Welcome to the second edition of our new, updated newsletter for Associate Members of Pikler UK.

From the Editor

In this strange, almost surreal period that we’ve been living through, time has sometimes stood still. But that’s no excuse for the very long gap between the last Pikler Post and this one.

I hope that this edition will help you to feel reconnected to us and to your Piklerian colleagues…

COVID-19 Update

Like everyone, we’ve adapted to the changes that have been wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this update, you’ll see what we’ve been able to offer instead of the usual events.

And save the date! Thursday November 25th is our next online Members’ study session …

Guest Article

“Nimbly, simply, confidently and naturally”

Dorothy Marlen shares her experience of working with parents and their babies in her innovative groups.

She reflects on the importance of the natural unfolding of movement in babies and how vital it could be for children everywhere…

Regular Features

This edition’s Featured Product is Glances. This beautiful edition of photographs by Hungarian photographer Marian Reismann would make a perfect seasonal gift. - ‘This book of photographs tells the art of care and relationship.’

And our Spotlight this time is on Rachel Tapping, Chair of Pikler UK.

Scroll down to read more.

Editorial

Welcome to our 2nd online Pikler Post

In this edition, we have a Guest Article from Dorothy Marlen. We also have an Update to let you know our plans for future events in light of the pandemic, such as training and study sessions, and our Spotlight feature, this time introducing you to Rachel Tapping, Chair of Pikler UK.

I’m sure we’ve all heard exclamations about what kind of a year or eighteen months we’ve had often enough now that to repeat them here would be superfluous. Suffice to say, we’ve all been affected in one way or another and our hope, here at PUK, is that you are finding ways to cope with whatever life has put in your way.

We’ve all seen how resourceful people can be, taking to online meeting, conferencing and studying. And we’ve done our share of that during this period, too. See the COVID-19 Update for more about what we’ve done and what our plans are for future events.

For the PUK Management Committee, it’s been a period of making sure we stay connected - to each other and to our purpose. As we’ve always met online anyway, that wasn’t an adjustment we had to make. But learning how to plan for the unknown and staying flexible and open to change was key.

We’ve welcomed two new members to the Committee - Gillian Reece-Jones and Christine Wilkinson. Sadly, we’ve said goodbye to Maria Reyna for the time being as she focuses her energies on her young family. We’re extremely grateful to Maria for all that she has given over a number of years and we look forward to welcoming her back in the future.

I’ll leave you to read on now with the hope that you are well and safe and will continue to be so.

The Editor

COVID-19 Update

How our plans have changed

We were planning several face-to-face events when the pandemic took hold. Once we’d begun to make the necessary adjustments to our ways of working, we realised that whilst we would be unable to offer our usual events, we could still be active in maintaining the important connections between all those of us whose lives are inspired by Dr Emmi Pikler.

Having managed to deliver a Basic Level Training module in February 2020, just before the first lockdown came into being, we then had to face the fact that this might be the last time we could offer this for a while.

Instead, we worked with colleagues at the Pikler House, Budapest, to create and deliver two really enjoyable online seminars. The first, on March 5th this year, was introduced by Zsuzsa Libertiny, President of the Pikler-Lóczy Association Hungary, Pedagogue of the Pikler Daycare Centre, and much-loved Pikler Trainer.

Zsuzsa was followed by Anna Tardos, Child Psychologist and former Director of the Hungarian Pikler Institute. Anna spoke about The Pikler Approach in the Family.

On March 26th, Andi Szőke, Director of the Pikler Daycare, and Gabi Bakos, Pikler Daycare Caregiver, spoke about aspects of working with the Pikler approach in the Daycare setting.

Many of you will have attended these seminars and been inspired by the ways in which, as we are constantly reminded, the Pikler approach is able to fully adapt to the needs of today’s children and carers, however demanding life becomes.

In December 2020 and January 2021, we collaborated with Ute Strub who has embraced the opportunities of teaching online seminars and continues to connect with students all around the world.

Ute’s two 3-day seminars were a great success, leading on to the formation of a six-month study group which has been a lifeline and inspiration to all those who were able to attend.

In November 2020 we held a group Study Session for all our Associate Members, both in the UK and abroad.

If you haven’t yet attended one of these, we would love for you to join us at the next one. We have another coming up on Thursday November 25th - 19:00 to 21:00 UTC. Look out for more information in your inbox soon.

Online conferencing was a daunting prospect back in October 2020. Fortunately for us, Committee member Sam Greshoff is an experienced conference organiser and she was instrumental in making sure that our Annual Conference was a success. Of course, the advantage of online events is that many more people get the opportunity to take part, not having the added expense and travel to contend with. We ran it over two days with Pia Dögl and Dorothy Marlen giving presentations that inspired many questions and much appreciation.

What’s Next?

As just mentioned, we have another online Study Session coming up on November 25th.

The topic will be announced shortly but we hope to discuss ways in which children and carers have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and hear from you about your experiences and insights.

If you’re unable to join us but the topic is of interest to you, do please write to us to share how it has been for you. We would love to hear from you.

We had hoped that by now we would be able to offer another Basic Level Training course in London.

Plans were being made but the uncertainty that still exists about having to quarantine if visitors come into contact with the virus made it too risky. We are very grateful that our colleagues in Hungary were ready to have a go and we will continue to look at dates moving forward in order to bring this very important training back to the UK as soon as possible.

In the meantime, we will continue to plan online events that we hope will nurture and inspire both current and newly inspired professionals and parents.

The Pikler UK Association Management Committee

Guest Article

“Nimbly, simply, confidently and naturally” (Emmi Piker)

I would like to share a little about what I have learnt from the Pikler approach regarding the natural unfolding of physical movement in babies.

