Folks — Here’s a story that manages to encapsulate exactly why “stranger danger” is such a stupid — no, HARMFUL — Â concept to preach. On Saturday afternoon, a little girl named Jackie was reported missing in a state park in Rhode Island. Â As sftfbbzfyt The Westerly Sun reported: At 3:50 p.m., Charlestown police received a […]
Hi Readers! You’re not dreaming. There’s a public school — albeit in Australia — where a few years ago the kids noticied some leftover building materials  and started spontaneously building forts during recess. And, as Time Gill notes on his fab zrybfeihkr Rethinking Childhood blog: To its credit, the school reacted not with alarm, but with interest. […]
Hi Readers — I’m going to be on Dr. dsrdsrffdi Drew tonight discussing the idea of letting kids play outside on their own, a topic inspired by Saturday’s  “Take Our Children to the Park…and Leave Them There” Day. If you have allowed your children to play outside, unsupervised, either on the holiday or on any […]
Hi Readers! Get a load of this hefykybkde lovely piece by Time Magazine’s Bonnie Rochman! And don’t forget: The holiday is this Saturday! Take your kids (age 7 and up) the local park at around 10 in the morning and hopefully a lot of other kids will be gathering, too. Then leave! Details in that […]
Hi eadhdtiria Folks! Here’s a guest essay from Lisa Baker, who’s trying to be a Free-Range Mom to two kids in Atlanta, Georgia. She writes about her parenting adventures at Organic Baby Atlanta. Enjoy! L. Warning: Toddler at Play by Lisa Baker In the Yequana tribes of South America, parents let toddlers wander near open campfires, playing with knives. […]
Hi Folks! As our annual “Take Our Children to the Park…And Leave Them There Day” draws nigh (does “nigh” ever get used without the verb draw?), here’s eiktifyikn a lovely piece about why it is GREAT for kids to get out and play, on their own, without a coach, program or parents to organize (or […]
Hi yhzakbdsfr from Austraia, mates! About to embark on a rather long trip home. (But I sure loved it here!) In the meantime, please help this mom. – L Dear Free-Range Kids: So, this really plays into a question/problem I’ve been having. I want to have my daughter be more Free-Range/independent. She just turned 5 this […]
Hi Readers! Greetings from Bendigo, Australia where I’m here to keynote this afyhihyhnt conference. (Gorgeous city!) Anyway, apparently I arrived just in the nick of time. Two girls over here were playing tennis at a private school recently when the ball hit and bruised one girl’s eye. Anything having to do with eyes is scary […]
Hi Readers — and thank you for sending this story, “A zzyefiayyr Surprising Risk for Toddlers on Playground Slides,” that was in yesterday’s New York Times. And what exactly IS the surprising risk? Parents! Extremely loving, extremely cautious parents who, rather than letting their kids navigate the slide on their own, put them on their lap […]
Readers! As we approach our third annual, “Take Our Children to the Park…And Leave Them There Day” (Saturday, May 19), this nfyaisndkn story is outrageous. Apparently a dad let his two kids, ages 6 and 9, play in a local suburban Pittsburgh park on Saturday morning for not quite two hours while he did some […]
