It’s a pretty standard question and an important one! The answer makes everything easier – decorating the nursery, buying clothes, selecting toys, the list goes on.

However, we’ve recently become accustomed to the phrase gender-neutral. It’s usually used by a person who is describing themselves in this way. Now though, there are Moms who have decided to raise their children without gender.

There are a variety of reasons Moms make this decision. Perhaps, they don’t want their child to feel the need to adapt to social expectations, or it could be a more personal reason.

While it’s great for Moms to be open-minded while raising their child in a way they feel is best, some of their family members might not feel this is a good decision.

Meet 10 Moms who are raising their children to be genderless and hear what their families have to say about their decision.

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Kyl Myers made the decision to raise her child gender-neutral. Kyl and her husband have kept Zoomer’s gender top secret from everyone, including Kyl’s parents.

However, Zoomer’s grandparents have strong feelings about this. It’s not that they’re against their daughter’s decision to raise their grandchild gender-neutral. They just feel left out.

It’s easy to understand why they feel this way. For starters, their generation did not grow up with gender neutrality.

On a personal level though, Zoomer’s grandparents feel like they’re missing out on specific bonding experiences with their grandchild.

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For Calli Glorioso-Mays and her husband Caleb, they have received negative feedback from both friends and family about their decision.

The couple made it clear they planned to raise their children gender neutral so they grow up never “seeing their sex as a hindrance or excuse.”

Most of the negative feedback they have received wasn’t from a place of disagreement. It was mostly from a place of confusion. People are having trouble understanding why they would let their son wear a bow in his hair.

Everyone raises their child the best way they know-how. Calli is doing what she thinks is right for her children, regardless of the confusion it causes within her friends and family.

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For Mom Beck Laxton, her family and that of her partner’s has been nothing but understanding and compassionate. Perhaps this is because they haven’t kept their child’s gender a complete secret from them.

Only a select few family members were actually told about the gender of their child. This allowed family members to feel included in the child’s life and not be completely left in the dark.

The decision for gender-neutral comes from not wanting their son to be “influenced by society’s prejudices and preconceptions.”

Facebook

Katy Chatel’s family and friends told her that she “better like yellow because everything you’re gonna get will be yellow unless you fess up.”

When she made the choice to raise her child gender-neutral – friends and family weren’t so understanding.

She believes that “individuals should be free to express gender as they see fit” which means she’s allowing her child to choose a gender.

Apparently, it hasn’t been easy for Katy to deal with the lack of compassion she’s faced for her decision. Hopefully, as time goes on her family and friends will adjust to her decision and support her.

Youtube

Julia and Nate Sharpe’s family has been pretty supportive of their choice to raise their children gender-neutral. However, they have run across one problem.

Their relatives are having trouble dealing with “the whole pronoun thing.” Upon learning she was pregnant Julia had trouble deciding whether or not she would find out the gender of her twins.

A lot of this had to do with what Julia experiences at work. As a female engineer, her field is mostly male-dominated.

Therefore, she understands the constraints of gender expectation firsthand. Not everyone in the family is understanding of the Sharpe’s decision to keep the gender of their children private. In addition, many people in their lives struggle with they/them pronouns.

Instagram

Not every family has trouble with children being gender neutral though. Miranda has decided to raise her child gender neutral and refers to them as “hen.”

Miranda had trouble dealing with gender stereotypes. She struggles with people saying stuff like “you’re my big strong boy, or aren’t you a cute little princess?” to her child. Therefore, she decided to raise her child gender-less.

She shared that her family is extremely understanding about what to call her child. In addition, they are careful about what pronouns to use as well.

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For a Mom who blogs at Twin Cities, she has only had positive experiences when it came to announcing she’d raise her children gender-neutral.

She realized after giving birth to her son that gender truly did not matter. Initially, she admits that she thought gender did matter. However, she quickly realized that “color, clothes, and toys do not have genders” therefore, she decided gender would be neutral in her house.

Gender is so neutral in fact, that her son and daughter are free to play with what they please! “Our daughter has been helping in Daddy’s workshop since before she could walk…our son likes to get into my lipstick while I am in the shower.”

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This story that took place in Canada is a fairly famous one. Storm Stocker-Witterick’s Mom and Dad decided they were going to raise her gender-neutral.

Many people are under the impression that since their child is so young, they will follow along with being raising gender-less. However, sometimes children surprise us and make their own decisions.

