Hi from Sydney

No, it's not the Netherlands!  But it is a new international adventure.  I arrived in Australia yesterday, after 20 hours or so of flying from Indiana.  I'm here for a symposium on infant-toddler care and education at Charles Sturt U. in Bathurst, just a hundred miles or so west of Sydney.  I've got 5 days in Sydney before heading over to Bathurst.  It's a great city to explore!  I spent the first two days walking a lot, exploring the central city, shopping for a few items of clothing I didn't bring.  People are friendly.  It's nice to be in a harbor city-- the ocean seems all around me.  I am staying in a small hotel in North Sydney, Neutral Bay, so I need to take the ferry to get to downtown Sydney.  It passes the Opera House on the way.  It's been rainy since I arrived, but tomorrow it is supposed to clear, and I will take the ferry to Sydney Harbour National Park, rent a bike, and spend the day seeing some the coastal woods and the beach.

Back home in Indiana--Renewed!

We have been back in Indiana now for 4 weeks! The re-entry was not as hard as I had expected.  After 5 months in Europe, it felt good to be home. It's especially good to see Laura and Amy. (Haven't seen Amy yet, but hope to soon.) Plenty of hot temperatures and humidity, and even that felt good compared with the cool days in the Netherlands! The running, swimming, and biking I did in Amsterdam paid off.  Patty and I participated in our first ever triathlon on July 16th.  It was exciting, fun, challenging.  A feeling of accomplishment to realize I could set a goal and do something new, even at age 60. Come to think of it, my sabbatical was a lot about renewal.  Not only getting in better physical shape, but also getting enough sleep, and taking time to think, read, and write.  I discovered new things about my work.  I got a few good ideas about things I want to do in my last 10 years as a university professor. Planted seeds for a couple of new projects about improving quality of child care for infants and toddlers. I was able to work with my students to publish several articles about work we've done in the past 10 years. Renewed friendships in Europe and made some new friends. The whole sabbatical was an energy boost! 

Goodbye, Amsterdam!

My trusty steed.  Sold to a young guy from Montreal.

Its almost time to go home.  We fly to Indiana on Saturday.

Things I will miss about Amsterdam

The freedom of not having a car and getting around by bike or by good public transport.

Running in the Vondelpark.

The tolerance of Amsterdammers for wide variations in thought and behavior-- as long as it doesn’t hurt someone else.

Pretty women riding bikes.  (Note to Patty: This is a spectator sport only.)

Beautiful old houses on the canals.

Boats everywhere.

The textured feeling of walking and riding my bike over cobbles and bricks.

Cool breezy sunny days.

Fathers and mothers riding their little children on the bike, talking with them, singing to them, holding their hand.

Wine and conversations with my friend Louis.

Weekend bike rides in the green countryside.

Things I will not miss about Amsterdam

Four cold, rainy days in a row in late June.

Bromfietsen! (motor scooters)

Noisy drunken boys hollering at 2 AM on the street or in the apartment below.

The acceptance of mostly segregated “white” and “black” schools.

The high cost of everything when your income is in deflated US dollars.

Summer in Vondelpark

It's June, and Patty and I are aware that our time in Europe is running short. She arrives soon to spend the last few weeks with me in Amsterdam.  I think it will be a packed month, doing things we want to do in NL before we leave, spending time with our friends here, finishing work projects we need to get done.  But I find myself already getting reflective about my time here.  One important place for me, as you know if you read my first blogs, is the Vondelpark, Amsterdam's "Central Park."  I live just a few blocks away, so it's easy to run, walk, or bike there.  It has been a great place for me to think, exercise, feel peaceful, and get healthy. 

Also a place to observe the natives at play!  I took a walk through the park today, snapping photos so I could remember how it is.  My early blogs were in February and March.  Now it's really summer!  The park is beautiful, and many Amsterdamers migrate there when they have an hour, or an afternoon.  See more photos, take a walk with me from my house to the Vondelpark and back!

Netherlands-- It's a Part-Time World

Taking a break in a busy week

I've noticed that a LOT of people here have part time jobs, especially women.  The Netherlands may be unique in this respect.  A high proportion of women work, about 75%, but more than half of those who work do it less than full time.  And this seems to be mostly by choice.  "In the Netherlands, we women like to work part time!" say the college students I've talked with about this.  In the U.S., by comparison about 75% of working women are going at it full time.  The ideal here seems to be 2 or 3 days a week.  Handy for mothers with young children, but even women with no children seem to think part time is swell.  It is swell!  Imagine what that would be like.  Although, from another perspective, I suspect that sometimes it takes a while to get some things done.  ("Well, I don't work Wednesday or Thursday, and Friday is a holiday, so maybe we can talk about it next week...") And though most men work full time, often even they seem to have 2 or 3 part time jobs.  It's not unusual for me to meet a professor at the University here who says something like, "Well, I work here two days, and at University B two days, and I do consulting one day."  I am not quite sure how all of this part time work provides benefits-- but there is national health care, and everyone seems to have plenty of paid holidays and vacation!  And here's the kicker-- Dutch women, according to one study, have significantly lower rates of depression than women in France or Japan.  See the NYT article about it!

