This photo taken Aug. 17, 2009 shows Sophie Allen,11, sewing in her Boise,Idaho home. Until recent decades, "there wasn't this idea that parents should be intervening constantly to make things a teachable moment and expand their minds," said Stephanie Coontz, who teaches history and family studies at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash.. "Their minds expand a lot better when they pursue things they're interested in for themselves." (AP Photo/Anne Wallace Allen)

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Parenting: Tweens need playtime, too

• By ncs-import
• August 24, 2009