Free Play: Where has it Gone?

Just the other day I was overwhelmed with stress and anxiety from the many things I needed to get done. So stressed out that when I was preparing to go to the gym for a much needed workout, I threw up my arms and told my wife, "forget it, I'm not going. I need to get this and that done, I don't have time to work out!" She very patiently reminded me to "Sharpen the Ax". I did end up going and felt rejuvenated and relaxed as a result. When I go home I was able to get much more done and more quickly than I was getting done fretting about all I needed to do. You may be asking yourself, "how does his exercising have anything to do with an 'ax' let along free play?"

Guest Post on Notes on Parenting

Today I wrote a post on the blog Notes on Parenting. In this post I detailed the benefits of child centered play, along with some suggestions on how to implement child centered play in your own family. I highlighted two studies that show how child centered play has increased academic performance and decreased child behavior problems in children. Please visit this blog and take a look at this post. It may prove helpful for many parents.