Children who were raised on screens need more freedom out in the real world.| The Atlantic
We keep gently reminding (okay, sometimes hectoring) parents to step back to allow kids to step up. But what if a kid doesn’t WANT to step up…or even get off the couch? Here’s a note from a reader: Advice Needed! Dear Let Grow: My son loves his independence. His older sister, not so much. In| Free-Range Kids
The origin, rationale, and experiences of Let Grow Play Club at schools| petergray.substack.com
A new study finds parents WANT to give their kids more independence but are finding it just too hard to do.| Let Grow
By now you have probably see this great video, below. Not yet? Well, you’re in for a heartwarming couple of minutes: Utah mom Stephanie Read read The Anxious Generation, got to the chapters I helped out with (the ones for parents and schools), and took them to heart. As she told Instagram: “At the end| Free-Range Kids
The human condition is not one of calm seas and sated hearts. That’s why so many religions work so hard to get us there. The latest is the “Know Everything Your Child is doing/saying/hearing/reading/eating/trying/licking and Peace Will Be Yours.” Um…right. So here’s the wise note from a mom who remains anonymous – and a little| Free-Range Kids
This Reddit post by “KnightErrant21” made me sit up and SALUTE! Yes, yes, yes! Maybe it’s just not that attractive to have kids when you think that every second, every dime, and every thought must be directly devoted to their development and safety! I contacted the Reddit writer and asked if I could please reprint| Free-Range Kids
Goodbye, 2024 – but first, a quickie look back at the forces that were allied against Free-Ranging last year. And then? A hairpin turn to hope! Worst first! Child Reported Walking: As, ahem, I was the very first person to report, Georgia mom Brittany Patterson was charged with “reckless conduct” when her son, 10, walked| Free-Range Kids
Why parenting less might be the best thing we can do for our children| www.afterbabel.com
What social changes gave us “helicopter parenting” and, now, even more “intensive parenting”? This New York Times podcast from a few weeks ago, inspired by the Surgeon General’s report on parental burnout, explains all. Michael Barbaro, host of “The Daily,” interviews Claire Cain Miller, the Times reporter covering family issues (and the mom of kids 8 and 12). Cain Miller| Free-Range Kids
We no longer live in an era of footbinding, writes my Let Grow Co-Founder Peter Gray, the psychologist who studies the importance of mixed-age, unsupervised play. But for about a thousand years, he notes in a recent Substack post, girls in China would have their feet broken and bound to stop them from growing. This was| Free-Range Kids
Honest and searching. That’s how I’d describe this essay by Sybille Bruun, PhD. Sybille conducts research in cognitive science in education at Teachers College (Columbia University) and has had over a decade of experience in New York City’s public and private schools. She’s also the mom of the twin boys above, age 10 — the ones| Free-Range Kids