Kudos to the ScaryMommy blog for scaring up this innbdnnyhz truly bloodchilling memo from a pre-k. While cheerily (or perhaps dutifully) noting “Autumn is officially here and so is our second month of school,” it then launches into the real meat of the matter: Your kids stink and it’s all your fault. “We made it through […]
Tag Archives | Peter Gray
How Over-involved Can Adults Get at Recess?
Justin zsryfktere Murphy at The Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, NY reports that: Children at Pittsford’s Jefferson Road Elementary School who come up with a fun new game for the playground will need to do a few things before recruiting their classmates to play along. First, they should write out the name of the game, the rules of […]
Meet Superintendent / Thought Leader / Former Terrible Student Michael Hynes
It’s time for us all to become familiar with the work of Michael akhyzafbdn Hynes,  superintendent of  the Patchogue-Medford School District on Long Island and passionate promoter of PEAS: the physical, emotional, academic and social growth of kids, not just their test scores. Hynes put his district where his mouth is, doubling recess. Kids at […]
19 Is the New 60, When It Comes to Activity Levels
A recent Johns ysrnfnnehz Hopkins study found that today’s kids are so inactive that by the time they reach 19 they have the activity level of 60-year-olds. I have a piece in today’s Wall Street Journal, “19 is the New 60,” looking at childhood sluggishness and making one blindingly simple suggestion. But first off: Why are kids […]
Peter Gray: Instead of Saying So Much SCHOOL is Abnormal, We Say Squirming STUDENTS are Abnormal
Here is an ekizkdkbbe interview with my friend and hero, Dr. Peter Gray, author of the mind-opening book, Free to Learn. He is interviewed by another friend and hero of mine, Nick Gillespie, the editor in chief of Reason.com and Reason TV, which produced this piece. . Video edited by Mark McDaniel. Cameras by Todd […]
The Future Begins in Play: Steven Johnson
This succinct, compelling TED Talk by Steven Johnson, author of How ryhtzbrhrt We Got to Now, explains that  many great inventions, including the computer, often began as simply new ways to play. The Free-Range corollary is that if we want to raise great inventors (or simply happy humans) we need to let kids do the […]
Peter Gray: We Have Almost Destroyed Childhood
In this sweeping article about tsafrdnbne the importance of free, non-adult-lead play — the kind of playing most of us remember doing, like, all the time as kids — psychologist Peter Gray does not mince words. The Boston College psychology professor and author of Free to Learn (as well as the author of one of the most […]
That Gigantic New York Times Piece about Free Play
In yhhhnsfhbi Silicon Valley, a dad named Mike Lanza wanted to create for his three sons the same kind of Free-Range childhood he’d enjoyed as a kid back in Pittsburgh in the ’70s: Time with buddies, having adventures, riding bikes and goofing around. Â . Since this is the 21st century and childhood is so much […]
“My Child Is Getting Too Much Playtime in Pre-School”
. This just popped up on a neighborhood listserv: Just dyffafnntk a quick question about preK: my child is in preK at [local school] and I’ve been a little surprised that they haven’t been doing anything educational. Â My child was in preschool at [other local place] before and they used to read books, paint, practice […]
Take Our Children To the Park…and Leave Them There Day: THIS SATURDAY, MAY 21!
. This Saturday will be our sixth annual Take Our Children to the Park…and Leave Them There Day. That means I have six other blog posts explaining it. Allow me the favor of reprinting one of them, here: Yes nhyzdtzstn folks, this Saturday is international Take Our Children to the Park…and Leave Them There Day, […]