Back to School

Technically, we're not planning for "back to school".  We're planning for Roanin to go to school...for the first time...ever.  Because of being a stay-at-home mom, and for several other reasons, we homeschooled our children to this point.  I can teach my kids many things at home, but I can't teach them the Swedish language and culture!  Living in Sweden offers us the awesome opportunity for the kids to pick up a second language in an immersion experience, which is the most effective way to learn another language, especially at their young ages.

Part of the reason we chose to live in a rural area was to be able to send Roanin to a small town school where we have contacts.  Harriet, our landlady and neighbor, works at the elementary school Roanin will attend as the supplementary Science and Math teacher.  Our friend who set up the rental for us knows the first class (first grade) teacher, and was able to assure us that she speaks English, and has used it while living abroad.  That was a huge relief!

School starts Monday morning, and Roanin is a big ball of nerves.  He's excited about going to school, but understandably nervous about the language barrier.  Swedish children don't start taking English lessons until they're in 3rd grade, so we don't expect any of his classmates to be able to communicate with him through language.  Roanin has been studying Swedish with Rosetta Stone for the last couple months, which we hope will give him enough of a foundation to begin to decode the rest of the language quickly.  From the brief research I've done, children his age are usually able to become functionally fluent in a month in this type of experience.

The "back to school" experience in Sweden has been a learning process for me.  Education is free in Sweden.  We say the same thing in the U.S., but when Sweden says "free" they mean F.R.E.E. free.  It's my understanding that education is free through the doctorate level.  I'll let that one sink in for a minute.  No college tuition to save for.  No student loans to pay off.  No starting life in debt.  In fact, university students are paid a stipend to help with their living expenses.  That kind of free.

We started...and finished back to school shopping today.  This is what we bought:

Harriet told us he should bring a piece of fruit with him each day for a snack.  He picked grapes. I picked out the rest for some variety.  Total spent on back to school items for the first day: about $1.50 for half the pack of grapes.  Pricey for grapes, but pretty cheap as back to school supplies go in the U.S..  I'll also send him with his Spiderman backpack we brought with us, and a pair of tennis shoes to change into when he's in the school building.  That's it.  We might splurge a bit and buy each of the kids a new outfit tomorrow, but thats mostly because the lack of school shopping is kinda freaking me out.  A Swedish friend with school-aged kids warned me that the school will probably send all his school supplies home with him when we leave for the states.  This is so different from the "free" school system in the U.S. that it seems backward.  The question is: "Which country is backward?"

Roanin's school day will end at about 1 in the afternoon.  I think this is true for both the first and second class.  Older children stay until about 3.  That will be a nice easing-in to the school day routine for Roanin since he's never been in a classroom setting for more than 2 hours once a week at Bible Study.  Before he heads home, he'll eat lunch at school, which is also provided...for everyone.  I'm going to ask permission for Roanin to bring a camera to school to take pictures of the lunch under the guise of an illustrated social comparative project. Rumor has it Swedish schools serve their children actual food for lunch, as opposed to the preserved, frozen, nuked chemistry experiments offered in the U.S..

Here's the best part of Roanin's first day of school, in my opinion:  I get to go with him!  Its allowed, and maybe even expected, that the parents of younger children will attend school with them for the first day, or two, or three!  I'll go with him for the first couple hours, but then I'll have to leave before lunch so Scott can get to work.  I was just stunned that I get to set foot in the building during school hours at all!

After we get Roanin settled into school, we'll work on getting the girls into a nearby daycare program.  As a stay-at-home mom, I'm only entitled to 15 hours of free daycare per week.  Again with the freeness...sheesh! 

Maybe if we can get daycare set up, I'll have time for things like typing up posts about our trips to Stockholm (the Paris of the North) and Paris (The Paris), and maybe even a date with my husband!