Anonymous wrote:
I'm wondering why kids walk alone?
I walked quite a distance by third grade -- but I was in a gang of neighborhood kids and we all walked together. There were always at least 5 of us, and we ranged from K to 5th.
Anonymous wrote:We have crossing guards at the busy sections, one four way stop and one t-stop. Is that unusual?
Anonymous wrote:If the kid is mature and there are no busy streets to cross (or a crossing guard is present), and you are comfortable with the safety of the neighborhood, I would let my kid walk as young as 1st grade. 0.3 miles is about 3 full blocks? But then, I'm not a helicopter parent.
Anonymous wrote:3rd grade in our house.
My kids both spent a considerable amount of time walking me to school before I let them go alone. They had to stop at each intersection and narrate through "look left, look right, look left" and "make eye contact with the driver". I'm big on eye contact because plenty of drivers in our neighborhood pull up to the stop signs and only look left because their only option is to turn right. Then they have a panic attack as they're pulling out to the right and suddenly notice us.