Recently, I read a book that has profoundly influenced my parenting philosophies. You may be familiar with Lenore Skenazy’s book Free-Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry, or perhaps you have read her blog – Free-Range Kids.
I think the approach to parenting that she takes is one that is very relevant to the Simple Kids community, and I feel sure that her ideas will strike a chord with many of you.
I am planning a Simple Kids Book Talk – a day we can come together as a community and share our reactions/responses to the Free-Range Kids philosophies. The Book Talk date will be October 1st. I hope you’ll make plans to join the discussion!
{ 1 trackback }
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I took a look at her blog just now. Honestly I was a little alarmed when I saw commenters endorsing each others decision to leave a 2 year old outside supervised by a 6 year old sibling. Perhaps much of this depends on the maturiy of the 6 year old, and it might be a child who is quite accustomed to supervising his younger siblings. My personal experience (with an easily disracted 6 year old nephew) is that I personally am not comfortable with many of the scenarios they discuss. I’m not paranoid about sexual predators, however I’m certainly concerned about other safety issues (children hit by cars, etc) Like many things in life, there is a happy medium. I’m just not sure if this philospohy is “middle-ground” enough for me
@Kim, as with all things parenting, I think there will be parts of this book that some will agree with, while others will not. I cannot say in all honesty that I am in 100% agreement with every sentence in the book. Overall, I think Ms. Skenazy brings out some important issues about parenting in our culture that will inspire lots of good conversation.
I guess what I am trying to say is that I don’t expect that everyone who reads the book will have similar responses. In fact, I hope we don’t! I would love to see a diverse and stimulating discussion come from the points she makes.
You know how badly I want to read this book! My library system doesn’t have a copy, but I’ll see if I can find it elsewhere because I really want to participate in the discussion. I know the book has really impacted you, and I am so curious what I’ll think of it. I’m off the check the blog now!
I came back to tell you that I love the Free Range Kids blog. Fascinating stuff! I laughed out loud and shook my head “yes!” a lot.
@Elizabeth, glad you enjoyed the blog! There are always some interesting conversations going on there, that’s for sure.
I DO hope you’ll be able to track down a copy. I know you would have some great thoughts to share!
Oh no! Not another book for me to try and read. I just posted a blog about all the books that I own but have not yet read. I am a bit of a book addict and I like to read parenting books – maybe I will see if I can get this book from the library. The book discussion sounds interesting.
Thanks for posting. I am going to check out the blog now.
Tricia
This has been on my To Read list for a while. I think I now have a reason to go ahead and get it.
I’ve read it and reviewed it and love it and parent a lot like it. I will mark my calendar.
How funny! Because you talk about this book often, I actually just bought it this week! Coincidence….?
i’ll be here – i can’t wait!
laura @ peacoat´s last blog ..friday links – september 11