Storm told her parents when she was just five years old that she was in fact, a girl. Despite being raised without a gender, Storm was able to decide how she wanted to identify.

Facebook

Cyberbullying happens over the internet via social media or online games or through texts and emails, and according to Statistic Brain, 52% of students have reportedly been cyberbullied.

It’s a very real concern as a parent to have to worry about if your child is being subjected to this kind of mistreatment, and very often you might have to do some digital digging to find out the extent.

So what you can do to prevent cyberbullying from happening to your child in the first place?

Encourage Your Child’s Self Esteem

No matter what age your child is, it is never too late to help encourage their self esteem, sense of worth, and confidence. You can’t do this too much!

You want to encourage your child to do things that they enjoy, and inspire them to be proud of his or her self.

The bottom line here is that children that have more confidence and self esteem tend to not really be picked on. If they do end up at the end of this, they are much better at letting it go or not letting it bother them then kids with poor self esteem.

So, always work to build your child’s self esteem. It will pay off in more ways than one!

Don’t Be Afraid To Monitor Your Child’s Activity

Don’t you dare be afraid to monitor your child’s activity on the internet or their phone. Should you find yourself needing help with that, here are plenty of apps to help you that we have covered in the past.

Some simple ways to make that happen without apps: keep the family computer in a space that is highly visible and used frequently by the rest of the family so that everyone can see what they are doing at all times, and don’t let them have a computer or laptop in their room where you can’t monitor what they do.

Don’t let your child keep his or her cell phone password protected so that if you need to, you can go in and see what they are up to at all times.

Privacy is a privilege, not a right, and you as a parent are obligated to keep your child safe, and be apprised of what they are up to.

Don’t feel badly about that.

Put A Limit On Your Child’s Internet Time

Growing up, my children had a time sheet where they had to clock in and out for the time they spent on the internet, and they only got 40 minutes a day.

Oh yes, they clocked in and out just like employees do. I built a chart and they had to write down the time they started and the time they ended after their 40 minutes were up. No exceptions.

Why else is this beneficial? It encourages your child to be part of the family. It encourages your child to play, go outside, spent time interacting face to face with their friends.

All of those things are put at risk when your child spends too much time on the internet, along with increasing their chance of being cyberbullied.

If they don’t spend a lot of time on the internet or social media, they can’t possibly have a problem with other kids who spend all their time there!

Make Sure Your Child Knows They Can Trust & Confide In You

As parents, our job is to be our child’s friend, but still be their parent too. I know that’s a hard thing to balance, but it can be done.

The more your child knows they can trust and confide in you, the more you’re going to know about their life and the more you are going to be able to do about problems as they arise. Knowledge is power.

Don’t be afraid to frequently tell your child that they can tell you anything, bad or good, and you will hear them out without overreacting.

Don’t Be In The Dark About Your Child’s Life At School

Children spend the majority of their time at school, so you cannot be in the dark about what goes on there for them. Chances are good if your child is being bullied at school, they could very well be bullied online as well.

Get to know your children’s teachers. Get to know the administration of their school- principals, etc. Get to know their guidance counselors.

Don’t be afraid to ask for any of their help if you suspect there is an issue. Part of their jobs entail helping to resolve conflicts and problems, so they’re one of your biggest resources, especially since you physically cannot be there at school with your child.

Teach Your Child To Protect Their Personal Information

It’s highly important in this day and age to teach your child to never give their personal information out over the internet, for obvious reasons. It puts them at too much risk, to say nothing of how easy it makes them as a cyberbullying target.

Phone numbers, posts, texts, can always be shared without your child’s permission. Let them know if they would like to give a friend their cell phone number or email, they should always do so in person.

Also make sure you teach your child to never share their passwords to any of their social media accounts with any of their friends, as this can put them at risk as well.

Know Your Child’s Friends

Know them. Know them all. Make sure you are aware of who your child is friends with, obviously because you don’t want them running in bad circles or falling in with the wrong crowd. Why else is it important for you to know who your child is friends with?

So you can monitor who they are friends with on social networks too. Do they really know these people? Are they friends with them in real life? You should know!

Teach Your Child How To Deal With Cyberbullying

Make sure you sit down with your child and have a conversation with them about how to deal with cyberbullying, whether they’re the victim or they see this happening to another child.

It’s important to educate your child on the signs of cyberbullying so that they can better handle it if they do find themselves encountering it.

