Article Category: Parenting

By Let Grow

Read Time: 2 minutes

Gut-wrenching AND Hopeful? A Mom’s Letter to her Third Grade Son

This letter by Becky Diamond on her Psychology Today blog does not pull any punches. It begins: My Dearest Marty, You are only in third grade and I feel like...
Read More
By Let Grow

Read Time: 2 minutes

How to Find Other Parents Who Give Their 5-Year-Olds Knives

On Facebook, there's a place for parents to chat about letting grow. Let Grow's Facebook Group, "Raising Independent Kids" is where parents find ideas, support and stories like this one,...
Read More
By Let Grow

Read Time: 4 minutes

“Mommy, Why Do The Kids in These Books Get to Walk Around Without an Adult?”

Books from the 20th Century seem odd and unreal to today's constantly supervised kids. The disconnect between the adventure in children’s books and the reality of kids’ lives today makes...
Read More
By Michele Hollow

Read Time: 5 minutes

For Five Years My Autistic Son Didn’t Speak. Once He Did, My Parenting Changed

Special Needs Kids Need Independence, Too. I’ve been called a protective mom, and a "snowplow." I’ve actually always considered myself more of a Free-Range parent who encourages independence. But it’s...
Read More
By Let Grow

Read Time: 2 minutes

Study Shows Kids Persist Less When Parents Step In to Help

Okay, this sounds like something we all know intuitively, but it is cool that social science decided to put intuition to the test. The abstract of a new study published...
Read More
By Noah Berlatsky

Read Time: 5 minutes

College Is Not Always the Right Choice

"Can we stop talking about this?" That's what my son said the last time we started having a conversation about college and alternatives to college. He's a sophomore in high...
Read More
By Let Grow

Read Time: 4 minutes

My Kids, 8 and 10, Were Playing Down the Block. The Fire Department Escorted Them Home.

A letter in support of Nevada's "Reasonable Childhood Independence" Bill being Introduced Today A letter in support of Nevada's "Reasonable Childhood Independence" Bill being Introduced Today A doctor explains why...
Read More
By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 3 minutes

What Do a Gay, Black, Democrat Mom of One and a Straight, White GOP Grandma of 20 Have in Common? They’re Co-Sponsoring Nevada’s Reasonable Childhood Independence Bill

Nevada State Senator Dallas Harris Nevada Assemblywoman Alexis Hansen Let Grow's goal of making it easy, normal and legal to give kids some confidence-building independence is getting a big boost...
Read More
By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 4 minutes

“Bean Dad” Gets a Visit from Child Protective Services: Is that Good?

You may recall that last month, a comedian/musician named John Roderick became known all over the Western World (or at least Twitter) as "Bean Dad," thanks to his tweets about making his...
Read More
By Let Grow

Read Time: 3 minutes

Future-Proofing Our Kids

When engineers build something expensive and important, they try to “future-proof” it. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, future-proofing means “to design software, a computer, etc. so that it can still...
Read More
By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 6 minutes

Child Psychologist John Piacentini on How Parents and Teachers Can Help Anxious Kids Stop Avoiding Discomfort, Before the Cycle Bakes Itself In

Childhood anxiety and depression are on the rise. What could bring them back down? Let Grow's Lenore Skenazy Zoomed with Dr. John Piacentini, a leading child and adolescent psychologist and...
Read More
By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 4 minutes

Second Thoughts on Keeping Kids Safe by Never Letting Them Out of Our Sight — and the Enduring Myth of Stranger Danger

It goes without saying that no one wants a child to be hurt, ever. Sometimes, though, it seems as if we believe that with enough child-surveillance, parent-surveillance, blaming, shaming, investigating...
Read More