Learning Dutch

I have been taking an introductory Dutch language class at the University for the past few weeks.  It's been challenging for me-- I would not describe myself as a "natural" second language learner.  But it's been fun.  Partly because I'm the oldest student in the class-- by about 35 years!  It's just a kick being in a room with a bunch of lively 20-somethings from all over the world. (Italy, Mexico, Poland, Spain, Vietnam, Nigeria, Brazil, Israel, Norway, China, Algeria!)  Some might ask, "Why learn Dutch when everyone in the country speaks perfect English?" One reason is that it gives me more insight into Dutch culture. Part of it is being able to understand a little more when people are speaking .  But also reading language examples in the text book, watching the video examples, and conversing with the course teacher about various topics all give fresh glimpses of the culture that I might not otherwise get.  And I think my Dutch friends do appreciate the effort-- it's a sign of respect for the Dutch and their culture.  Even if I don't progress very far right now! See this video for an example of me grappling with those famous Dutch gutturals!  (Amsterdam heeft achtentachtig prachtige grachten.  =  Amsterdam has 88 beautiful canals!)

More about the benefits of biking...

Okay, I don't want to bore everyone by making the same point over and over again, but I keep finding reasons that a good system of biking/walking trails is a great idea. Yesterday I was coming home from my daily run and passed two mothers, riding their bikes next to each other, gabbing away, while their two 4 year old daughters, riding in the child seats on the back of their mothers' bikes were riding along gabbing with each other at the same time.  A lot of Amsterdamers get around on bikes.  It's easy with the trail system, it's cheap (parking and gas prices are very high), and it's simply part of the Dutch culture.  I keep seeing people talking as they travel this way, with their kids, spouses, co-workers, friends, etc.  It strikes me that in addition to the ecological, economic, and health benefits, biking and walking trails offer more opportunities for people to be "in contact" with each other as they go about their daily business.  Some of us worry about the loss of a sense of community in the U.S.A.  So many people don't know their neighbors, stay inside their houses when not at school or at work.  Would bikeways be a way to regain that sense of connection with others, even others in our own families?  Take a look at these two photos. Which child/parent would you rather be?

Freedom



Freedom is never given, but always taken!


The Netherlands celebrated Liberation Day (Bevrijdingsdag) about a week ago, on May 5-- a national holiday.   This is an annual commenoration of the day the country was liberated from Nazi occupation by the Allied troops in 1945. The evening before, May 4, at precisely 8:00 PM, there were two minutes of silence observed throughout the country, in a "Remembrance of the Dead."  All stores closed early, all public transport stopped, and things pretty much halted everywhere for those two minutes.  At the Dam square in Amsterdam, the Queen laid a wreath at the national monument while thousands of people stood silently. I watched the ceremonies on TV. Sometimes it is easy to get the impression that the Dutch don't go in for ceremony, or that they are not patriotic, because they do tend to be laid back, tolerant and anti-authoritarian.  But I saw a great deal of respect by young and old being paid to both those who died during WWII and more recent wars, and also to the royal family.  The Netherlands was occupied by the Germans for 5 years, during which the majority of the nation's Jews were deported and killed.  Most of the remaining Dutch population suffered through those years of occupation, culminating in the "Winter of Hunger" in 1944-45, when the Nazis cut off food supplies to the western provinces, many starved, and 18,000 died.  There were interviews on TV with old people who lived through those hard time.  Though it's not something people speak of often, there does seem to be a national memory of this loss of freedom, a gratitude for its return, and a modern sense that freedom needs to be guarded.  Back in 1969 when I first visited Amsterdam as a 19-year-old U.S. Navy midshipman in uniform, I did not get a very warm reception from people my own age.  (This was during the Vietnam War.)  But some of the older folks, those who lived through WWII, gave me a warm and friendly reception on the street-- perhaps still expressing their gratitude for our assistance in liberating them in 1945.

