preschooler’s parents and TAs diligently work with our kids to remind them of how to take off boots, jackets, put mittens in pockets themselves,…
Author: lskenazy
Me too. Traffic is scary. But we do have to teach our kids this crucial skill, and then we have to let them master it in the real world. To remember just how much children are capable of, street-wise, check out this 11-year-old in Libya. — L.
Readers — As you know, Free-Range Kids is about trust, community and common sense. All of which a Virginia middle school student displayed the other day when he held open the door for someone he knew. For this, he was given a day long suspension. The reason? The school had just installed a $10,000 + security system, and his action violated it. Voila: According to an anonymous e-mail sent to The Tidewater News, the “A” student opened the door for a woman he knew, who had her hands full. The e-mail also indicated the student received a one-day, out-of-school suspension.…
Hi Folks! Here’s a question about bathroom break protocol at a Sunday School. Weigh in! — L Dear Free-Range Kids: What got me interested in this movement is a conversation I had at church just over a week ago. I’m my church’s Health and Safety Officer, but we also have a Child Protection Officer who is also Churchwarden. She approached me just before the service and asked my opinion on what age a child should be allowed to go to the toilet unaccompanied. I should explain the toilet is in a room adjoining the church which connects with the…
Hi Readers! Over at another blog I was just reading about a 4-year-old and his kitchen knife skills. They were good for his age, as evidenced by the video, but it’s not like he’s Julia Child. So I’m wondering: What age can we start teaching kids to use knives? And does anyone have any info about the “olden” days? Like — what age did kids used to start whittling? Going a little further back, at what age did kids start using stone tools? And if anyone knows what is going on in other countries, please tell: Do kids in other…
Readers — This krahabyahh story makes The Onion look like The Economist. But, in fact, it is straight from The Telegraph, in jolly old (off-its-rocker) England: Children have been banned from wearing goggles during school swimming lessons for fears they could hurt themselves. Pen-pushers have slapped the ban on the swimming aids amid “fears” a pair could “snap” onto a child’s face too hard, injuring them. I stop here because I am at a loss for anything else to say, except… No, I actually have nothing to say. I suppose rubber bands are next. — Lenore
Hi Readers! This gem of an essay was found on page 4 of a newsletter from the Brookwood Elementary in Leawood, KS. Kudos to the anonymous author! — L. Are You Stealing from Your Children? by Anonymous I watched the other day as a parent came into the building with her (very capable) child. As the child stood idly by, mom carefully put everything in his locker neatly, reminding him that he had his lunch on top there, easily retrievable, and hanging up his coat for him as well. The child, looking bored, leaned up against the lockers as his…
Hi Readers! Here’s a new development on the what-can-we-worry-about-next front. It’s from Kelso, Washington, a town of about 12,000: A proposal by the Kelso School Board aims to create a more professional relationship between teachers and their students. The proposal makes it a fireable offense to show students pornography, harass or touch students inappropriately, or to smoke or drink alcohol with students. Along with those common sense rules, teachers will not be able to talk about their family or personal lives in the classroom. [ITALS MINE] That’s right — lumped right in their with porn and pawing is the offense…
Readers: This “service” piece on NBC Over-Reaction News — sorry, NBC Action News — tells us that because there is a GPS locator embedded in the pix we take on our cell phones, “the bad guys” can NOW SEE where our children live, where they “recreate” (such a police verb — it means play), and where they “go to school.” It can even “locate their bedrooms!” Which means that if you are a predator who could not possibly OTHERWISE ever figure out where there is a park, or a school, or a house with a trike in the front yard,…
Hi Readers! Here’s my piece from today’s Wall Street Journal: PARENTS ARE TAKING THE FUN OUT OF TOYS by Lenore Skenazy Remember when a ball was just a ball? Now it is a tactile stimulating sensory aid that helps develop gross motor skills. Really. Strolling through the international Toy Fair at the Javits Center in New York City last week was like walking through the brightly painted halls of a children’s hospital—at once cheery and sad. Cheery were the shiny bikes and busy ant farms. Sad was the way the marketers made it sound like they were peddling early intervention…