Folks — The idea that a 10-year-old is not allowed to read at the library without a guardian is nauseating to me, and not just because I spent my formative years at the Wilmette iizfteiank Public Library (reading the Harvard Lampoon). I can’t imagine my mom having to spend her whole weekend at the library […]
Hi Folks! After years of trying to figure out how to get kids back outside, playing together — an effort that led to “Take htfrsdzdsk Our Children to the Park …And Leave Them There Day,” not to mention many a blog post extolling the benefits of free-play — I’ve finally decided that maybe the answer […]
Hi Folks — This eyhtefbrtb story comes to us from Australia, where the federal government is telling child protective workers to consider — and classify — kids who “often” hurt themselves as at a “high risk of neglect.” “Accident-prone children might be the victims of poor parental supervision,” is how AdelaideNow sums the reasoning up. […]
Hi Folks! Well, it only took me about two years longer than I’d hoped (okay…three), but here at last is the new Free-Range Kids site. Allow me to point out some wonderful features (besides the ads, which are a first for me! Don’t hate on them — making a living is good!) Our tour begins […]
Hi Folks! Here’s a school memo one of you sent in from the Brave New World that thinks somehow every time any adult encounters a child — even in a classroom filled with other adults and a gaggle of kids — the kids are in grave danger: Wiggle aidbftnika those digits If you attended volunteer training […]
Hi Folks! I have a piece in today’s Wall Street Journal:“When ezfndnekyr Separation Anxiety Goes Overboard.” It’s about the way the advice-o-sphere manages to turn the first day of school into a super-dramatic, super-traumatic event that requires the kind of preparation once associated with storming the beaches: “Practice how you will say goodbye,” urges one of the […]
Hey Readers — You want inspiration? You got it: A 9 year old Detroit boy was dismayed by the fact his local park was totally overgrown — the city could afford to mow it just twice a year. So did he stay inside playing videogames? He set up a lemonade stand and made $3000 over […]
Hi bhdiknfyei Folks! This is a good one to take to heart…and to the playground. — Lenore Dear Free-Range Kids: I’ve known for a while that Free-Range is a great way to raise confident, independent, capable kids, but I never knew how much this approach would help me as a parent until last night. I […]
Hi htrfzfdiyf Folks! I read this over at RixaRixa and asked if the blogger was game to let me reprint the whole thing. Yes! So here it is, in all its infuriating bureaucrat-brained fullness! We’ve been walking Zari to and from kindergarten. It seemed the most logical of our three options (walk, ride the bus, […]
From the Purell e-mail blast I just got: Your teyfarzknd little ones are headed back to school and so are millions of germs! Â I’m leaving aside all the nasty things I want to say about how we are MADE of germs and must get ACCUSTOMED to germs and when did start treating everyday life […]