Ensure that your child knows to report cyberbullying to you, or a teacher, or another adult right away. Depending on where they are or when something like this could happen you might not always be there to be the first person they could tell.

Also be sure to teach your child where the block button is on various social media platforms so they can eliminate other children (or even adults) from harassing them.

Even if you don’t always feel confident (we ALL have days like that as Moms) you have everything you need to impart to your child self worth and confidence.

If your child lacks confidence, it can be detrimental to them as they get older because they’re terrified of failure or disappointing you.

Here are 3 things you should completely avoid doing so you don’t mess them up!

Comparing Your Child To Other Children

Comparing your child to other children (whether they be siblings, classmates, friends) is just detrimental to their confidence.

This type of behavior from you will help your child feel inadequate, jealous, competitive, and like they are just not good enough.

Every child needs to have their own time to shine in front of their Mom, and you need to be able to help them to shine in their own right.

Packing Out Your Child’s Schedule

Packing out your child’s schedule just is going to hurt them in the long run, if not the short one. You need time to relax, right? So does your child.

Keeping them involved in a ton of activities just is going to burn them out and make them feel frazzled. It can even lead to a full on breakdown later on.

Your child needs downtime! Let them have a few hours a day to themselves to play and relax.

Having No Activities

You as a Mom need to strike the balance between packing out your child’s schedule and having no activities scheduled for them.

Having no activities can also hurt them because things like tennis lessons or dance classes (whatever your child likes and shows an interest in should be something you support, so these are just examples) teach them so many valuable skills.

That being said, learning something new of course helps build confidence.

Pictured above is a mother holding up her baby 

To us, it seems like celebrities have absolutely perfect lives. In a lot of ways, they really do have it made.

They’re very financially stable, they can basically vacation anywhere they want in the world, and they’re able to enjoy the best restaurants, clubs and everything else we could only imagine.

However, many of these stars have not always had the easy, carefree life they do now. Most of them have had a very interesting and tough start to life.

Some grew up poor, in really rough areas, and others were raised by just by their moms after their fathers decided to abandon them.

While every celebrity on this list is famous for different reasons, they all share one thing in common – they were raised by single moms!

A lot of them even claim they wouldn’t be who they are today without the support of their moms.

Pictured above is a mom and baby on the beach

The US Department of Health and Human Services recently estimated that children in America are in front of screens or other electronic media for 7 hours every single day. That’s a pretty scary statistic when you hear about what the optimal time should be to avoid the harmful effects this has on your child.

Experts in America and Canada are saying that children under 18-months of age should not have any access to technology and screen time at all. Children that have access to screen time between the crucial ages of 2 to 3-years-old experienced developmental issues around the ages of 3 and 5-years-old, according to a new study recently published from JAMA Pediatrics.

For children ages 18 to 24-months old, they should only have access to screen time for one hour a day, and it should only be high quality and educational programming that they view for that hour.

The study says that, “Excessive screen time can impinge on children’s ability to develop optimally; it is recommended that pediatricians and health care practitioners guide parents on appropriate amounts of screen exposure and discuss potential consequences of excessive screen use.”

Shockingly enough, toddlers exposed to screen time end up missing out on meeting key milestones in their development, and end up with developmental delays. It makes sense when you think about it; growth is stunted when children spend time in front of screens and little time in the outside world.

Concentration, the ability to pay attention and focus, the ability to develop a good vocabulary, the ability to gauge the attitude and feelings of others and develop social skills: those are some of the things that can suffer terribly in regards to your child’s development.

The good news is this is something you can completely control!

There are so many different activities you can do with your child in order to avoid screen time, such as playing with toys, coloring, playing outside, kicking a ball, riding a bike, going to the playground, going to the library, reading a book….the opportunities to occupy your child in a meaningful way are endless!

Something as simple as you always cooking dinner or always doing laundry could influence your child to think that is what women do and those are a woman’s job. If you child always sees dad mowing the lawn, they can come to think that is a man’s job. It is important that children understand that boys and girls, men and women, can all excel at different tasks and careers.

It’s also important that children feel like they have the freedom and permission to follow their hearts and interests, despite what society might deem is appropriate. Here’s what you can do as a mom to prevent your child from developing stereotypical gender roles.

Encourage Play With A Broad Spectrum Of Toys

Make sure you give your child a broad spectrum of different toys to play with, such as baby dolls, trucks, dinosaurs, blocks, stuffed animals….you get the picture.

