This morning I saw an Instagram post describing a British 5 year olds morning vs a Scandivian childs morning. It said that the British child will have a rushed and stressful experience being pushed out the door at 7am for school, whereas the Scandinavian child will have a slow morning looking at the frost on the grass outside before heading off to forest school in the afternoon.
I only have one European friend (as in still living abroad) with a same age child as me (4-5) and yes her child doesn't go to formal school but she goes to nursery which starts at 8am and finishes at 5pm because my friend and her husband still have a full time job.
The messaging seems to be that British children are locked away inside classrooms studying while their same age European peers are frolicking in the forests all day. For those who were schooled or whose children are schooled abroad, is this really true?
A school day here is only 6 hours with constant school holidays, seems like plenty of time for frolicking in the outdoors yet I constantly read that British children are shut away indoors, writing at desks and consequently have a miserable childhood. I'd love to hear about some of the differences abroad from those who have lived it, in terms of time spent outdoors/independence/attitudes to play vs academics etc.