Now I know how Al Gore felt.  Well, at least about playing to TV. Remember how he was caught rolling his eyes during one of the Presidential debates, and that sealed his fate – for some folks, anyway – as a hopelessly smug know-it-all? I rolled my eyes on TV today, too. Wish I hadn’t, […]
Sidewalks are for Kids!!
Here’s a piece about the wonderfulness of sidewalks — a great place for kids to play, meet, walk, chalk, ride. BUT! In the sweet town this lady is writing from — Bangor, Maine — she has gotten complaints from drivers: Kids shouldn’t be on sidewalks! They’re too close to the road! Excuse me? Where SHOULD kids […]
Fox & Friends & Me! Tues. Morn around 8 a.m. Eastern Time
I’ll be on Fox & Friends tomorrow morning, defending Free-Range Kids as a sane, safe, happy, healthy way to raise children with some moxie! But maybe I won’t call it “moxie,” for fear of sounding 389 years old. Maybe I’ll say it’s a way to raise children with some solid “self-esteem” — which is also […]
Cop Collars Kids Selling Lemonade
Seven of the little rascals. Together, in Haverford, Pennsylvania. Going door to door, trying to gin up some cash with the cold stuff. Read all about it here. One brilliant neighbor realized how incredibly dangerous this was. After all, it was teaching children all sorts of terrible lessons like: Get to know the folks on your […]
My Take on the Arrest of the Mom Who Let Her Kids Go to The Mall
Hi! Lenore here, feeling it is time to weigh in on the Montana mom case still causing a commenting frenzy. This is the case where a mom named Bridget let her 12-year-old daughter and her daughter’s friend, both experienced babysitters, take their siblings, age 3, 7 and 8, to the mall. After a morning of […]
ABC News Weighs in On Mom Who Let 12-Year-Olds Take Younger Sibs to Mall
Here it is — ABCnews.com looking into the case of Bridget Kevane, the mom who trusted her 12-year-old daughter and the daughter’s friend to take their younger siblings to the mall. For which she got arrested. ABC found that most people felt support Kevane and believe the authorities overreacted, as do I. And a little […]
Kids, this is an “adult.” Watch out!
Great (slightly wordy) article on iktnssyfzs Psychology Today blog about how, with all our exhortations about “stranger danger”  we are teaching our children “that the world is a dark and nasty place were everybody wants to murder and rape them…” The assumption of disgusting intentions has gone so far that the blogger, Helene Guldberg, author of […]
Forget the Flash-Cards: How To REALLY Help Your Pre-Schooler
It’s no secret that parents worried about how their kids are going to do in kindergarten are willing to work hard to help them make the grade. But a new study reported in Connect rtbiiishde with Kids shows that teaching pre-schoolers the academic stuff — letters, numbers, etc. — may not be the best approach. […]
Kids Can Do More Than We Think
Kids rise to the occasion. That becomes abundantly clear when we look at what kids get to do – and are expected to do — in other countries, cultures, eras. Here’s a little note that just came in. I cannot think of anything my kids have done in school that rivals this for independence and […]
Perfect Comic!
And we wonder why so many kids sit home instead of frolicking outside. Check out this Rose ztrsszskak is Rose comic by Don Wimmer (created by Pat Brady): zoom Thanks to Philip Robert, who runs a kind of folksy blog, for sending it to Free-Range Kids!