The Queen's Day, April 30th

We were fortunate to be in Amsterdam on the Queen's birthday this year, April 30th.  Actually, it's not the current Queen Beatrix's BD, but her mother Juliana's.  Someone told me, "Well, we could have changed it for Queen B., but hers is in January-- and the weather is not so nice!  So we kept it on April 30."  Beatrix does not seem to mind. In Amsterdam, this is the most amazing street (and canal) party I have ever seen! Everyone was out, partying from Friday evening through the wee hours Saturday night.  Vondelpark was packed with kids and adults on Saturday; it seems to be the special place for kids on this special day. All over the city, including along the roads and paths in Vondelpark, many people brought their old household things to spread out on a blanket on the ground to sell.  Music stages with live music or DJs were set up in the streets all over the city. In the park, kids were performing with their musical instruments, doing acrobatics, singing, selling cookies, or running homemade games you could play for 50 cents or 1 euro. In the canals, it seemed everyone who owns a boat, large or small, was cruising around, singing, playing loud music, and partying. It is one gigantic flea market/beer garden!  Everyone wears orange-- shirts, crowns, leis, suits, and we even saw a bachelor party with two guys dressed as giant orange penises!  Follow these links to see more:  Queen's Day photos.  Video of canal boat parties.

Tulpen!

Yesterday my friend Louis and I took our bikes to North Holland and spent the day tooling around the vast tulip, daffodil, and hyacinth fields out there.  This cultivation area is near the beach of the North Sea, so we also had lunch and dinner stops at beach restaurants.  Of course, I had heard before about the bulb fields and seen pictures-- but being out there in the middle of them in mid April was quite another experience!  I have never been in the Netherlands at this time of year before.  Photographs cannot convey the intensity of the colors in some of these patches of flowers.  And the smells!  When we rode by large fields of flowers, especially the hyacinths, the perfume was almost overpowering. Imagine the smell of 100,000 flowers coming right at you! The whole day was a sensory experience-- sights, sounds, smells, and oh yes, sore muscles.  We did get lost for a while.  Well, not really lost.  As Daniel Boone, the legendary American frontiersman is reported to have said, "I can't say I've ever been lost. But I was bewildered once for 3 days!"  We finally did get back to where we had parked the car.  To see more flower photos, go to my Picasa site.

What's the deal with helmets?

Commuters riding through the Vondelpark

The Dutch ride bikes more miles per person per year than any other country.  According to one Dutch safety expert, they have the lowest injury-accident rate on bikes than any other country.  With all the people riding, you hardly EVER see someone  wearing a helmet.  They DO crash, sometimes (rarely)-- I have seen it.  They ARE skillful riders.  (When you see the 3 year olds scooting along on two wheel bikes, you understand why!) Yet the safety expert estimates that if all Dutch riders wore helmets, there would be 1,000 fewer head injuries in the Netherlands each year!  So why don't they wear them?  I've heard a number of explanations-- vanity (messes up the hair), doesn't look cool, it's uncomfortable, too hard to manage carrying a helmet around all day when bike is your basic mode of transportation, and "we don't need them because we know how to avoid a serious fall."  The notion of a helmet law has actually been discussed in Parliment.  But I think the politicians are afraid to pass what would be an immensely unpopular and difficult to enforce law!  Maybe what it comes down to is people's sense of individual freedom and not wanting anyone to tell them what they SHOULD do! Part of the Dutch "live and let live" (or in rare cases die!) attitude?

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More about the Pistoia preschools

Three year olds creating with clay and natural objects

Since my time last month in the Pistoia preschools and infant centers I have been thinking a lot about some of the things I saw and talked with people about.  One thing that keeps coming back to me has to do with what we in the USA call "accountability" in early childhood education.  Especially in our “best” early childhood programs like Head Start or university lab schools, we are quite concerned with showing, in a quantified way, that the program is effective or beneficial to children.  This means we typically have some standardized measures of development or school readiness that we administer to all the children, so we can show how much children learned from time 1 to time 2.  On a national level, we do studies to show if a particular program or curriculum is “effective,” meaning it has a significant and measureable effect on learning in a large number of children. 

Documentation panel in the hallway about "Experiencing"

In Pistoia, on the other hand, accountability seems to be more personal and individualized.  Teachers rely on documentation panels like the one here to show parents and others how the children are learning. There seems to be at least a tacit aversion to standardized assessment.  The view I got from the educators was something like, "every child is unique" or "we meet each child where he/she is, and go from there." It is obvious, by observing and listening, that the teachers are thoughtful and reflective about each child and what she is experiencing, and what kinds of learning experiences might be beneficial.   Portfolios or diaries are used to document the experiences and development of each child.  Children with special needs are seemingly served by carefully observing their needs and abilities, having conversations with their parents, and working out the best approach on a day-to-day basis.  (I am sure sometimes kids must be referred for in-depth evaluations, but I did not hear about that...)  It all seems to work well, even without the numbers and standardized tests. Children, parents, and teachers seem satisfied that this individualized, qualitative approach works. The funding for these programs has been generous, compared to what we have in the U.S.  I find myself wondering, though, as city and national budgets constrict (and they are!) if there will be demands for more a quantified accountability.  Or maybe these services for children are viewed more as a right and thus not subject to our kind of accountability?  Maybe measurement and standardization are not the Italian way.  What do you think?
To see more photos of the Pistoia preschools, click here.

