How field trips and walking to school are simple first steps in teaching children the lifelong skill of independence.
Last week, my two-year-old son took a ‘secret’ field trip. His yochien (preschool) packed up all of their child class students, took them on a bus, and would not tell us where.
When we learned about the plan, the other American parents and I looked at each other in excited disbelief. “This would never happen in America,” we whispered, conscious of the mountains of forms and waivers that would have been deemed necessary back home for such a trip. Yet we weren’t horrified or worried. We were delighted.