this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2024

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122

Swedish children to start school a year earlier in move away from play (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 3 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

33 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Compulsory preschool year for six-year-olds to be replaced with extra year in primary school from 2028

Children in Sweden are to start school at six years old from 2028, a year earlier than at present, in an overhaul of the country's education system that signals a switch from play-based teaching for younger children.

The government has announced plans to replace a compulsory preschool year for six-year-olds known as förskoleklass with an additional year in grundskola (primary school).

The centre-right coalition government, led by the Moderates and backed by the far-right Sweden Democrats, announced the plan before the presentation of the 2025 budget, due on Thursday. The plan dates back to the previous government and is also backed by the left-leaning Social Democrats.

all 36 comments

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[–] PugJesus@lemmy.world 36 points 3 months ago (4 children)

Kids didn't start preschool until 6?

That's, uh, interesting.

[–] Makka@lemmy.one 23 points 3 months ago

No they start preschool from 1yr old if the parents want, but it is compulsory to enroll at 6. The year for six year olds is also a bit different from the first years with more focus on familiarising with school routines and learning - but still lots of play

[–] jlh@lemmy.jlh.name 8 points 3 months ago

Förskola/daycare before 6 is not compulsory

https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%B6rskoleklass

[–] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 7 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

Six years old seems late. I started first grade as a four year old and all my other classmates but one were five. I remember first grade because things went from mostly play, naps, and some schooling to nothing but schooling, homework and tutoring.

[–] acosmichippo@lemmy.world 7 points 3 months ago (2 children)

where do you live? homework at age 4?

[–] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I'll never forget it. It was a workbook to practice writing letters and numbers. I'm sure it was only a single page but it felt like an entire book.

To answer your question, I went to a British run private school. Think of it as a stereotypical British prep school, down to the uniform, but not in the UK. Also, they jumped me a year because in pre-school I was always sneaking into classes rather than napping or playing.

[–] Drusas@fedia.io 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

We had homework for kindergarten, age 5, here in the US. It was just workbooks where you learn things like practicing writing a letter or coloring inside the lines.

[–] acosmichippo@lemmy.world 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

seems a bit unnecessary, is there not enough time to do that at school? not like you need to dedicate class time to lectures on coloring.

[–] Drusas@fedia.io 3 points 3 months ago

I don't know, but when I was that age, I enjoyed the homework. It was mostly just coloring and circling things.

[–] BirdyBoogleBop@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 3 months ago

4 is too early for a lot of kids. It was definitely too early for me personally and my niece is starting school when she turns 4 too and I think she isn't going to be ready either.

[–] yetAnotherUser@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

How and whether preschool exists differs from country to country.

For example, here in Germany you go straight from kindergarten to primary school.

[+] Fixbeat@lemmy.ml 15 points 3 months ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (4 children)

[deleted]

[–] dEVbiKub@feddit.nu 12 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

I disagree, kids should not work as they have no sense for quality.

[–] Moah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 3 months ago (2 children)

We all know that what kids really want is to go to the mines

[–] Valmond@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

Those miners

[–] ms_lane@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

They pine for the chimneys.

[–] bstix@feddit.dk 6 points 3 months ago

I used to think the same, but kids are really much further ahead these days.

There's a lot of variety of course. Even my two kids are totally different. The older one knew the entire alphabet and basic math before kindergarten (<4yo), while the second one was still catching up on that in 2.grade (8yo here). Their gross motor skills are opposite though, and the oldest might never catch up on that.

So, play is learning in one way or the other, but there's no reason to hold back the children who are talented in one thing over the other. My oldest is being held back that way by the current curriculum. Starting school earlier might be a way of addressing this.

It's really just a matter of task assignment between institutions. Anything pre-school (nursery and kindergarten) is focused on behaviour and play, while early school (gradually) introduces more abstract learning, which requires a different teaching by teachers with a different education. Strictly speaking, it's a teachers problem, and there's currently not much overlap, except for "backwards compatibility", because schools do have employees who are educated in kindergarten levels, whereas kindergartens do not have school level teachers employed. By introducing school earlier, it is possible to widen this overlap while still allowing for kids to proceed in their own pace.

So, IMO, it makes sense, but yeah, it'd be dreadful to go to "school" for that many years. Coincidentally, kids also leave schools earlier. There's no longer many kids in 10th grade, because almost everyone goes on to the following studies after 9th these days. (which is a completely different discussion..)

I hope this makes sense. British/American school system are wildly different, but at the end of it, the kids will be kids, no matter what box they fit into.

[–] Stovetop@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

My gut had me wanting to say the same thing, but looking at the age ranges, this actually seems reasonable and in line with how many other countries operate. By 6 years old, students in the US are in first grade, for example. Kindergarten a year or two prior as well, which is also compulsory in some states.

[+] KyuubiNoKitsune@lemmy.blahaj.zone -16 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Sweden is in general a no-fun zone. Gotta have a license to have fun.

Also the school system teaches kids to be good little drones.

[–] InvertedParallax@lemm.ee 9 points 3 months ago (1 children)

That's bullshit, it's fun just in different ways.

Sweden is coffee and biscuits while the US is cocaine with meth as a treat.

The system is all over the place, it's safe for them to be drones, but if they show any potential they get fired up the railgun of intense academics like you can't believe, they have some absolutely incredible engineers and scientists, and as a percentage of their population it's almost unheard of.

The downside is after school they tend to leave for the US or elsewhere, the actual job opportunities for world-class scientists and engineers in Sweden are decent, but their yield of talent far, FAR outstreteches the economic capacity to carry them.

They have the talent pool of West Germany with the population of, well, Sweden (10.5m, it's tiny).

[–] ms_lane@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Sweden is a no-fun zone. Norwegians know how to have fun though.

[–] InvertedParallax@lemm.ee 2 points 3 months ago

Yeah ok, I'll give you that.

But Swedes can have fun, they're just not used to it, it's slowly creeping in via the internet.

Wife is a square-head, we're moving there, they are just ents, slow to get started.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Kids in Sweden going to school at pretty much the same age as kids in a lot of the rest of the world means Sweden is anti-fun?

[–] KyuubiNoKitsune@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 3 months ago

The article specifically mentions play learning and stopping it..

[–] WildPalmTree@lemmy.world -3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Tell me you have no kids and are at least 40 without saying it.

[–] KyuubiNoKitsune@lemmy.blahaj.zone 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Nice try, but no.

[–] WildPalmTree@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

Then please tell me how they are thought to be little drones.

[–] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 9 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Sounds like they’re introducing kindergarten in place of extra long preschool.

Five/six is the right age to start learning to follow a teacher’s lesson.

[–] hungryphrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It's seven, you yank.

[–] itslilith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 3 months ago

It depends on the child, I'd say 5-7 is the general range for most people, probably skewed towards the older side. But I know that for me starting school at 5 was the right call, another year of kindergarten and I would've been bored out of my mind

[–] MTK@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Weren't they the highest rated school system in the world or something?

If it aint broke don't fix it??

Edit: they were not

[–] viking@infosec.pub 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

That's Finland. Sweden has been on a decline.

[–] MTK@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

Thanks!

[–] MediaBiasFactChecker@lemmy.world -2 points 3 months ago

The Guardian - News Source Context (Click to view Full Report)

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MBFC: Left-Center - Credibility: Medium - Factual Reporting: Mixed - United Kingdom
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/19/swedish-children-to-start-school-a-year-earlier-six

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