Photo: Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report.
In Norway, a joyful, secure childhood is a legal right.
I was intrigued by today’s story on Norway’s approach to childhood. One point that made me smile was that the children in early-education programs take naps outdoors, bundled up in sleeping bags. My younger grandson took naps that way. Maybe because he’s half Swedish. Those Northerners don’t believe in bad weather.
Jackie Mader writes at the Hechinger Report via the Christian Science Monitor, “Just north of Oslo, Sylvia Lorentzen’s two child care programs straddle a narrow, winding road that leads up to the lush forests that encircle parts of Norway’s capital.
“In Norway’s system of universal child care, children ages 5 and under immerse themselves in nature. In the winter, those in Ms. Lorentzen’s care learn to ski and sled. In the summer, they swim, canoe, and rock climb – and then rest in hammocks.
“Around age 4, they learn how to safely use a knife. Then they huddle together outside, whittling wooden figures out of sticks to practice. By age 5, they are cutting logs with a saw and building fires. Toddlers nap outside, bundled inside puffy, miniature sleeping bags affixed to their strollers.
“Universal child care is ‘both seen as an investment for the society and an investment for the child,’ says Kristin Aasta Morken, a program leader in the city of Oslo. Public funding covers 85% of operating costs for child care programs in Norway. Parents pay about $182 per month.
“In the United States, it’s parents, mostly, who cover the costs for this care – though some employers and local jurisdictions may offer partial reimbursement.
‘Social differences are something Norway does not accept.’
“ ‘Kindergarten is so important to level out social inequities,’ says Robert Ullmann, head of a consortium of child care centers. ‘In Norway, we think it’s democratic that everyone can have the same opportunities and move out of being poor. Social differences are something Norway does not accept.’ …
“ ‘A really important pillar of Norway’s early ed philosophy is the value of childhood in itself,’ says Henrik D. Zachrisson, director of the Centre for Research on Equality in Education at the University of Oslo. ‘Early ed is supposed to be a place where children can be children and have the best childhood possible.’
“It’s an idea that undergirds Norway’s nationalized approach to its ‘kindergartens,’ which here serve children age 5 and younger, including toddlers and infants. …
“On a drizzly morning earlier this year at Preståsen Kanvas-barnehage, one of Mr. Ullmann’s kindergarten programs in south Oslo, children roam around an expansive play yard, building sandcastles under the canopy of a large pine tree. Others zoom down a hill on bikes.
“In another playground on campus, children shriek as they splash through a large puddle. This draws more children hoping to play. Rather than caution the children about getting wet, a teacher walks over and hands them buckets to have at it.
“Children with disabilities, who are often segregated in American child care programs, are included in activities. Some of them have a city-funded aide who attends to their needs.
“In some rooms, posters on the wall show pictures of common items or common requests, so children still learning Norwegian can point to what they need. In one room, children are learning about the Muslim holiday, Eid al-Fitr. …
“Ironically, Norway’s policies have been inspired in part by American studies that found troubling language skills gaps between higher- and lower-income children. Other influential American scholarship also revealed high educational returns from investing in early childhood programs.
“ ‘The argument I’ve heard is that if you don’t send your children to kindergarten, then you steal some possible experiences from them,’ says Adrian Kristinsønn Jacobsen, a doctoral candidate at the University of Stavanger in Norway who studies early childhood science education rooted in experiencing nature.
“There are important contexts affecting each country’s approach, however. Norway is home to about 5.5 million people, and about 82% are ethnically Norwegian. This population lives in an area roughly the size of Montana. Norway is also a top producer of oil, which helped generate a per capita household income that was over $104,000 in 2022, according to the International Monetary Fund.
“The U.S., on the other hand, has 62 times the number of residents that Norway has and a far more diverse population. In 2022, per capita household income in the U.S. was about $77,000.
“In Norway, nearly 1.4% of the country’s gross domestic product goes toward early childhood programs. The U.S. spends less than 0.4% of its GDP, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
“Public funding covers 85% of operating costs for child care programs in Norway. As of this summer, the tuition parents pay has been capped at about $182 per month. This applies to both public and private programs, and includes in-home kindergartens, which preserve a certain amount of choice for parents. Programs receive funding on a per-child basis. Kindergartens that care for children under 3 years old receive twice the funding of those ages 3 to 5, since toddlers and infants require more individualized care.
“Norwegian children are guaranteed a spot in a kindergarten after they turn 1 year old – about the time many parents’ paid leave ends. If parents decide not to send their children to a kindergarten, they receive financial assistance to stay home.
“Norway’s understanding of kindergarten is deeply ingrained in its culture. But these benefits, signed into law in the Kindergarten Act of 2006 – which repeats the word ‘play’ 56 times – also express some of the country’s deeply held values.
“Child care programs must acknowledge ‘the intrinsic value’ of childhood, according to the 63-page law. ‘The Kindergarten must be based on fundamental values in the Christian and humanist heritage and tradition, such as respect for human dignity and nature, on intellectual freedom, charity, forgiveness, equality and solidarity, values that also appear in different religions and beliefs and are rooted in human rights,’ the law declares. …
“The law proclaims, too, that kindergartens should ‘promote democracy and equality and counteract all forms of discrimination.’ ”
More at the Monitor, here.
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