Scottish children record the lowest feelings of wellbeing in Europe.
Never mind literacy, class size or the Curriculum for Excellence – we have bigger problems. Some of our children are doing fine – others are obese and disengaged. Some – in hopeless, drug-filled estates – are semi-feral. Others in leafy suburbs are over-parented. There is one common denominator though – guilty working mothers who dare not demand the massive change that would remedy educational problems and improve adult and child wellbeing -- kindergarten care on the Scandinavian model from the age of 1.
I can hear the objections already. Too expensive. Alright for them. A luxurious irrelevance when essential school services are being cut. Destruction of the “mother-at-home” parenting that has worked well for generations.
Let me ask one thing straight away.
How much money and effort do we currently waste “retrofitting” skills onto the teenage and adult casualties of poor childhood learning experience? And how much might we have saved in cash, confidence, and citizen engagement if we had spent on the early years instead? So back to our cousins in well-adjusted Scandinavia.
In Norway every child has a statutory right to a kindergarten place from 1-6 for an eye-watering maximum of £200 per month.
Children spend the bulk of the day outdoors – often in snow and temperatures of minus 5 degrees – fully equipped by the school in snazzy, thermal, waterproof, gear. The kindergartens are often situated near farms so the kids can feed and play with animals, collecting eggs and washing them for sale, growing tomatoes, making hay and even watching slaughtered cows being dissected to learn more about animal biology. The Norwegian belief is that children divorced from the whole of nature – the cycles of life and death -- become couch potatoes, estranged from the outdoors and less independent, confident, co-operative and happy as young adults.
An activity centre in Arctic Bodo is part of every local pupil’s week – especially children with autism, learning difficulties, hyperactivity and truanting tendencies. They drive on quad bikes, abseil on cliffs, climb trees, drive go-karts and eat and learn outside around sheltered camp fires. As educational pioneer Henny Aune puts it, “Children have more physical energy than adults and children with attention issues have more energy still. They just need to run it off. Then they can focus.” This approach is not only humane and sensible it gets results. The sort employers actually want.
The rest at Scotsman.com……… and watch this site for a Children1st lecture delivered by Lesley at Dundee University.
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