Could the Recent Decline in Children’s Reading Skills Be Due to the Decline in Free Play?
This letter wondering if the decline in reading skills could be linked to a decline in plain old playing comes to us from Barbara Chutroo, a social worker and dance/movement therapist...
A 7-Year-Old Girl Gets Lost on Her Way to School in the Big City, But She Knows What to Do!
From the land of uber-independent kids comes this email (edited to correct the grammar mistakes): Dear Let Grow: We are reading your blog here in Germany...with mild amusement. Here's what...
You Don’t Have to Play with Your Kids: Q&A with Anthropologist David Lancy
You don’t have to play with your kids if you don’t feel like it. That could be David Lancy’s most calming – and most controversial -- advice. Lancy is a...
How Does it Feel to Raise Kids in Utah with its Free-Range Parenting Law?
What does it feel like to be a parent in Utah, the first (and so far only) state to pass the Free-Range Parenting law that says taking your eyes off...
Girl, 9, Bitten by Shark Goes Back into the Water at Same Florida Beach!
You don't get more Let Grow than Maggie Crum, bitten by a shark in knee-deep water on her first vacation to New Smyrna Beach, FL, which The Today Show (but...
Barbara Chutroo, LCSW, MSDMT bchutroo@earthlink.net June 2019 The focus of parenting advice and instruction has shifted over the years. At present, developmental specialists direct their attention to the important benefits...
Mom Charged with Falsely Accusing Man of Trying to Kidnap Her 5-Year-Old at Old Navy
We can't know what was going through this mom's mind, but Santana Adams of Milton, West Virginia, has been charged with falsely accusing a man of trying to kidnap her...
A Video for Lawmakers About the Free-Range Parenting Bill
Several states are considering so-called Free-Range Parenting laws that would make sure that giving kids some independence—by choice or necessity—is not mistaken for abuse. Lawmakers in Texas, South Carolina, Connecticut,...
Sesame Street DID Remake the “Stick of Butter” Video!
Thanks to a commenter noting on yesterday's post that Sesame Street has indeed re-made its classic "Loaf of bread, container of milk, stick of butter" story, we dug it up....
Government Pamphlet Says Children Under 12 Should Not Cross the Street
A reader named Trish sent us this leaflet from Ireland. It begins: Research shows that children under 12 should not cross roads on their own. They cannot decide how far...
9-Year-Old Testifies on Behalf of South Carolina’s Free-Range Parenting Bill
Elizabeth Broadbent and her son Blaise helped us fight for the civil rights of kids! And major props to Sen. Vincent Sheheen (and South Carolina) for recognizing how important it...
Jonathan Haidt Lets His 9-Year-Old Daughter Walk to School Alone for the First Time
Prof. Jonathan Haidt, co-author of "The Coddling of the American Mind" and one of the three people who joined me in founding Let Grow, posted that lovely Tweet last Wednesday....