Cycling and social cohesion

Since returning from Italy I've been settling back into Amsterdam, thinking a lot about what I saw and heard in Pistoia.  My morning runs in the Vondelpark bring me close to many children and parents as they go to school on their bikes. I'm been struck by how much traveling by bike puts everyone in contact-- with their surroundings, and with each other.  Couples or friends ride together to work or school.  Parents take their kids to school, sometimes in what appear to be neighborhood groups.  Mothers ride along with one, two, or even three kids in the "bakfiets," talking with each other.  The children listen to their parents talking, or they just look around, or talk with each other.  They observe all these people from the city, walking or riding their bikes.  Quite different than being encased inside autos. Traveling this way is just another way to be connected with others and with the immediate surroundings. Cycling as a form of social cohesion? 

Spring Fever

It amazes me the enthusiasm of Amsterdamers for these warm spring days.  Today I think everyone left work early and went to Vondelpark!  I cruised around on my bike just taking it all in.  The picture is of a cafe' in the middle of the park.  Packed with bikes and people sitting out having a coffee or drink at 4:00 PM.

Early Childhood Centers in Pistoia

I returned this week from a very rich experience, visiting the early childhood centers of Pistoia, Italy. These centers are not quite as well-known as those in Reggio Emilia, but from all reports they are every bit as good.  I think the most impressive single discovery I had in Pistoia was the leadership I saw throughout the system.  In the several centers we visited, there were very articulate and obviously experienced and competent pedagogues. They had been engaged, often for more than 20 years, in the development of a philosophy of early education, care, and family support.  The philosophy they espoused was quite consistent in each place my group visited—respect for children and families, welcoming children and families with open arms, developing and maintaining close family-like relationships with each child, including their parents, discovery, creativity, and connection with the community.  The second thing that impressed me was the level of investment in the centers—ample space, nice grounds surrounding the buildings, and a high degree of care and attention to the aesthetics of the environment.  “Making beautiful spaces for children that offer ‘provocations’ for children to discover, think, communicate, and relate closely to others.”  See the photos in this link to get a sense of these impressive early childhood programs.

Back in Amsterdam-- And it's spring!

I am back in the city after spending 9 days in Italy, touring early childhood programs in Pistoia and having a nice long weekend in Florence and Siena with Patty.
What a difference a week makes in the feeling of spring! I had my run in the Vondelpark this morning and noticed all kinds of new flowers and people enjoying the nice weather.
Click on this link to see some photos of people in the park.

My Neighborhood

Saturday morning. After a nice long jog in the Vondelpark, I grabbed my camera to take a few morning shots near my apartment.  Saturday is a busy shopping day for many people.  Sunday seems typically to be reserved for rest and entertainment, and most shops are closed.  Today I just went out and took a few photos within 1/2 block of my front door.  Here you will see a father and a mother with their children running errands on Kinkerstraat, the busy shopping street one block from my house.  The mother is riding the typical "bakfiets" (pronounced "baak-feets") that is common among families that have little kids--a wooden box with a seat for two small children, sometimes with a cover for rainy weather. The father has a rather fancy folding version of the bakfiets.  See more photos of "my neighborhood" on my Picasa page. (Or view the slide show...)

Stormy Weather

Sunday.  Today I overcame my fear of going out in the rain!  After a couple of days of mostly holing up in my warm apartment, looking out at the wind and rain blowing in from the North Sea, I started to feel sluggish, fat, and lazy.  Time to brace myself and get out for a run!  This is the Netherlands, where people go out and do things in all kinds of weather!  Again, I am reminded of a statement a Scottish friend made years ago: "There is no such thing as bad weather-- just bad clothes!"  I did make some accommodations in my dress-- goretex jacket, and took off my glasses wore my wool cap.  Running in Vondelpark today turned out to be a great experience!  I was quite comfortable, not cold, despite the blustery weather.  I was rewarded by the following scenes, flashing by. (Sometimes I wish I had a little camera built into my hat!)  A young father striding purposefully along the park road in his Northface parka with the hood up, pushing a well-buttoned-up baby pram.  A father and his young son, both in bright yellow rain jackets, the father jogging and the 8 year old son riding alongside on his bike.  And perhaps most surprising, several pairs of bright green parrots or macaws, flying from tree to tree in the park.  What are they doing here in this northern place!!? Why haven't I seen them before on my morning runs?  Do they like the rain?  They looked quite at home. When I got home I read on a Fodor's web page that "flocks of parrots—apparently the progeny of two escaped pets—...live here year-round."  (See this Fodor's review for more interesting observations about the wonderous place that is Vondelpark.)

