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JennGM
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I'm in the middle of this book, Free Range Kids by Leonore Skenazy and absolutely loving it!
Dh had read an excerpt from her book at Halloween (without realizing) and we just love her attitude! It's so freeing! So far what I've read, one could summarize that many of our fears are brought on this push of fear or litigation or marketing stuff.
I wanted to post this before everyone gives up online time for Lent. My review is a bit fuzzy...but I do think so much of what she is promoting in this book echoes a living learning. Your child should go outside, enjoy himself without being tethered all the time. Many of our fears are ungrounded and unnecessary. This age we live in is statistically NOT worse in crime and such -- something that really surprised me.
I can't wait for my husband to read it....he's interested, too!
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Jennifer G. Miller
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hylabrook1
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Just placed a hold on this at my library! Thanks for the recommendation, Jenn.
Peace,
Nancy
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MaryM
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Sounds interesting - like it might have some overlap to The Last Child in teh Woods, but not only about outdoor education. I'm requesting it, too. Seems like it would be right up my alley. The title is very clever  .
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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Erin
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JennGM wrote:
| This age we live in is statistically NOT worse in crime and such -- something that really surprised me. |
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I'm very interested to know more.
Mary
thanks for the mention of the Last Child in the Woods. My library has it!!
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Erin
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MaryM
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Erin wrote:
JennGM wrote:
| This age we live in is statistically NOT worse in crime and such -- something that really surprised me. |
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I'm very interested to know more. |
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That is one thing that the author of Last Child in the Woods discussed as well.
For anyone who has not seen the discussion we had on Last Child in the Woods I thought I'd link it. It was very interesting. One of the first books discussions we did early on at the beginning of the message board.
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Mary M. in Denver
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JodieLyn
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A problem I would see with the idea that "it's not really as dangerous as people think" is that people DO think it's horribly dangerous and a greater danger to the children might be to have others trying to interfer in the family choices because the parents allowed their children to do things at ages that other people would think was horribly dangerous. And while I know you can't live your life worrying about what other people think... 
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JennGM
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JodieLyn wrote:
| A problem I would see with the idea that "it's not really as dangerous as people think" is that people DO think it's horribly dangerous and a greater danger to the children might be to have others trying to interfer in the family choices because the parents allowed their children to do things at ages that other people would think was horribly dangerous. And while I know you can't live your life worrying about what other people think... |
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She talks about that extensively.
Mary, I keep thinking about Last Child the whole time I read this book.
You might not agree with everything, but it's a breath of fresh air to hear a different perspective.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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JodieLyn
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hmmm in that case the book sounds even more interesting 
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mamasue
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Thanks for the book suggestion, I'll look for it at the library!
My husband read Last Child and Boys Adrift by Leonard sax. He liked both, but found Boys Adrift much more interesting
thought i'd throw another book out there
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Michaela
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I enjoy visiting her website Free Range Kids where she posts interesting stories.
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juststartn
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I'm more concerned with my children getting into things, not so much someone doing something to them. We live on 10 acres, in the country. Stray dogs, wild pigs, getting into one of the ponds, the cattle in the neighboring fields, all of the various detritus of farm life...ugh...
Let me tell you. *THAT* (and the fact that the boys like to race down the driveway to the mailbox and the busy county road (we've got neighbors who run a large excavation company, and they keep a lot of their trucks there...and so they are driving trucks up and down the road a lot...not to mention crazy farm kids racing down the road...
Rachel
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JennGM wrote:
JodieLyn wrote:
| A problem I would see with the idea that "it's not really as dangerous as people think" is that people DO think it's horribly dangerous and a greater danger to the children might be to have others trying to interfer in the family choices because the parents allowed their children to do things at ages that other people would think was horribly dangerous. And while I know you can't live your life worrying about what other people think... |
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She talks about that extensively.
Mary, I keep thinking about Last Child the whole time I read this book.
You might not agree with everything, but it's a breath of fresh air to hear a different perspective. |
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I need this then. I deal with this ALL. THE. TIME. We've had the authorities at our door a few times b/c of it...
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JodieLyn
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 Lisbet that is such a difficult thing to have to deal with.
Some people's expectations of what a child will do (whether it's allowed or not) are way off as well..
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JodieLyn
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Ok I LOVED this book. Her writing style is soooo humorous to read that it's very easy to read. And so much common sense. I really appreciated the solid grounding on what the real risks of things are.
I'm already planning who I should lend the book to first
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NMMountainMom
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juststartn wrote:
I'm more concerned with my children getting into things, not so much someone doing something to them. We live on 10 acres, in the country. Stray dogs, wild pigs, getting into one of the ponds, the cattle in the neighboring fields, all of the various detritus of farm life...ugh...
Rachel |
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Yes, these kinds of things are a real worry for me. We live in the mountains and the dangers are different than city life... mountain lions and such. We recently visited a ghost town and I was looking at the tombstones (something I always find interesting) from the mid 1800s through the early 20th century. There were alot of children there. Two brothers died on the same day. One boy died on his fifth birthday. The brothers really got to me because my boys run around together and God forbid they have some sort of acciden. My point is, accidents (and of course disease) used to be a huge killers of children. Sometimes we romanticize the past.
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JodieLyn
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the book isn't romanticizing the past.. but rather teaching common sense and giving some freedom.. probably the same freedom that YOU had when you were growing up but that many many kids today don't have because of a *perception* of danger that is based on fear mongering.. not reality.
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NMMountainMom
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JodieLyn wrote:
| the book isn't romanticizing the past.. but rather teaching common sense and giving some freedom.. probably the same freedom that YOU had when you were growing up but that many many kids today don't have because of a *perception* of danger that is based on fear mongering.. not reality. |
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I didn't mean to give the impression that I disagree with her. I haven't read the book, but I've read the blog and I totally agree with her. My boys, in fact, have quite a bit of freedom. I think that "stranger danger" is way overblown, but there are other dangers out there. I'm just advocating an honest assessment of the risks that do exist. This reminds me of a point that was made on the home birth thread, which is that we shouldn't let the pendulum swing too far the other way and underplay risks. I think that we have gained something valuable in modern society- a far lower childhood mortality rate. Very few of us have experienced the death of a child. That didn't used to be the case. (Even when we were children the childhood mortality rate was higher than it is now). The trick is not letting risk aversion cause us to not actually live our lives. It is a balancing act.
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4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: Free Range Kids