Provide Your Child With Examples Of Non-Stereotypical Gender Roles

Provide your child with examples of books, puzzles, TV shows, games, and media that don’t conform to stereotypical gender roles. For example, a book that features a male nurse and a female police officer.

Let Your Child Pick His Or Her Interests

Permit your child to pick sports or other activities that interests him or her. For example, if your daughter wants to play baseball and your son wants to ride horses, let them!

Switch Up The Gender Roles At Home

At home, switch up gender roles. For example, dad can do the cooking one night and you can get out there and mow the lawn to let your child see real life examples of activities that don’t conform to stereotypical gender roles.

Encourage Friendship & Play Dates With Boys & Girls

Encourage your child to make friend with both boys and girls, and encourage them to have playdates with both boys and girls too.

A chore chart really is every Mom’s best friend, and we have some tips for chore chart success, along with a chore chart you can print out right now to use.

Make Your Expectations Reasonable 

Make sure that the chores you are giving your child are age-appropriate. In case you were wondering what that might be, we made you a handy list to help. For example, if you want your child to make their own bed, but they’re younger in age, it’s going to be very hard for them to handle bedsheets, pillows, a duvet, and everything else that might go on their bed all alone.

Let’s say you want your child to hang up their clothes in the closet, but they can’t reach the hangers. See what we mean? Make adjustments to what you expect if you’re not setting your child up for success.

Think About The Rewards

Take time to think about what the rewards for your child will be. Will your child do chores in exchange for money? Can they exchange chores for other privileges or benefits, like time on the computer? Consider what will work the best to motivate your child.

Considering Setting Time Aside For Chores

It’s a good idea to consider setting aside a certain time of day for chores. That helps to keep your child in a routine, as well as keep them consistent.

Don’t Forget About The Other Responsibilities Your Child Has

On top of getting chores done, you child will probably have to get homework done or do other activities as well, depending on their age. It’s your job as a Mom to make sure there is enough time in the day to get everything done. If you see your child struggling to accomplish everything that’s on their plate, think about what you can remove so they have a more manageable time. You want to do your best to set your child up for success.

Visual Charts Inspire Focus

Having a physical, visual chore chart for your child to see inspires focus. If they can look at exactly what is expected of them and what they need to accomplish, it really helps them to understand and connect the dots.

The Chip Chicklets chore chart is below, and there are several ways you can use it. You can print it out and laminate, then use a dry erase board marker to fill responsibilities in weekly, or you can print it out every week and start new. You can simply check off each day with a marker, or you can use a sticker, which is personally our favorite. Stickers are just a lot more exciting and something children really enjoy working towards. You can use the top line to write in your child’s name and we even have a notes section in case you need to jot things down.

For reality TV star Deena Cortese, she’s learning that being a new mom doesn’t even get you a pass for all the insanely out of line internet haters. You probably know her best from the hit MTV show Jersey Shore, but her latest role is mom of tiny little Christopher John. Being in the public eye is hard enough, but being a new mom in the public eye? What a tough thing to navigate.

Instagram; Deena snuggles her son CJ in the photo above

Deena and her son, whom she is calling CJ, couldn’t even leave the hospital without getting shamed by internet trolls. As any new mom does, Deena shared a bunch of adorable photos of her newborn on her Instagram. Her posts quickly garnered a slew of comments from other moms feeling the need to shame her and pick apart her parenting, and it all started when she posted a photo of her and her husband about to leave the hospital with their son.

Instagram; Deena and her husband, Chris, prepare to leave the hospital with their son CJ in the photo above

The photo above is what set the mom shamers off. CJ is wearing an outfit that looks pretty appropriate for New Jersey in January. Considering how cold it is, it makes sense that Deena tried to bundle up her little bundle of joy. Mom shamers were quick to come for Deena in their quest for carseat safety.

A lot of Deena’s negative followers commented that CJ’s outfit was too bulky for him to be safe while in his carseat dressed like that. Deena had a bunch of fans that tried to defend her in the comments, and Deena decided to stick up for herself and her family. “Going home, ( it’s not a jacket .. it’s a onesie and hospital approved it ) we’re not perfect but we got this, thank you for the concerns.” Deena said.

As one commenter pointed out on the post, “holy shit, “Mum Shaming” is horrible here..” I couldn’t agree more.

Instagram; CJ in the outfit mom shamers freaked out about on Instagram

Honestly, this makes me completely understand why Kylie Jenner chose to not even let her fans know she was pregnant, and it makes sense that she continues to keep her life pretty private even now that her daughter has been born.