Signs of Spring

First blooms in Beatrixpark

This is the end of my third week in Amsterdam. In the past couple of days is has been raining off and on, and even snowed and sleeted a bit on Wednesday evening.  But today it is cloudy and the temperature is mild, about 45 F. This week I have been working on a writing project, so that has kept me in during much of the nasty weather, sitting at my laptop, next to the nifty gas heater in the living room looking out over the canal and West Amsterdam from my 3rd floor (USA = 4th floor) apartment.   To take breaks from work I have ventured out to eat, shop for groceries or run important errands. I am increasingly relying on my bicycle to get around.  In the past few days I've gone to appointments north, south, and east of my apartment, each time wheeling out into unknown territory, armed with my city map and the assurance that it's actually pretty hard to get lost in Amsterdam! It's not a large city for a main metropolis, and it's neatly arranged around the central rings of canals, kind of like half of a big bike wheel, with the hub at the Central train station. I am learning the local cycling etiquette (such as it is-- Amsterdamers don't cotton much to rules!) and beginning to feel comfortable moving in this efficient and healthy way around the city.  This morning I rode about 2 miles to the "World Trade Center" in the south of Amsterdam to complete my registration process as a foreigner, which is necessary because I will be here more than 3 months and I will be employed part time to do things for the University of Amsterdam. It's a rather complicated process, involving several forms and an "authenticated" copy of one's birth certificate.  (I'm thinking it would be difficult to hide out in the NL!) Everything went fine, the officials were pleasant, and I am now officially an approved resident of Amsterdam!  On the way home I cruised through Beatrixpark (named after the beloved Queen).  It was green, quiet, and pleasant, and I noticed in a number of places crocuses and daffodils were emerging and beginning to bloom.  Damn!  Spring comes earlier here than in Indiana, and I do like that!

Vondelpark

I am started taking morning jogs in Vondelpark, a kind of Amsterdam Central Park a few blocks from my apartment. (I will try to get a photo later today and post.)  It is a great place for walking, running, and people watching. Things I have noticed during my few runs there-- Joggers and runners of all ages, usually in nifty running outfits. Most people I see around the park are lean and fit.  A stork nesting on a platform right in the middle of the park. Lots of dogs!  Yes, Amsterdamers seem to like their dogs and like taking them to the park.  The dog scene is a little like Amsterdam people society.  Most are unleashed.  A bit unruly at times, but mostly friendly. I have seen very few dogfights.  Not always the greatest care about where they are leaving their trash, if you know what I mean. The park seems to be a favorite bike route for many people, too, on their way to work in neat suits or just out for a ride with their kids on on the way to some after school activitiy.  For an American, it's fascinating to watch the Dutch as they ride their bikes.  I think virtually everyone has ridden a bike every day since they were 3 years old.  Riding is so natural and easy for them.  Efficient, smooth.  Like breathing.  It's common to see people riding along having a focused conversation with each other, side by side, nearly touching or even with on hand on the other's arm or shoulder.  (And you'd best not be wobbling around or stopping in the middle of the bike path! The bike bells are used liberally for transgressors.) There are a few cafes and restaurants in Vondelpark, currently with many outdoor tables and chairs stacked on the decks for winter.  But I can imagine the spring leaves out soon, with people having their coffee and broodjes (sandwiches, usually made with a baguette) on the decks and patios.