My experience comes from running small parent and baby support groups for 12 years, where the self-initiated movement in babies is encouraged in a gentle, respectful and observant space.

I wrote my European Pikler Pedagogue paper on this subject. 

Emmi Pikler, through keen observation, discovered that there is a natural universal movement progression from birth into standing. And it can unfold most completely and individually when a baby has the freedom and time to move, by themselves and without adult interference, through progressively complex positions to walking. No supported positioning or sitting, no helping to walk and no baby equipment.

In my experience, this ‘unfolding’, full of grace and sometimes needed struggle, can be likened to a little shoot gradually growing to unfold its leaves and then its flower and fruit. If we hurry the process along, or miss out some of the stages, the plant is damaged.

It is the same with babies.  And it is essential that the baby is allowed to find their movement momentum from birth.

Unfortunately, there are many obstacles that a baby may encounter – retained reflexes through difficult birth, tongue tie, bulky nappies, tight clothes, baby containers, to name some. One of my roles is to observe, with the parents, how the baby is. If needed, I suggest specialists such as cranial osteopaths, for example, who can help release tension from birth experiences or tongue tie which may make natural movement difficult.  My Pikler training has given me new eyes for observing babies.

In the groups that I run I have witnessed several hundred times the wonder of how natural movement unfolds in babies. The groups are small – 7 parents and their babies. We meet for 1 ½ hours, share our week with each other and then spend time observing the babies as they move and play in a calm, safe space. Play objects and climbing equipment are carefully chosen to suit each baby’s stage of explorative capabilities.

Over the weeks of meeting, the mothers (and sometimes dads and grandparents too) see and learn to trust and enjoy their baby’s self-initiated movement and play without interfering. I recently met some of my former mums in a local park. I was happy to hear from delighted mums how confident, curious, graceful and balanced their now toddlers are. I am reminded again that this way works! As the mums say, their children display a different and unusual order of competence and confidence which is easily noticed by others.

I believe that health advisers and parents need to know that guidance based on the Pikler approach can make an extraordinary difference to whether a baby comes through the movement progression into walking “nimbly, simply, confidently and naturally”.

We know now that early movement is the foundation of all later learning and over 60% of children are entering school with immature fine and gross motor skills!  

Time, I think, for all parents and child care professionals to have early access to Pikler’s profound and essential knowledge.

Dorothy Marlen

Spotlight on…

Rachel Tapping

I’ve been working with parents and their very young children for more than fifteen years now. I began almost by accident when my youngest of three was just two years old and the school my older children attended were looking for someone to run groups. I decided to give it a go and have never looked back.

I’m based in the South East of England on the West Berkshire/Hampshire border. I grew up in the area and returned once I became a parent. Having not finished college or found a vocation before motherhood, it was a revelation to me that being a stay at home mum was all the vocation I needed.

When I eventually felt a pull to move into the world of work, parenting was all I knew. Having attended parent-child groups with all three of my children - and having loved the connections and skills that I had developed in the process - it seemed a good way to give back. I was fortunate to be able to attend supportive training and it was there that I was introduced to the work of Dr Emmi Pikler.

I attended the first UK Pikler training from 2011 to 2014 and found my work and life transformed. I’ve since heard Anna Tardos talk about how this work has to speak to you if you are to take it forward. It’s not a method that one can perform.

This statement is one that I can really relate to. I think there are very few aspects of my current work and home life that are not influenced by what I have learned.

I joined the Pikler UK Management Committee a little after it was formed and came to take on several roles that I relished. Making sure that our online presence stayed up to date and keeping in contact with our members and mailing lists was vital (and still is). I also took on the role of shopkeeper and enjoyed attending events to represent the Association.

My professional work is still developing and my aim, with Balanced Beings and Balanced Babies, is to bring the Pikler approach to parents in particular, but also to adults everywhere who are interested in exploring what it means to live a balanced life - bringing self-care, parenting (or other caring responsibilities), and work together. These developments have been rather curtailed by the pandemic, but I’ve continued to learn from and support Ute Strub with online seminars and am looking forward to when face-to-face events take off again.

I write about what I experience, when I can, and have also enjoyed working with colleagues to produce articles for magazines such as Juno and Famly. My Pikler studies are ongoing and I’m very excited to be going to Budapest again next year to continue my learning.

I also work as a copy-editor, serving regular clients who produce videos and copy that need repurposing into usable content for blog posts and social media. I’m working on a couple of book projects, too, including a translation of Ute Strub’s Entfaltungen. And I have a keen interest in making sure that research and works focusing on the Pikler approach get translated into English.

Website - balanced-beings.co.uk

Facebook - /totallybalancedbeings

LinkedIn - /RachelTapping

Featured Product

Here’s what we think you might be interested in. We’ll also highlight new products and innovations whenever we get them.

Glances - Eszter Mózes, Tomas Opitz, Bea Puskás (eds)

This book is the most beautiful representation of the images taken by Marian Reismann. Reismann worked with Emmi Pikler to produce these breath-taking photos of the children and nurses in the Pikler Infants Home.

It’s not only a work of art, but also a depiction of the nature of care and connection in the home.

This would make a wonderful gift, whether for yourself or for your workplace, colleagues or family.

Here’s what the Pikler Shop & Studio say about this book…

‘Moments of intimacy between children and caregivers as seen through the eyes of Dr. Emmi Pikler and her long-time photographer Marian Reismann. This collection of photographs could be considered as a simple book of photographic art. But the art present on each page is much larger than that: this book of photographs speaks about the art of care and relationship.’

With Hungarian, English and Spanish captions.

We have just three copies of this book. Please email if you would like to buy one.

A Look Ahead

A reminder of what the upcoming year looks like. Don’t forget to put the dates in your diary…