A parenting article published in the New York Times entitled "Let The Kid Be" (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/magazine/31wwln-lede-t.html?_r=2) was the impetus behind this blog. It listed trends in parenting across the centuries, the most recent being micro-managing kids time between soccer practice, violin lessons and tutors. I considered while reading this article that these parenting trends probably were aligned with educational trends (which one having the strongest influence, I don't know). Still, while parents have been mocro-managing, so have schools. Idle time, for the past century, has been considered something to avoid if we want college educated, successful children.
The Times article names a new parenting trend - one of letting kids be kids at their own pace - a non-chalance style of parenting where parents focus on their ownneeds and allow their children to pursue their interests at their own pace. I see this as a new trend emerging in schools as well. Clearly, the idea of filling every moment of a child's life with rote memorization is going out of style. Anti-micro-management talk is all the rage in educational sectors.
I, for one, am thrilled at this emergent style of raising children. I hate baseball practice and boy scout meetings - and I can finally admit that openly. I love letting my children play freely as children should - and I can admit that too without fear of negative feedback or judgement.
I hope this article is correct - because in a moment I am going to sit in the backyard with a glass of wine and a book while my children wrestle in the grass - and I wont have the pinge of guilt that they are maybe missing out on some important structured activity.
This article epitomizes why I hate baseball practice and cub scout meetings:
http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.asp?contentid=484
Kids need to have a balance between extracurricular activities and free time. Just as I do as an adult. Those teams help children learn life lessons about working as a team, building social skills and how to deal with winning and losing.
ReplyDeleteSome parents do micromanage their children's schedule to the max- which isn't fair to the kid or the parent. Children should choose various activities that THEY are interested in- not what the parent wants them to do. I see it in my school that kids have practice before school, then leave school early to go to another activities and then don't have time to do homework. These students are going to burnt out before they get to high school. We all need that time where we can wrestle in the grass and let our stresses melt away!!