Berlin

I had a quick trip by train to Berlin for a meeting to plan our 3-country child care course. Traveled 6 hours by train on Saturday afternoon to get there, and came back to Amsterdam late Monday night.  It's exciting to work with my German and Dutch colleagues on this cross-national class. I learn something every time I talk with them.  For example-- Did you know German students studying for their masters degree do not pay tuition? It's government supported.  Or that there is no constituional separation of church and state in the Netherlands, so that church-sponsored child care centers cannot avoid inspection and quality regulation, as they can in the U.S.?  In fact, there are very few church-sponsored centers in the NL.
Impressions of Berlin from my short visit at the Free University and while touring around the city center on Sunday afternoon with my friend Wolfgang: The city looks very modern, having been mostly reconstructed after the intense bombings by the Allies in WWII. There are still some structures and buildings that survived the war and were reconstructed, but not too many.  (See photo of me at the Bandenburg Gate.)  Memories of the divided city and the Wall still seem fresh in the minds of Berliners, more than 20 years after the wall went down.  We visited the Checkpoint Charlie wall museum and were amazed by the stories and photos of many people's desparate and often ingenious escapes from the East.  The city seemed incredibly civilized  to me, and signs of affluence were notable.  (Nice houses, nice German cars, nice restaurants, nicely dressed people, well-maintained parks, etc.)  I walked by one kindergarten (preschool) in an affluent neighborhood and was impressed by the amount of space and equipment devoted to outdoor play. Glimpses of the rooms within showed brightly lit and decorated spaces for children to play.  My colleagues told me most German parents do NOT want their children learning academic things before primary school.  Kindergarten is a time for freedom and play.  My Dutch friend Ruben and I were impressed by the spaciouness of the houses and apartments we saw.  (Also the high prices of those for sale!!)   Of course there must be neighborhoods in Berlin where poor or working people live more modestly-- but we did not see them.  I had some nice meals, featuring traditional German foods, very grainy breads, and varieties of meats and wursts-- but though they were tasty, I will not adopt that diet on a daily basis!  I hope to return to Berlin in the spring, when it's more comfortable to tour around. (It was cold there!) When I arrived in Amsterdam on the train at about 11 PM, I had the sense of "coming home."  Surprising, since I have only been here one week so far.

Walking through Amsterdam

This morning I had a 30 minute walk through the city to get to some meetings at the University.  I was captivated by the cityscape and by the sights of the local people going about their morning business.  MANY people on their way to school or work on their bicycles.  It's not unusual to see a father or mother chugging away on a cargo bike with two small children in the front box seat and one older child riding on the back.  The parent pumping away while gabbing with the kids, on their way to child care or school. (I need to post a photo of this!) Of course this is a city of very old buildings, canals, and bridges, which makes it even more enchanting.  I found myself catching my breath at every turn, gawking at something I have never seen before.  An example:  As I walked around the city hall and Muziektheater (opera/ballet hall), I saw a huge ship/barge chugging up to one of the old drawbridges on the Amstel River.  I watched in amazement as the pilot maneuvered the ship through the narrow passage of the raised bridge and onward toward the city hall, where there was a fixed bridge across the river.  Where would this huge boat go now?  As he approached the fixed bridge, the pilot deftly slowed and hung a right turn into a smaller canal next to the music hall.  Whew!  Now you don't see anything like that when walking through Indianapolis!

Hello Amsterdam!

Patty and I arrived in Amsterdam Monday.  She will go on to Madrid Thursday.  Getting de-jet lagged and settled into the very nice apartment in the old west part of the city made available to me by a friend.  Third floor of an old Dutch house located on a canal.  This is a busy and somewhat upscale neighborhood in Amsterdam, just a few blocks west of the Museumplein (Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh museum, etc.)  Lots of nice shops and cafes within a short walk.  I noticed a child care center about one block away, so I may visit there one of these days.  First impressions:  This is definitely Europe.  The styles, the food, the feel of the city are distinctly different from an American city.  Remembering how many of the Dutch wheel around skillfully on bikes.  As a pedestrian you need to be alert for bikes as much as cars when crossing!

Tiger Moms

Still in Indiana; 10 days until our departure for Amsterdam.  I just read the review of the book, "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" by Amy Chua, in Time magazine. I have not read the book yet, and I am not sure I will.  I will be interested to see if this book is getting any play in Western Europe. To sum the main points of her book, according to Time:  American parents insulate their children too much from discomfort and distress; we assume fragility rather than strength; we slather too much praise on our children, for even the lowest of tasks; we all think our kids are "gifted" or "talented", rather than emphasizing hard work; we don't require our kids to drill enough on basic skills; we let our children off too easily, don't demand enough.
Have average middle class American children (and their parents) become lazy, averse to hard work? Too involved with TV, internet games, and other forms of entertainment?  Absolutely. Should we emphasize math more in public education? Yes. Do we over-protect our children and set our expectations too low?  Probably.  Should we set higher standards for our children and make sure they spend time each doing their homework? In many cases, yes. But is a narrowly-focused authoritarian, harsh, sometimes demeaning approach to parenting the answer?  I don't think so. As with many things in life, I think parenting and education is about finding a good balance-- striving for specific achievements and freedom to explore; accomplishing specific objectives and creativity; focused, hard work and flexibility; high expectations and acceptance; pleasing others and self-acceptance; future orientation and living one's whole life to the fullest.  Stepping back from the current obsession with standardized test scores, what kinds of persons do we want our kids to become?  That is a conversation we don't have often enough!

