Kids the balance
ange Finding
ree Rindependence and supervision
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|by Megan McCoy Dellecese
Let’s play a game. Visualize your childhood
playtime routine.
Go ahead!
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outside until the street lights came on (at
which point you knew you’d better get home
and fast)? To many of us, this was a very close
facsimile of childhood.
Was it filled with running, playing and exploring in your backyard (and all your friends’
yards)? Did you ride your bike through your
surrounding neighborhoods and maybe even
to school to use the jungle gym ad nauseam?
Were your summers permeated with spraying
sprinklers, green rubber hoses, worn jump
ropes, entire days spent outside, and skinned
knees? Did your evenings entail playing ball
Today, these kids would be referred to as “free
range.” Their parents would be practicing
“free range parenting” (also called “simplicity”
or “slow parenting”). It often involves more
unstructured free time, less of a focus on the
use of electronic devices, and less hovering of
parents around children as they play or make
new discoveries. Children are ultimately allowed to explore the world at their own pace.