Tag Archives | dad

Quit harassing that stump!

Treating Nature Like a Snooty Museum

. Is eahdzddtst there a “right” way for kids to play in nature? A letter I got: Dear Free-Range Kids: At my son’s former pre-k, he and another boy were picking leaves off of an overgrown bush while adults were talking. The boys were quiet, engaged, and the bush seemed pretty hardy. When the teacher and […]

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What's wrong with this picture? NOTHING!!

Mom Fined for Letting 6-y.o. Walk 2 Blocks with a Friend

Readers bnnnebfhiz — If this is the land of the free, why are cops treating happy-go-lucky kids like escaped convicts?  When did giving kids an old-fashioned summer become a crime? – L.  Dear Free-Range Kids: This just happened to me. My six year old daughter and her friend went for a walk on their own […]

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How to Vanquish "Mom Guilt" and Raise a Free-Range Kid

How to Vanquish “Mom Guilt” and Raise a Free-Range Kid

Readers ektfkeearf — This story speaks for itself (as does the son!). It comes to us from Aimee Turner, who says she and her husband are “happy to know we aren’t alone in the fight against BWCS: Bubble-Wrapped Child Syndrome.” She blogs at The Maine Page Turner . - L. Dear Free-Range Kids:This summer, instead of […]

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The Cool Morning Air Condenses a Boy

Mom Upset that 10 y.o. Will Have to Walk to School

Folks zkaanbessn — What age do you think kids can safely start walking to school? I’d say age 7, because that’s the age in a lot of the rest of the world. Which is not to say younger is dangerous — I walked to kindergarten in the suburban Chicago of way-back-when. Must’ve been five. I’m […]

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A sign of the (play)  times.

Yes, This is a Real Sign at a Real School’s Playground

Readers: This comes to us from a Pennsylvania boy’s dad, who tells us it’s not a joke — it’s the sign right before you go out to the playground at his son’s after-care program at an elementary schoolI think the kids were insructed to write down the rules. Sure sounds fun! – L

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When My Daughter Didn't Want to Hold My Hand Anymore

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 […]

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CPS, Sesame Street and Six-year-olds Outside

Folks, when I posted the letter sbdsfbaksd from the dad whose 6-year-old was picked up by the police — and DETAINED — for walking solo in her neighborhood, one of you said that stories like this make you worried to let your kids go outside. Which is exactly the opposite reaction I was hoping for. I […]

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Bye mom! Bye dad! Thanks for not hovering!

Helicoptered Kids More Depressed as Young Adults

Readers rtndtnbfdy — I don’t like hopping on every new study that supposedly “proves” something about parenting, especially when I believe that parents are only one part of the many, MANY influences that shape a life. (Especially by college age!) Still,this study might interest some parents reconsidering the heap of “help” they believe their kids […]

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podcast_sethgodin-alt

Seth Godin on NPR Talks About Free-Range Kids: Being One, Raising Some

Hi Readers — Seth rfytihanbe Godin, the tech/life/marketing/art guru, was interviewed by Krista Tippett on NPR’s “On Being” show yesterday, and he began by talking about his childhood as a self-described “Free-Range Kid.” (Though I’m not sure he mentally capitalized it.) Anyway, apparently somehow, when he was 14, his dad put him on a boat […]

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