Edutopia - February/March 2008 - (Page 30) BY BRONWYN GRIFFITH how swede it is For an American mother living in Stockholm, innovative preschool education makes the long, dark winters tolerable. SWEDEN Population: 9.1 million Average years of school (adults) 11.4 Language: Swedish Required years of school: 10 The author (right) with her children and teacher Lena Magnusson. >>> he winter darkness closes in on Stockholm as I shuttle two small children home through the biting cold, reflecting on just how I got here. What exactly was it that convinced me to leave the charm of Paris and a great job as a museum curator a few years back? The short answer involves a persuasive Swedish husband and our growing family. The long answer has some uncharacteristically practical elements that include subsidized day care and remarkable choices in public education. I have never been much of a planner, which is why the Swedish adage “There is no bad weather, only bad clothing,” has always unsettled me. Though some people have a gift for strategic thinking, I have always tended to make the biggest decisions in my life only when the moment arrived. This is not to say there was a lack of careful consideration, but rather that projecting far into the future always remained abstract. I prefer to adapt and react to what is, rather than what might be. But now that I am responsible for the future of two children in a foreign country, I find that I am changing tactics. The learning curve is steep for any new parent, yet it seems exponentially so when you decide to raise your children abroad. Aside from the language pitfalls and other cultural differences, there are also life’s fundamentals to be tended to, particularly education. T First, you have to try to figure out the educational system and then resolve the fact that you will never have complete confidence, simply because it is different from what you know. I’ve spent considerable time on this latter phase, because in many ways the Swedish approach to early-childhood education is so different from the American. Everything starts later. Due to a generous eighteen-month parental leave, children do not—and cannot—begin collective care until after the age of 1. Most then attend a förskolan (preschool) for children ages 1–5. At age 6, most go to a preparation year, and compulsory BEYOND BABYSITTING education finally Examine preschool in the United States at www.edutopia.org/preschool begins at age 7. I was stunned by this late start for school and, until recently, was concerned about my children getting bored or lagging behind. Then I realized that this was probably because my memories of early education were all geared toward quantifiable achievements: learning to count, recite the alphabet, and so on. There was a focus on making “progress,” on getting that gold star. What I hear about American preschools today, including references to new features such as prewriting, seems to confirm this memory. I like the idea of children learning their ABCs and 123s early, but rather than signing up my son for a 30 EDUTOPIA FEBRUARY/MARCH 2008 http://www.edutopia.org/preschool
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