Prepare to be charmed by this Let Grow video! \
Author: lskenazy
Most of us don’t live on a river. But Amy Lynn Kuhl, the mom writing today’s Let Grow blog post, does and she is all for allowing her nature-loving 6-year-old to go out there and explore. The girl loves building, exploring, gathering shells and sticks. What’s weird is that this idea is, to some, radical. Nonetheless, Kuhl writes that: Within my own family, we are a bit of an anomaly. At her grandparent’s suburban home, she plays outside on her own in the yard—with permission; my siblings don’t allow this for their children, who are 11 and 13 years…
“Thanks to the pandemic, children have been stepping up to the plate—and sink, bike, lawn mower and toilet brush. Sprung from their super-busy, let-me-do-it-for-you-honey lives, they’re becoming the kids they might have been if they’d been born a generation or two earlier, back when parents seemed to expect more of kids independence-wise and less of them achievement-wise.” That’s what I wrote in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, taking a look at how this year’s Mother’s Day is different from last year’s, because this year a whole lot of kids have started doing things on their own. For instance, one mom told…
This flow chart, created by University of Virginia Psychology Professors Jim Coan and Daniel Willingham, is just plain terrific. “Could a child do this alone?” asks the chart. Then let ’em! “Could a child do this with some instruction?” Then let ’em. Etc. etc. Check it out — print it out! — by clicking here. And don’t forget — if you want some ideas for giving your kids more independence, here is our free Let Grow Independence Kit!
These “cards” are really an excuse for kids to interview their moms and shower them with the ultimate gifts: attention to mom’s quirky uniqueness, gratitude, and offers of help! Here you go — click here! (Mother’s Day is SUNDAY!)
Parents, kids: Fear not the silica gel pack. Sure it says DO NOT EAT and THROW AWAY. But you should only follow one of those rules. Instead, save the packs and use them a whole lot of ways: Place them on the car dashboard by the windshield to keep it from fogging up. Phone dropped in puddle? Place it in a sealed plastic bag with silica gel packets. Kid can use (not eat!) them for projects, too. Check out Let Grow’s ideas for both generations by clicking here!
At least for some kids, yes, being flung from the stress of a super-structured, super-supervised existence is having a calming, life-expanding effect. I discuss this amazing phenom in this Big Think article, including six short essays by kids themselves, and also in this interview with Bored Panda, the pop culture site, where I note that kids are suddenly experiencing an explosion of free time: And while some of it is spent in distance learning, most of it is free-form, which means…it’s videogame time! Three hours later, it’s still videogame time! But at some point, even that gets old…
What expression does — did — your mom use all the time? What skill did you learn from her? What does (or did) she encourage you to do? These are great questions for any mom and child, whether the kid is 5 or 50. And if you click here, you can print out a very attractive little form with those questions and some other good ones. My guess is you or your mom will keep it in a drawer for longer than almost anything else (except your cloves. I have my mom’s McCormick tin still pretty full of…
“When I was 17, I was in a serious accident and had to be home for months. Looking out at our boring backyard, I daydreamed a plan for my life. It became a blueprint.” So writes Holly Korbey in a lovely piece at Let Grow. There are different kinds of daydreaming, of course, and some don’t get you to a good place. But literally having the time to daydream opens kids up to a different kind of vision of themselves and the world. It can be transformational, as it was for Holly. Anecdotes AND research bears this out. Click here…
I realize that sounds kinda nuts — why are we asking PARENTS to show us their KIDS being independent? Who, after all, is better at making videos? Mom or little Ava (who’s 5)? But legally we can’t ask anyone under 13 to do anything. So go document your children doing something new on their own, thanks to scads of quarantine time, and enter the short video here — like, literally by clicking here — at the Let Grow Independence Challenge! Deadline is Sunday night, April 26. First prize is $500!