Introduction Modern Germany. Beyond the stereotype ; A short historical update ; The culture of control ; Why German parenting matters
1. Leaving America. A cold arrival ; Everything in order
2. Berlin babies. Where midwives rule ; The American disadvantage ; A Berlin birth
3. Attachment problems. German parents and attachment theory ; Independent infants ; Mother knows best?
4. Small children, small worries (Kleine Kinder, kleine Sorgen). The kindergarten east-west legacy ; Early kita skills ; Quality of care ; Child-care benefits
5. The democratic kindergarten. Faster or better learning ; Children in charge ; Discipline ; Kita trips ; Teaching kita skills in the United States
6. Starting school. Play school ; Educational priorities ; Homework, food, and protest
7. No bad weather. America inside ; Germans and free nature ; Taking away the toys
8. The freedom to move. Why German children walk alone ; Freedom to play
9. Dangerous things. The art of fire ; Tools ; Adventure play ; Necessary dangers ; A celebration of fear
10. Tough subjects. Death ; Religion
11. Facing the past. The history of memory ; Historic crimes and responsibility
12. Big kids, big worries (Grosse Kinder, grosse Sorgen). The space to be young ; An extra-long adolescence ; The academic question ; Achieving adulthood
13. Coming back to America. Starting American school ; Fourth-grade blues ; Freedom for kids in the land of the free
Epilogue German lessons. The rights of children ; Freedom of ideas.
