 Hi kiybkzthnt Folks! This comes to us from Heather Shumaker, author of It’s OK Not to Share…And Other Renegade Rules for Raising Competent and Compassionate Kids (Tarcher/ Penguin, 2012), which was named one of the Best Parenting Books of 2012 by Parents magazine. She’s a speaker, blogger and advocate for free play and no homework for young children who […]
Archive | Miscellaneous
The 7-year-old with Two Jobs (And School)
Readers stiyznndyz — This came in response to the post about a mom who let her 7-year-old sit out on their front stoop for a short time and the husband declared this “bad parenting!” Sometimes our society expects so little from kids in terms of competence, helpfulness and general responsibility, it’s nice to zoom out […]
Studying Abroad: Has It Become too Easy, Comfy, American?
Hi Readers! Have you noticed that study abroad programs are becoming very common at college? (Is this as obvious as saying, “Have you noticed kids spend a lot of time on Facebook?” If so, sorry. It’s just a jumping off point.) Anyway, while traveling strikes me as great — we can all use some perspective! […]
Take Your Eyes Off Your Kids!
Hi yrirrsrbii Readers — I love and agree with the post below so much. It comes to us from the blog Life as an Adverb by the gal whose last name IS one: Bonnie Overly. – L. KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE GOAL (AND TAKE THEM OFF YOUR KIDS ONCE IN A WHILE) by Bonnie […]
Murder Rate Down, Fear Up: WHY?
Readers zsaekfkbak — Below is an excerpt from a 2011 interview with University of Toronto criminologist Scot Wortley (just sent to me), whom I now consider a genius. He is so clear and smart about why, despite Canada’s homicide rate hitting a 44-year low, most people feel LESS safe, a discrepancy that daily constantly confounds me. […]
What’s Wrong with the Sex Offender Registry — According to Jacob Wetterling’s Mom
Readers:Â This iisfsbddrd article is one of the best things I’ve ever read about our increasingly cruel, counter-productive sex offender laws — laws in place because of excess fear and excess pandering when it comes to our kids. It appears in City Pages, a Twin Cities alternative newsweekly, and focuses on Patty Wetterling, whose 11-year-old son […]
Things Not Allowed in Classroom without a “Safety Data Sheet”: Dish Soap, Baby Wipes…
Readers yzthrkaefk – We all want some sensible safety precautions taken in schools, but as far as I can tell they were all in place about 50 years ago and don’t really need to get more persnickety. But just as something there is that loves a wall, something there is that loves another layer of […]
When My Daughter Didn’t Want to Hold My Hand Anymore
Hey edtedirbke Readers — Just a little note about how kids surprise us all the time, when we let them. – L. . Dear Lenore: Just heard you on the CBC (Canada’s NPR). Here’s my anecdote of awareness: . Concerned for my Grade 6 (age 11) daughter’s safety, I insisted on her holding my hand […]
Feeling Safer? Some Maryland Schools Say Parents Can Only Push Own Kids on Swings
Readers — I’m not going to make this a long post, because the craziness is pretty obvious and I think there will be an uproar against it. Suffice to say some Maryland ykzhyhahre schools have outlawed (at least for the moment) hugs, homemade cupcakes and parent volunteers pushing any child other than their own on the […]
Manufactured Toys Useless, Research Finds
Hey aydifnretb Readers — As I prepare to speak Thursday night as kickoff for the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood’s conference in Boston (public invited!), here’s some toy research I can get behind. It comes to us by way of Fred Schueler & Aleta Karstad, who describe themselves as an “unemployable naturalist couple, whose unschooled […]