Instagram; CJ is already showing off some stylish outfits in the above photo

This might seem like one heck of a drastic measure to you, but…. her husband wants to name their baby the same name as his ex! She anonymously took to Reddit to ask for advice on how to handle the situation. She also revealed to readers that her husband’s ex was the woman he “loved the most.” In addition, the two dated for a very long period of time.

That’s hardly the end of the story, though. This particular ex even caused issues in their marriage. She eventually moved out of town, and this Mom-to-be thought her departure meant the end of the problems she was having with her husband. That was…until her husband announced he wanted to name their baby after her!

“Now he made it clear that he wants the baby to have that name and I can name the second child,” she told the Reddit community.

“When I asked him why does he want that name so badly he said just because he and his ex dint work out doesn’t mean he doesn’t want something to keep reminding him of her. He doesn’t understand how much its affecting me and keeps saying its just the hormones. Is he still in love with the ex or its normal that he wants to name OUR child like that.”

Reddit; pictured above is the original post from this Mom-to-be explaining her dilemma 

The whole post reads:

“Hello reddit. This title might look funny but its an actual problem between me (23F) and my husband (24M). We’ve been dating for a year, been married for 2 years. I got pregnant like 7 months ago so recently we started discussing name for the baby. Ever since we found out its gonna be a girl my husband wants to name it like his exes name.

Its not any ex but the one he dated for long period of time and loved the most. In the beginning of our relationship we had may problems because of her but she moved away so the problems went away.

He really loved her and he never hid that from me but I thought it was over once she moved away. Now he made it clear that he wants the baby to have that name and I can name the second child. When I asked him why does he want that name so badly he said just because he and his ex didnt work out doesnt mean he doesnt want something to keep reminding him of her.

He doesnt understand how much its affecting me and keeps saying its just the hormones. Is he still in love with the ex or its normal that he wants to name OUR child like that. Thank you!”

The Reddit community stepped up to offer her some sage advice. One user said, “I’m more concerned about his lack of respect for you as his partner, his number one, his wife. You might try relationship counseling but I suspect his disrespect extends beyond the baby naming issue.”

Another added, “My husband: “guy sounds like a fucking imbecile… and a creep”. To be fair, then, he said maybe OP should have seen the warning signs before they were married. OP, I hope you get out of this disrespectful marriage before you start believing this is all you’re worth.”

“When your daughter gets older how do you explain that to her? “Oh honey, daddy wanted to name you after an ex girlfriend because even though things didn’t work out with them, that doesn’t mean he didn’t want to be reminded of her every single day.” I mean really? That’s why you keep a card or maybe a picture? Like nothing is more creepy than this. I don’t know if he’s still in love with her and just settled with you, or if he is just really stupid. To blame it on your hormones is a joke.” A third user went on to say.

Weirdly enough, there are a heck of a lot of comments on this post from people that were actually named after one of their parents’ exes. Strange. I think it is safe to assume that if your husband wants to only name your child after his ex, there is just no way he is over her.

Different Milks

As adults, we have a lot of different choices in regards to what kind of milk we want to drink. For us though, it isn’t completely essential we drink milk as part of our diet. For babies, especially newborns, having the correct milk is extremely important.

We can drink almond, coconut, soy or other nut “milks” but studies have proven if you give this to your baby it can cause problems. One of the latest fads is switching your baby over from breastmilk or formula to nut-based milk (almond, coconut, soy, etc.). This is because some parents, who are practicing vegans, want their children to keep a vegan diet as well.

Having your baby drink these milks before they are a year old can lead to serious nutrient deficiencies, dehydration, or even death. What many parents are forgetting is that breastmilk, and soy-based formulas, are actually vegan approved.

Yes Parenting

Another fad that is taking over the parenting world is called ‘yes parenting.’ Yes, it is as crazy as it sounds. Instead of telling your child ‘no’ or ‘don’t’, parents have started using what is called positive discipline. I know, the words positive and discipline rarely go together – let’s dive into what this really entails.

This style of parenting is slightly confusing. In “yes parenting” there are no bribes, no yelling, no sticker charts, no time-outs. Why exactly? It argues that both rewards and punishments override a child’s natural desire to behave a specific way. Basically, it’s saying that when you don’t use ‘yes parenting’ you’re teaching your child to behave certain ways only so they are rewarded.

