Ironically, Childhood Anxiety Could Go Down In this New York Post op-ed I wrote with Let Grow co-founder Dr. Peter Gray, we say: SILVER LININGS are hard to come by, but maybe this could be one. With the cataclysmic coronavirus upon us, it is just the tiniest bit possible that, in terms of child development, something good could come of it: A way to press the reset button on child anxiety. Yes, even during — and precisely because we are in — these insanely anxious times. ….” We suggest that before COVID, childhood anxiety was one of the worst problems…
Author: lskenazy
Okay, it’s Sunday. Here are some funny tweets about “distance learning” and a typical COVID homeschool day. Yep — just click here. Hang in there! – L
Empty those junk drawers, take a step back, and probably close the door. Your kids will make something. Educators call it “loose parts play” and they have everything good to say about it. And were you going to use that broken pipe anyway? (Why do you even HAVE a pipe?) For some loose parts ideas click here — it’ll take you to the piece at Let Grow. Hang in there, friends. – L. Photo by Liz West: https://www.flickr.com/photos/calliope/
As I write on Reason.com : The COVID-19 crisis has produced an interesting role reversal. Many people over the age of 50 are currently being hectored by their protective progeny to keep safe and practice social distancing—no more lunch with friends, or church, or cards, or even strolling the neighborhood. Wash all the clothes you went out in today, including daddy’s jeans… bring Clorox wipes… use baggies for gloves…. etc. Frankly, I’m fine with this. Hectoring is where it’s at in these times of global crisis. Hector on, I say! But it does feel just the tiniest bit like Freaky…
“In the midst of the worry and disruption, is having kids prepare for a multiple choice test really the best use of time? Is it ever the best use of time?” Great question — great essay by teacher Trevor Muir, over at Let Grow. Click here to read it!
Sometimes we just have to create. Feel free to share this. (Here’s the link.) And I am sending love to you all, because it’s that kind of time in the world. – Lenore
Perhaps Gen-X really is having its moment. Those former latchkey kids know how to cope on their own, and Let Grow’s own Seamus Condron has some memes to prove it. See them by clicking here.
At Let Grow we have a downloadable “journal” for kids, with prompts about their daily lives. Some day these dark times will pass and become part of history. In the meantime, it’s possible that writing about it can make kids feel a little better. Get the journal by clicking here (and then you have to do another click at the bottom of the page).
Yes, everybody’s on edge, but when tensions escalated over a minor incident at the supermarket, it provided a hard-learned lesson in what it takes to stay sane and kind in these kind of insane times. Telling us that real-life story is Let Grow’s own Irshad Manji, author, professor and now our Director of Courage, Curiosity and Character. Read the tale by clicking here. I have to say — it gave me a flash of insight into how to deal with defensiveness. Mine, principally.
Is there a way for kids to actually become LESS anxious during this EXTRA anxious time? Yes. The Let Grow Project is a super-simple idea that many schools have been doing: Kids go home with the assignment, “Do something new, on your own.” Walk the dog. Run an errand. Make a cake. The results have been so phenomenal, especially when it comes to anxiety, that we made the video below. Better still, we have a free “Independence Kit” for teachers to use in their on-line classes, or for parents to use on their own. Click here to get it, at…