Let Grow Blog

By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 4 minutes

A “Hot Mess”of a Middle School And the Principal Who Pulled Off an Attendance Miracle

Nine years ago, Liberty Middle School in Pickens County, South Carolina, had so many kids held back year after year that some of them had started driving to school. Then...
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By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 4 minutes

“Arrest Moms Who Let Their Kids Play Outside?” Asks The New York Times

The New York Times is sounding a lot like Let Grow. Here’s a headline from its front page on Thursday: Is Letting Children Out Alone A Rite of Passage or...
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By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 3 minutes

The Great Middle School Microwave War (and Why the Adults Didn’t End It)

At The Village School in Arlington, VA, it was war. The 80-student school had one microwave and about 15 middle schoolers who wanted to use it at lunchtime. This provoked,...
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By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 5 minutes

A Gen X Mom on How Hard It is To Raise Gen Z Kids

This letter from a Colorado mom name-checks so many trends in today’s parenting norms, after-school activities, tech time – AND a NEW DAY DAWNING – that we had to share!...
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By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 4 minutes

Toy Story 5: The Truth About Kids, Screens, and Loneliness

Toy Story 5 is billed as a battle of Toys vs. Tech, but that’s wrong. Not only do the two sides end up working together (lives there a Toy Story...
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By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 3 minutes

Tips for Keeping Your Kid Very Very Very Very Very Safe this Summer

It’s summertime, which means it’s time for parents to think about safety — only safety. That’s what all the parenting magazines and web advice will tell you, as will every...
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By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 4 minutes

Children, Entertain Thyselves!

Want your kids to entertain themselves? Of course you do -- so read on! This practical post comes from Laura Wyatt-Smith, a speaker, coach, and mom in London. Her book...
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By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 3 minutes

These ROTC Students Are Learning More Than Leadership

The Junior ROTC students at Franklin High School in El Paso, Texas, are  learning to lead. But their teacher, Major Joseph D. Shamy, noticed something worrisome: “School in general wasn’t preparing...
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By Let Grow

Read Time: 4 minutes

Congress Introduces a “Let Grow” Law!

How do you get more kids out and about on their own – and assure parents this won’t be mistaken for neglect? That’s a question Let Grow has been addressing...
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By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 3 minutes

I Played Dodgeball at My Son’s School. The Way They Played Shocked Me

Forgive the clickbait title – that actually sums up what this mom saw when she played dodgeball with her son. Here is her email! Hi Lenore! How are you? I...
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By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 5 minutes

A “Real World” Summer Camp?

Chicago mom Kristin Howard wanted middle school kids, including her own, to learn how to do things in the real world, like read maps and cook dinner, to build independence,...
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By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 4 minutes

Red Tape and Childhood

How did we get to the point where having an old-fashioned see-saw on the playground is something almost no park district would consider? Or that students crossing the street to...
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By Lenore Skenazy

Read Time: 3 minutes

WHAT I LEARNED AT THE TOY FAIR

The New York Toy Fair is a huge convention where manufacturers big and small display their toys to retailers who will hopefully buy them and sell them to the public....
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