The Schooling Experience (as a parent)

I’ve started visiting schools, primarily around the Oslo area. Next week, I head out to other parts of Norway. But, before I start to share about those adventures I wanted to write a bit about what it’s been like to send my children to public school in Norway.

The other week I blogged about how Jack and Lucy were placed in schools, focusing on how non-native speakers are handled in the school system. In this post I want to focus specifically on our experiences with primary schools and the differences between Norway and the United States. Some of these differences extend to secondary education, which I will cover later, when I start to really get into Roving.

The first thing we quickly learned is that lunch is not like lunch we have in the US. The first day of school there is always a Parents Meeting. At Jack’s school, the principal made sure that we knew, “Chips are not lunch. Chocolate is not lunch. They are snacks. If pupils have chocolate, we will take it away.” In Norway, students all have Matboks (lunch boxes). When we first picked them up we were like “what is going to fit in here?” I’ll tell you what fits in there—a sandwich and some fruits. That’s it. That’s lunch. They bring a water bottle and eat their sandwich and fruit.

There are no snacks, but some days they do have cooking class and make snacks. Lucy was excited about her awesome veggie dip she made (we’re having it for Christmas—family be ready). And Jack’s class made waffles one day. But, if you start to think about these simple lunches, you realize that they are a way to make sure that things are equal. No one has a great deal more food than someone else. No one is worried that someone will try to take their lunch from them. All the students are relatively similar. In the US we talk about excess and wanting to be special or better, but having a simple lunch makes even a small stride toward equality.

Another difference is the school day. For one, the school day is not a set schedule. They do not start each day at 8 a.m. and end at 3 p.m. (or 15:00). Instead, each week Jack and Lucy bring home their

school schedule and it lets us know when they start and finish school each day that week. Sometimes they will start at their “normal” times, 8:15 (Jack) or 8:30 (Lucy), but often Jack has at least one day a week he starts at 9:00 or 8:00. And, they get out of school at random times each week. It could be 13:30 or it could be 12:45. We have to make sure we’re checking the schedule. Fridays are usually short days, but this is not always the case. And, Jack has become really good at just following his schedule and coming home when he’s done, doing his homework, and of course, playing some Fortnite.

Because of this schedule there is also after school care that is available. This basically means that kids play outside in the school playground until they are picked up. When we pick up Lucy it is basically a swarm of children running around playing.

Play. We never do enough of this in the US. We are obsessed with testing and order in ways that are just not the norm in Norway. Because they eliminate grading in primary grades, there is the opportunity to concentrate more on learning in a large variety of ways. For example, they spend a great deal of time outside. Everyday Jack has three 15 minute recesses throughout the day and they spend them outside—no matter what the weather. Raining? Put on a raincoat. Cold? Bundle up. They have a saying in Norway—“There is no bad weather, just bad clothing.” This might be my favorite saying so far. The children just go outside and play. And enjoy that time. It is not structured play, but free play.

Exploring. We don’t do enough exploring the world around us in the US. If we take children on a field trip it is a long, planned out even and it takes months to put together. In Norway, both Jack and Lucy have been on multiple field trips already. Their class (or school) takes public transportation to a park or a museum and they spend the day there. In the time we’ve been here so far Jack and hiked around a lake, “grilled” hotdogs there, and done some nature walks. He’s gone to a neighborhood museum (in the rain) and done science lessons there. Lucy has been on the ferry to an island where she explored (and was excited she found sheep), found shells and other sea creatures. She’s been to multiple parks. Today, she went to Frognerpark and enjoyed climbing on all the statues. Learning happens beyond the classroom and both of my children are learning how they can learn and explore throughout the city.

Individualized learning. In Norway the LAW requires that students are taught to their ability. So, if they are above grade level in a subject, they are challenged in that subject. And, if they’re struggling then they are giving focused assistance there. This has been really wonderful with my children who are coming in as non-native speakers, but who also need some more challenging work (especially my math wizard son, who just needs to now learn the metric system). The opportunity to work with other pupils across grade levels and abilities makes learning more dynamic as well.

We continue to learn more exciting things about schooling in Norway. As we do, you will learn with me. But, for now, the focus on play, variety in learning environments, and personalized learning experiences have all been strong pluses for me as an educator and education scholar.