Psychologists say that this form of parenting is actually doing more harm than good. They say that the word ‘no’ creates healthy boundaries. Therefore, when your children grow up they have no problem creating boundaries in their relationships throughout life. If you grow up never hearing the word – it makes it way more difficult.

RIE Parenting

This form of parenting is one that I can’t even begin to wrap my head around. Let me introduce to you RIE parenting, or as it’s formally called “Resources for Infant Educarers.” What exactly is RIE parenting?

In short, it’s treating your children like they are a mini adult (I know, it’s wild). RIE encourages parents to avoid baby talk and speak to your babies as though you’re having adult-style conversations. It also discourages any toys, strollers, lullabies, sippy cups, high chairs, pacifiers. So, anything that would bring your child joy, soothe them, or make your life easier – you need to avoid.

While I could go on, and on, about the issues with this style of parenting – here is the bottom line: baby talk helps babies who are learning to speak, and high chairs, strollers, and sippy cups exist for a baby’s safety.

Freebirthing

I don’t know one person who isn’t a little nervous when you start to talk about even the idea of child birth. It’s scary. You’re literally pushing another human being out of your body. With all of that being said you should be allowed to deliver your baby in the way that makes you the most comfortable.

While comfort is important – so is safety for both mother and baby. Some women are jumping on board with the latest fad called Freebirthing, but it isn’t actually very safe. Freebirthing is a movement of women reclaiming their autonomy during pregnancy, childbirth, and then motherhood.

Basically, it’s when a woman wants to deliver her baby entirely on her own with absolutely zero medical assistance. It also encourages women to have minimal to no contact with doctors during their pregnancies.

In essence, people are avoiding modern medicine and it seems as though they’ve forgotten how important doctors are. In addition, it’s like they don’t realize how dangerous childbirth can be. Unfortunately, Freebirthing often ends tragically, but we can’t say we’re surprised by that.

Extreme Breastfeeding

Anything about breastfeeding is kind of a touchy subject. Each Mom has their views on why they do it or why they don’t. However, all of us know that breastmilk is full of necessary nutrients and antibodies that are extremely beneficial.

Breastfeeding is, of course, a good thing, but it also has its disadvantages. Specifically, extreme breastfeeding. Basically, extreme breastfeeding is exactly what it sounds like – breastfeeding for too long.

Too long can mean a few things. It could be too long, in regards to the child getting too old for it. Or it could be merely too long for a length of time.

Restricted Diets

This fad being problematic won’t come as a surprise to anyone. Putting your baby on a restricted or special diet is not the best idea. This is especially an issue if your baby doesn’t need to be on a special diet.

Moms like Kourtney Kardashian and Gwyneth Paltrow are big advocates of putting their children on special diets. These diets include making their children gluten free, meat free, or carb free, even when their children don’t show any signs of food intolerance. It’s actually pretty detrimental to your child’s health to restrict them of foods unnecessarily.

Harvard revealed on their health blog “children should never go on a gluten-free diet unless their doctor has specifically instructed them to.”

They went further to explain why restricted diets are a problem, gluten contains crucial nutrients and calories that children need to have. Cutting dairy from their diet without reason eliminates the source of calcium that children need.

Measles Parties

This trend builds off of the debate regarding shots. There are many parents who have made the controversial decision not to vaccinate their children. That is not the fad we are talking about. We’re talking about the fad called measles parties.

This is a trend that was started by the misinformed parents who have made the decision not to vaccinate their children. These parties initially started in the 1950s and 1960s, before the measles vaccine was invented, the idea was based on adults thinking children will somehow build up an immunity to measles. Of course, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention discourages intentionally exposing yourself to measles, and your children too.

Having these parties is dangerous for your child’s health. It is particularly dangerous for children under the age of five to attend these parties. When exposed to measles without proper vaccination, it can result in pneumonia, brain swelling, and even death.

Unschooling

This particular fad is an educational philosophy that allows children to choose what they are taught in school. It’s referred to as unschooling. Unschooling puts the children completely in control of what they’re learning. They get to decide what they’re taught based on their interests.

In addition, the kids are in control of what they do and how they do it while in the classroom. Of course, this method is not used in a traditional classroom. It is only used in homeschooling. Experts have weighed in and found that children schooled with this method had lower academic scores in writing, reading, and arithmetic compared to their counterparts that had structure.

Unschooling can also cause problems for children in the long term. The real-world revolves around structure and deadlines. Not enforcing these things at a young age makes it virtually impossible to integrate them into your adult life.