Mothers Speaking: A Study on the Experience of Mothers with Samenspel. Working Papers in Early Childhood Development, No. 21.

Focusing on minority group children, ages 2 to 4 years, and their mothers, the Netherlands' Samenspel project is intended to be a link between the home environment and the preschool or primary school. Mothers and children go to playgroups once a week, most of which are held in a community center or preschool. This summary report describes a study from September 1994 to June 1995 of mothers' experiences with Samenspel. Thirty-five mothers were interviewed, most of whom do not have a Dutch background, and their experiences and thoughts formed the focus of the study. After describing Samenspel's background and objectives, this report presents reasons for the study, its objectives, and the process of decisions about problem formulation and methodology. The bulk of the report presents results from the study. Findings include the following: (1) the most significant motivation for participating in Samenspel is enabling children to meet other children; (2) mothers especially appreciate activities that they do together with their children; (3) the presence of play leaders who speak the mothers' own language as well as those who speak Dutch is considered important for learning and speaking languages; (4) meeting other women at Samenspel has been a positive experience; (5) the opportunity to discuss child-rearing with other women is appreciated; (6) mothers believe Samenspel is good for their child's, and often their own, language development; (7) mothers are dealing with their children's socio-emotional development with more awareness; (8) positive changes in the children's and mothers' independence are occurring; and (9) the majority of participants are satisfied with Samenspel. (EV)