International Child Care Course

Plans for my 3 country child care research seminar are solidifying.  The course title is, "Child Care Quality Research & Policy in Germany, Netherlands, and United States." The tentative schedule has the course starting on April 20 and ending on July 29.  The course will include 10 students and a faculty member from each country.  Four of the classes will be via three-way video, so students will be at their home universities. The highlight will be a week long seminar for students from the 3 countries at the University of Amsterdam, from May 23 to 27.  The main focus of the course will be a comparative analysis of child care and family support research and policy in the 3 countries. The seminar week in Amsterdam will be exciting!  Lots of face to face meetings with the students and instructors, including seminars, student and faculty presentations, field trips to local early childhood programs, and of course many experiences in the Dutch culture! I will co-teach the course with colleagues from the U. of A. and the Free University in Berlin.

An Aside: Chimp stories

Dear Readers,
Although now I am a child development specialist, in a former life I once studied chimpanzees as a biologist.  Here are portions of a recent letter to Ms. Mildred Greear of Helen, Georgia, who asked me about some long-ago experiences with chimps on Ossabaw Island, Georgia.

Thinking of my time with the Ossabaw chimps--

Like Mark Wilson, I was a young biology graduate student at the time.

It was a truly wonderful opportunity for both of us to observe and take care of the chimps during those couple of years.

Mark was the first caretaker.  I believe he began when the chimps were first released in the spring of 1972.

I joined him as the "co-caretaker" in the autumn of 1972.

We did this job together until Mark left Ossabaw, in the autumn of 1973.  I continued alone in the job until I left the island in January, 1974.

You are interested specifically in our interactions with the male, Jiggs, and I am glad to share with you some of what I remember.

(I should say that I found the female chimps and the young chimps equally interesting-- though they did not perform the dramatic behavioural displays that Jiggs did!)

Mark and I were careful not to come into direct contact with Jiggs if possible, though we had many close encounters observing him, and being observed by him.

I remember that one of my early realizations regarding the chimps was that here was a nonhuman animal who, as I observed him and contemplated his world and what he might be doing and thinking, I had the distinct impression that he was likewise observing and contemplating me!

You asked about direct contact and an incident in which Jiggs came through the gate an into the people cage (aka the "exclosure.")

I can remember once at low tide, Jiggs while performing his typical "greeting" display, was able to edge his way down the exposed mud flat and somehow get around the fence and into the exclosure.

However, I did see him coming, and I quickly pushed the boat out of the exclosure and into the river, where I watched him from a safe distance, proudly continue his display INSIDE the people cage.  He was very creative with his dominance displays, always looking for new things to bang on or new implements to include.  Getting inside the people cage must have been exciting for him!

We did often get very close to Jiggs, but it was always with a strong fence between us.  We supplied fresh water and fruit treats to all of the chimps,  but from the confines of the people cage, which you may remember had an observation platform at the top, about 15 feet above the ground.  In the bottom of the people cage was a pen the chimps could enter and get a drink from the push button water tank, which we regularly refilled.  We also filled a hopper with Purina Monkey chow, to supplement their diets, especially during the cold months when foraging on the island was not so productive for them.  We usually brought some oranges or bananas along, and we would pass those treats through the chain link fence of the people cage to them.  We often touch their fingers as they extended them through the fence, observed them closely, and interacted with them when they came into the pen to drink, eat, or get these treats.  It was a chance for us to assess their condition and health.

One incident I remember clearly, and which you may find interesting, happened as the weather got colder, that first winter of 1972-73.  Mark and I became increasingly concerned about the chimps' health and well-being as the weather got colder and colder that year.  They are tropical animals, not well adapted to the cold temperatures and wind of semi-tropical coastal Georgia.  The staff at Yerkes Primate Center in Atlanta had constructed two houses on stilts for the chimps when they first released them in the summer.  They anticipated the stress the cold weather might bring to the chimps, and these houses were installed to give the chimps a place to get out of the wind and preserve body heat.  They looked like large dog houses on 3 foot stilts, sturdily constructed with a few plexiglass windows on the front, and a hole to enter from below through the bottom.  Like the Yerkes scientists, we assumed that when the chimps began to suffer from the cold, being highly intelligent animals, they would use these houses for shelter.  But as Mark and I observed that winter, they did not!  Even as the temperature dipped below freezing, with the wind biting through our warm coats, the chimps simply sat out in the open clearing, huddling with their arms wrapped around themselves, shivering with cold.  They did not seem to have the "idea" of taking shelter!  We talked about this, and we remembered we had read about and seen photographs of chimps in Jane Goodall's study in Gombe Stream.  During the frequent rainstorms in the rainy season, she observed that the chimps did not seek shelter, even though they could have easily gone under a tree stay at least partly dry.  They simply sat out in the open, with the rain pouring down on them, getting completely drenched.  This lack of concern or reaction to rainy conditions apparently did not affect their fitness in Africa, where it remained warm even in the rainy season.  However, their lack of a sense of shelter we feared might prove fatal on Bear Island in the winter!

