dreaming on route 66

On a Tuesday afternoon, about twelve years ago, I was chatting with a young IT student near Grand Canyon. With all our belongings stuffed in a U-Haul van, my husband and I were in the process of moving from San Francisco to the east coast. This young man was eager to hear about our work. The local community were sponsoring his education, for which he was very grateful. But he was also sad, as it meant having to leave the 'Big Rez' to find a job.

It was in the early days of the Internet boom. I was amazed by Navajo culture and craftsmanship, by the beauty of the painted dessert and its people, and a dream began to form; I should set up a web-design group to benefit the local community, while making use of the incredible talent and creativity surrounding me.

Unfortunately, I never managed to follow up on my plans. I still think it would be a wonderful opportunity, but due to the lack of a green-card, and the addition of two children, I probably never will.

In England, I had been part of a group of woman in technology who provide role models, presentations, and tutoring at girls' secondary schools. When our son started primary school in The Netherlands, I volunteered to teach computing, web design, and English lessons to young children. As most parents at our local school, we also took out paid subscriptions to publishers and sites that provide additional material for our children to practice at home.

At the same time I started helping my niece with her maths homework, as I used to do with the girls back home in grammar school; It seems many teachers have difficulties to explain or present logical questions and solutions very well.

And a new dream began to form; All children - regardless of their location, culture, gender, religion, or financial means - should have access to education resources that teach logic and maths in a fun and easy to understand way. I don't know yet how to achieve this dream, but I guess every journey has to start with the first small steps ...

p.s. If you have any ideas or suggestions, or want to help fulfill this dream, please get in touch!

school vacation

Home alone with two squabbling children bouncing off the walls. Not much time to finish my work or write my blog. Lots of rain outside. Empty streets. Seems everybody is off to some nice & sunny holiday resort. Don't you just love school vacation?!

Luckily I'll soon be taking the children to see my family in southern Germany for a couple of weeks. Staying with oma & opa should be lots of fun. We'll be traveling by train. Better for the environment and much more fun than driving by car; the ultra modern Inter City Express only takes 5 hours from Utrecht to Freiburg (at up to 200 km/h). We've got reservations in the mother-child compartment, a separate area for parents traveling with (small) children, containing a corner bench (long enough for children to sleep on), a large table (for puzzles etc), and extra floor space for playing. Next to toilets & the train restaurant. Perfect!

computer lessons

Last autumn, I volunteered to become computer ouder ("computer parent") together with our neighbor, Tessa, at OBS 't Palet. We're following the curriculum of "Bas gaat digitaal" for teaching language and spelling, and "Bas telt mee" for teaching numbers and counting, by Uitgeverij Groen. There is also a "Leerling Volg Systeem" that keeps track of the children's progress.

The programs proved amazingly difficult to install and set up, certainly considering that they are intended to be used by pre-school teachers. Some of the exercises were quite frustrating for the children. A real shame, as the intention is to learn through play and enjoyment. Still plenty of work for ux designers here!!!

In the short term, we tried to solve the issue with that common remedy of time-deprived projects: we compiled a manual with tips & tricks to avoid the worst pitfalls.

Once a week one of us takes 3-4 children for about twenty minutes each to work our way through 3-4 exercises. At first I was pretty nervous and found the thought of having to work with all these young children rather daunting. Quite a different kettle of fish than dealing with professionals and corporate executives, and a big strain on my (still less than perfect) Dutch language skills. But what a treat awaited me at the first session: A bunch of adorable, exited 4-6 year olds enthusiastically awaiting their turn. Just getting my undivided attention proved enough to make them very forgiving of any insecurity or language problems on my part. It is amazing to see how well these children get on with computers, while telling me no end of stories, from wobbly teeth to weekend trips :-)

Today will be my turn again. Lately I missed a couple of times, during the past few busy weeks, but I'm looking forward to pick it up again! Amazing how satisfying not earning money can be :-D