How far do you let your 1st to 3rd grader walk w/o adult to a friend's house?

[Anonymous]

Assuming you let your 1st to 3rd grader walk to a friend's house in the neighborhood, a) how far can they walk without an adult, b) do they only walk without an adult in certain situations (eg, to/from school, only if a sibling/friend walks along, and c) what kind of area do you live in (eg, exburb, suburb, town/neighborhood within the beltway, DC, etc).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Assuming you let your 1st to 3rd grader walk to a friend's house in the neighborhood, a) how far can they walk without an adult, b) do they only walk without an adult in certain situations (eg, to/from school, only if a sibling/friend walks along, and c) what kind of area do you live in (eg, exburb, suburb, town/neighborhood within the beltway, DC, etc).

Forgot to say, my DC are comfortable walking with a sib or friend about a block though I'd let them go a bit further. I ask other parent to text to let me know kids arrived at destination. We live in suburban NoVA.

[Anonymous]

We live in Arlington. We let our 6 yo walk alone to any house that we can see from our front walk while we watch her (it's a sleepy cul de sac/safe walk). She can walk close by in the neighborhood with her 10 yo brother; an adult does any other walking with her.

[Anonymous]

We live in a suburb, Great Falls. My kids walk/ride bike up to half a mile to a friend's house. Other's are closer. I usually don't know where they are and have to text parents or drive around to find them. This has been since age 7. I was hesitant at first, but there are a lot of kids in the neighborhood and they all travel around freely, so I fell in step.

[Anonymous]

I live along U Street, so I only let my children walk where I can see them. They have a friend at the end of the block and another right across the street. I'm never far away from them while they do this.

There's a corner store barely three blocks away and it's my dream that a DC will be able to walk over and buy a loaf of bread by themselves at some point. But, not any time soon. They are in 1st. By the time they are in 3rd, I should be cool with it. There are two busy-ish (no light) streets they need to cross. That's the issue, not the urban environment. Same with walking to school. There's a very large, busy street on the way to school that stops me from allowing them to go independently. Because they are such a known entity in the neighborhood, I think they'd have a lot of oversight on the way to school. But, that street is a huge obstacle for me.

Every once in a while, we practice by having them hold hands and pretend they're walking by themselves. I break the illusion and hold their hands while crossing that street, but we fall back into pretending once we've passed it.

[Anonymous]

Kinder and 1st - around the block is fine, and two blocks over is fine. My girls know to ask to use the phone "So I can call my mom and let her know I got here." Then they call again when they're leaving to come home. If it's dark out the parent watches from their door and I go down to the end of the block to meet them.

2nd and older - they can go anywhere within our development which could be up to 12 or 14 blocks away. They just have to call when they get there.

[Anonymous]

OP again, I'd let my DC go further in our development (though our neighborhood doesn't fit that definition as houses popped up on sometimes oddly shaped plots over the past 150 years), but it is their comfort level holding them back so I don't push it. Other kids trek to their friends houses here, but parents of some older kids (some as old as 12) aren't even allowed to walk to school. My DC may have keyed into that. I want mine to in incrementally develop life skills, so I nudge but don't push.

[Anonymous]

I just starting feeling comfortable with my 9 year old 3rd grader walking around the neighborhood out of my sight. One main street through, but even it is barely driven on. It's a dead end, with 5 cul de sacs coming off it, and ours is one of them.

Traffic is my primary concern. He does look both ways now. That wasn't the case last fall.

I only have one, so I'm not sure how I'd feel about a 1st grade sibling tagging along quite yet.

[Anonymous]

I let my 2nd grader walk/bike to a friend's house on our same street in Vienna. The blocks are long and they go up and down the street together, between the two houses or play outside. They have to be at either house or in our yards. I would let him go to other houses a couple of blocks away but he is still not good with time and coming home when I tell him. I am still not comfortable with not knowing exactly where he is, so baby steps for both of us. Suburban, safe neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

6 year old/1st grader. Does not walk or go anywhere without an adult except to the house next door. If he is outside, we are there supervising.

[Anonymous]

7 year old first grader. We let her go up to a mile or 15 minutes walk.

[Anonymous]

6yr old first grader. We live across the street from cul de sac in eyesight and she crosses herself with me watching and goes up and plays with the other kids. I peek here and there. She usually crosses back on her own unless I call her for dinner.

She can also go up 5-7 houses in either direction to friends homes, either walk, bike or scooter. I do not watch. I used to until winter break but it was getting ridiculous. She knows how to walk up a sidewalk 100 yards.

A lot of the parents were talking about loosening the reigns a bit and letting them go play up in the park on their own this summer which is the next block over and no crossing streets. Fingers crossed some of the moms stick with it. Kids need to learn some street smarts and critical thinking skills like we did as kids. It is healthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:6 year old/1st grader. Does not walk or go anywhere without an adult except to the house next door. If he is outside, we are there supervising.

Wow, this is really crazy to me!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:6 year old/1st grader. Does not walk or go anywhere without an adult except to the house next door. If he is outside, we are there supervising.

Wow, this is really crazy to me!

It's not crazy. I didn't let my oldest go anywhere at 6 either. She pays no attention to cars, other people walking their dogs, or small steps in the sidewalk. It's no big deal to stand on the front step to watch her walk to a neighbors. My middle has a bit more freedom to go places on her own because she is less likely to wander into the street chasing a butterfly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:6 year old/1st grader. Does not walk or go anywhere without an adult except to the house next door. If he is outside, we are there supervising.

Wow, this is really crazy to me!

It's not crazy. I didn't let my oldest go anywhere at 6 either. She pays no attention to cars, other people walking their dogs, or small steps in the sidewalk. It's no big deal to stand on the front step to watch her walk to a neighbors. My middle has a bit more freedom to go places on her own because she is less likely to wander into the street chasing a butterfly.

OP here ... Knowing your DC's limits is important. If I had a DC who wandered to chase butterflies, I'd my eye more on that kid too and increase DC's range in smaller increments than another child. Sounds PP's other DC was a bit more focused and could handle a bit more distance. Different limits are necessary for different DC.