Freedom to Learn

The roles of play and curiosity as foundations for learning.

Peter Gray Ph.D.

Forced Schooling, Anxiety, and 'Learning Disorders'

Early academic pressure creates learning blocks, diagnosed as disorders.

“Specific Learning Disorder": The Case Against Labeling

Some researchers have contended, with good reason, that "specific learning disorder" is neither specific nor a disorder and that the label can cause more harm than good.

A Pandemic Lesson: Family Togetherness Makes Children Happy

By far the most common response by children to the question, "What have you LIKED about this period of lockdown?" was "More Time with My Family."

Lord of the Flies: A Harmful Distortion of Children’s Nature

William Golding was a schoolteacher, and "Lord of the Flies" is a teacher's worst nightmare. But it isn't true. Real kids in danger cooperate to save themselves.

How Dyslexic Kids Learn to Read When Removed From School

Dyslexia is usually described as a cognitive or perceptual disorder, but these stories make it clear that the more serious problem was an emotional one—school-induced trauma.

Hype Versus Fact on Social Media and Teens’ Mental Health

When you read dramatic headlines about great damage to kids from social media or other uses of screens, it’s good to ask about the actual data.

Registrations for Homeschooling Are Soaring

A Gallop Poll, Aug. 27, revealed a doubling in rate of homeschooling in the US. Some reasons derive from immediate pandemic effects on typical schools, but others go beyond that.

Kids Continued to Cope Well Two Months After Schools Closed

Contrary to dire predictions about the effects of school closures, two surveys revealed that most children benefited from newfound free time.

Survey Reveals Children Coped Well With School Closure

A large, representative survey suggests that children's psychological health, sense of independence and responsibility, and relationships with parents improved when schools closed.

Undeserved Shame: Why Does It Occur?

Why would a person falsely accused and convicted of a crime experience shame? Why do people unfairly stigmatized for any reason feel it? This is why.

Thank You for Shaming Me. Really.

Why did shame come about, in natural selection, as a component of human nature? The answer lies in an understanding of how shame makes us acceptable to people on whom we depend.

The Case Against the Case Against Homeschooling

A professor contends that children have the right to government-enforced compulsory schooling. Think about that: A right that they can't refuse.

Is the Pandemic Causing Children’s Anxiety to Go Up or Down?

Before the school closures, children were suffering from record levels of anxiety, mostly school-induced. So how are kids using their newfound time?

Coronavirus School Closures: An Educational Opportunity

The closures of schools and organized after-school activities provide children and families with new opportunities for freedom and self-direction. Here are some suggestions.

A Question and Survey About Dyslexia

I am conducting here an informal survey to learn what happens when a child diagnosed with dyslexia subsequently leaves conventional schooling for self-directed education.

School Refusal: Crime, Mental Disorder, or Human Right?

Clinical psychologists treat school refusal as if it were a psychological disorder. Is it? When is refusal to abide by a norm a disorder needing treatment, and when is it not?

Head Start’s Value Lies in Care, Not Academic Training

Head Start and other programs for young children could work better if we removed the schoolishness and reverted to a greater focus on care.

Kindergarten Teachers Are Quitting, and Here Is Why

As one teacher wrote: "Who knew 5- and 6-year-olds could burn out? They certainly can, and I worry about how they’ll continue through school for the 12 years after I have them."

When Children Play, They Follow the Golden Rules of Fairness

Children are much better at sorting things out and playing fair than many adults believe, and adult interventions usually hinder more than they help.

Kindergarten Teachers Speak Out for Children’s Happiness

Kindergarten teachers can see first hand the harmful effects of our education policy for young children. Will they be heard? Will common sense and compassion prevail?

Ruby Lou and Me: Childhood in 1950

Here's to all the Ruby Lous of the world and my fervent wish that we re-create a world where Ruby Lous can do what they are designed to do--play, explore, be brave, be free.

The Play Theory of Hunter-Gatherer Egalitarianism

Hunter-gatherers may maintain their egalitarian, highly cooperative approach to social life by deliberately nurturing their playfulness.

Legislation and Public Policy Aimed at Restoring Childhood

In signing a bill into law, Utah Governor Herbert stated, "Responsible parents should be able to let kids be kids without constantly looking over their shoulders for approval."

Restoring Children’s Play: Creating Places for Social Play

To enable children to play freely with others, we must create spaces safe enough for today's nervous parents, yet free from adult control. Here is a list of possibilities.

Restoring Children’s Play: Overcoming Parental Fears

What are the misgivings and fears that prevent parents from freeing their children for independent outdoor play—and how can those fears be overcome?

How Can We Restore Children’s Independent Outdoor Play?

Play deprivation is a tragic consequence of our over-control of children's lives. What can we do to remedy this problem? I want your ideas.

The Many Shades of Fear-Based Parenting

The enemy of trustful parenting is fear. Here is a taxonomy and description of maladaptive, fear-based parenting styles—helicopter, snowplow, fuel-injector, tiger, and defensive.

Children’s Freedom: A Human Rights Perspective

Children today are far more deprived of liberty than they were in decades past, and they are suffering because of that. The culprit is our ignorance, not ill will.

The Value of Mind Wandering in Solving Difficult Problems

We sometimes solve problems best when we stop trying.

The Age Four Transition to Responsible Childhood

Throughout human history, until very recently, people understood that the capacity for common sense, restraint, and self-controlled safety grows rather rapidly at around age 4.

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