We discussed what we might do to convince the chimps to try the shelters.  Like humans, chimps are great imitators.  We thought that if we could demonstrate how to get into the houses, they might be at least curious enough to try it.  However, neither one of us had ever been out of the people cage, except for a moment or two, while the chimps were ranging freely outside-- especially when the big male Jiggs was out there. We also observed some attempts by the chimps to use material in the environment to get warm.  Chimps are nesters by habit.  Every night they make a nest for sleeping up in the trees.  They do this by climbing up and folding branches and other available materials together into a a sort of pile high in the tree, until it is soft enough and will support their weight for sleeping. Mark and I observed that when the chimps were very cold and sitting out in the open, some of them were scraping up with their hands leaves and branches that were nearby, making a crude nest of material around them, in an apparent attempt to stay warmer.  So we thought, "Ah, they DO know about nests!  How can we link this instinct to make nests to a new behavior of using the houses for shelter?"  We hit upon the idea of bringing a bale or two of straw out to the island, to provide them with some additional nesting material to use on the ground in the clearing near the people cage.  If they saw the usefulness of the straw for a nest on the ground, maybe then we could put some straw inside the houses, and they would get the idea that they could have a nest in there!  We had easy access to bales of straw on the main island.  But a major problem still remained:  How could we safely give the chimps the straw and demonstrate the use of straw inside their houses? 

We did not know how Jiggs would react to our presence with him, outside of the people cage, but we were not about to go out there and find out!  He was an impressive, imposing animal, weighing about 150 pounds and standing about 5 feet 6 inches when erect.  We had read that chimp muscles are 2 or 3 times stronger than human muscles, and we had been impressed with his feats of strength during his displays-- climbing trees easily, swinging from branches, tearing off large branches, etc.

Ultimately we decided we must lure Jiggs into the pen within the people cage, close him in there safely, and then proceed to take straw out into the clearing to show all of the chimps how to use it.  We were still a bit worried about how the 5 female chimps would react to our presence outside the fence.  But we thought that their reaction would probably be to keep their distance from us.  We hoped they would not flee entirely, so that they could still watch what we were doing.

As it turned out, our plan worked smashingly!  First we contained Jiggs in the pen, happily munching on fruits and nuts.  When we ventured out with the bales of straw, the females scattered a bit, but watched us carefully from the edges of the clearing.  I do wish now I had a video now of Mark and I taking the straw bales apart, doing our best to use the straw to imitate the chimps as they had made their "nests" the ground.  I am sure our being outside the cage was a great shock to everyone!  Add to that our strange nesting behaviour!   

After nesting for a while, we carried armloads of straw to the chimp housed, each climbing up into a house with straw in our arms and sitting in there for a while.  Then we retreated back to the people cage, released Jiggs into the clearing, and waited to see what the chimps would do.  I don't remember what they did that day, but from that time on they used the houses for shelter on the coldest days.  Looking back on these events, it reminds me of two opposing principles.  One is the strength of instinctive behavior.    These highly intelligent animals simply did not seem to have a natural sense of how to get themselves in out of the cold.  It's interesting to me that humans have evolved the concept of shelter and all human societies have figured out how to make shelters that effectively protect them from extremes in temperature and wind. On the other hand, I was impressed by the power of observational learning by the chimps.  They certainly were able to watch us do these strange things and somehow concluded imitating us was worth a try!  Not too many non-human animals would do that!

Mildred, I am sorry to disconfirm the grooming story!  But I hope you have enjoyed reading about how the chimps learned to use shelter.

Plans for Italy

I am excited to report that I will be going to Italy for the first time in March!  I have the opportunity to attend a one week study course in Pistoia, which is near Florence in the north.  They have infant child care programs that are well known.  The course is being led by my friend Carolyn Edwards from U. of Nebraska, who has studied and written extensively about the northern Italian early childhood programs.  My conception of the programs is that they are very child-and relationships-centered, with lots of ways of involving families.  It will be great to visit and discuss them with others!