Hi Readers! Here’s an interesting little note that just came in from Jennifer in Canada, the gal behind the blog highlyirritable: Good morning, Free-Range Kids! This article appeared in the local paper, The Milton Canadian Champion, and I found it and I found it both fascinating and scary. (Note: I have removed the school name and identifying street names, because, well, YOU KNOW…) Shortly before 7:30 a. m., an 11-year-old boy left for XXXX School. When he reached XXXX Avenue and XXXX Drive, he noticed a man walking behind him and became suspicious. The man continued following the boy…
Author: lskenazy
Hi Readers — What’s the story today? Simply this: After four years of gathering every week at the local library for a morning of coffee, tea and friendship, a group of retirees is being chased out. Why? A nursery school started bringing its kids there at the same time and the old folks COULD SPILL THEIR HOT DRINKS ON THEM. Here you go, from The Daily Mail: Council officials have now axed the meetings claiming that toddlers from a nearby nursery who use the library at the same time could be injured if hot coffee spilt on them….…
Hi Readers! This wisdom for pre-school parents comes to us from Jen Singer, who is NOT just a personal friend, NOT just the blogger behind mommasaid.net, NOT just the gal who penned, You’re A Good Mom (and Your Kids Aren’t So Bad Either), but is ALSO the author of the brand-new Stop Second Guessing Yourself –The Preschool Years. That book inspired this post: FLASHCARDS vs FUN by Jen Singer Wait a minute: Are those flashcards in that mom’s hands? At a baseball game? Yes. Yes, they are. She’s holding them up to test her preschooler on her letters and…
Dear Readers — Sometimes, one person standing up for sanity can make a difference. Here’s a cool lady: Before retirement, I was a volunteer coordinator. My job was to find volunteers for all non-profit and government agencies in the county. We had a PenPal program which entailed matching about 35 senior citizens with an equal number of 5th grade students in a specific class. We worked with the same teacher for years. Letter-writing was one of the skills children were to learn, and our only personal contact was a school party at the end of the year, where the kids…
Hi Folks — This just in from a town outside of Georgia. (That’s the American Georgia, for all our international readers!) A “Webelo Scout” is a youngster on the cusp between Cub and Boy Scout. My son is Webelo scout and earned his whittling chit last year. This year I volunteered at the district day camp and led the Bear den. When it came time for the boys to earn their whittling chit, the instructor showed them all the proper ways to handle the knife and then — he handed them each a potato peeler! It was pathetic. So…
Hi Readers! Here’s a little note I got that I thought you might like, too. Dear Free-Range Kids: As the pseudo-aunt of a 2.5 year old nephew and 4 day (yes, DAY!) old niece, and as someone who wants children of her own, it is so refreshing to hear your point of view. My sister and I have arguments about her toddler’s safety : Do we REALLY need to religiously apply sunblock on him for the twenty minutes he’s going to spend in the sun on the deck? Do we really have to use bug repellent on the off chance…
Hi Readers — Here’s a round-up of Providence, Rhode Island-area schools that are making their parent volunteers get background checks, sent in by a gal named Rema. I know a lot of folks will say, “This makes sense! Can’t hurt — can only help!” but let’s consider whether that’s true. *First of all, if there are any studies that show kids are getting molested right and left by parents who volunteer at recess duty or on field trips, I haven’t seen them. It seems kind of hard to molest a kid in the middle of a trip to the petting…
Hi Readers — Tomorrow morn will bring a posting of gravitas and import. Or at least, something relevant to Free-Range Kids. But tonight (it’s bedtime here in New York), here’s a video that I’ll be replaying in my mind tomorrow morning: A woman and her son get ready for school in FIVE MINUTES! (And I love how she makes lunch!) [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_DJpYo0l28&feature=related]
I sure did. Ridiculous recalls: http://bit.ly/lBmfc
So you think you know how to swing, kid? Sure, sure — everyone thinks they do: “You get on, you swing.” Yeah. And brain surgery is, “You open the top, you put in the marbles.” Listen, it’s not that simple. If it was, everyone would be doing it! Luckily for you, The National Program for Playground Safety has come up with some very helpful playground tips, including, “Always sit in the swing; don’t stand or kneel. Hold on tightly with both hands. Stop the swing completely before getting off.” Got that? HOLD ON TIGHTLY WITH BOTH HANDS! That’s something…