| This wee film demonstrates why Nordic kids are the happiest and healthiest in the developed world. They get to be children (they dont start school till 6 or 7), they get to play outside even in minus 10 (with the right kit provided), their parents can afford kindergarten (its a max of £200 per month) and they have the right to be there from age 1 (so their parents aren't desperate for them to go to school early). As a result Nordic kids excel at all the skills learned at the very start of life -- communication, teamwork, problem-solving. If kids have great, attentive parents fine. If they don't, it's still fine in the Nordic nations - it's not fine here. And an uneven start in life creates destructive inequality all the way through school and beyond. Thanks to the 4H Kindergarten in Bodo, Wenche Roening the Childcare Co-ordinator there and Mona Rohne of the Norwegian Consulate in Edinburgh. |
