Katherine Johnson Martinko is a Canadian editor and writer. She is the author of Childhood Unplugged: Practical Advice to Get Kids Off Screens and Find Balance (New Society Publishers, 2023).
Katherine spent 10 years as a senior writer and editor at Treehugger, a major environmental news site, where she wrote extensively about free-range parenting and the importance of outdoor play for children. A graduate of the University of Toronto, she now works as a freelance editor and writer.
She has contributed to Discovery Network’s Parentables website. Her work has appeared in the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, Medium, Motherly, Huffington Post, and other publications.
Katherine is an outspoken proponent of digital minimalist parenting, practicing what she preaches with her own three sons, ages 8, 11, and 14. Her kids don’t have smartphones or tablets, and the family prioritizes offline activities whenever possible, playing outside, reading, cooking, hanging out with friends, camping, hiking, and skiing.
She lives in Port Elgin, Ontario, Canada, which is a small beach town on the edge of beautiful Lake Huron. When she’s not writing or reading, Katherine enjoys playing violin in a local symphony, riding her electric cargo bike, going to the gym, and planning elaborate dinner parties.
Expertise
Katherine received an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and History from the University of Toronto. She is also a graduate of the The Royal Conservatory of Music, where she studied violin under Canadian Opera Company concertmaster. She studied Italian and Portuguese while living in Sardinia and Brazil. Katherine was homeschooled for five years.
Katherine is multilingual (Portuguese, Italian, French, English). And she is an award-winning public speaker and community leader.
In addition to her book, she has also written for several popular outlets including the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, Medium, Motherly, and Huffington Post.
Reader Favorites by Katherine
Here are some of Katherine’s most popular articles here on Green Child:
Low-Tech Parenting: Tips from a Digital Minimalist Mom
Contact
You can follow Katherine’s work by subscribing to her Substack newsletter, The Analog Family. Her email is knmartinko@gmail.com.
You can also follow her on these platforms: