Beautiful pictures @LillianGish
@RainbowZebraWarrior It's so good to hear your DD has started her new school, even though the first few days are bumpy. I hope things get more settled for her. Maybe a few half days, hours are a good start for her. If children change school or Nursery over here, we do "onboarding". This is where for the first 5 days children do limited time in their new setting. Eg day 1: 2-3 hours parent stays with then go home for lunch. Day 2: 2 -3 hours, parent in staffroom with coffee and biscuits to be close if needed. Day 3: morning alone, stay for lunch but parent close by and available. Day 4: whole day, but early pick up, Day 5: same.
It's completely tailored to the individual child, above was a typical example but it can change. We have a chat each day with the parent too about how it's going etc. I've been the teacher doing the process and the parent as well, so have seen both sides.
For older children they very much have their say in how it works for them, what they need at school. We follow the UN convention for the rights of the child VERY closely in schools and school law. All children have the right to be heard, so we have "elevsamtale" student conversations, a few times a year. These are 1-1 conversations where the student tells us what they need at school etc. We even have these at nursery. I would imagine, on how you have described your DD, that this model could be useful for her.
Ahhh! I could write so much on this! But I'll stop before I get going!
Where would I live in the world? Hmmmm.
I've tried out a few different lives so far. I grew up in NW England in a town between Manchester and Liverpool. I lived in Guernsey, so have had 5 years of island community life. That was lovely, safe and I still have friends there that we visit. But it can be stifling, insular and the difference between the wealth distribution was stark and often sobering.
I had a 5 day interview on Sark once. An even tinier island which has no cars, or buses. Only a few tractors for farming and transport of goods from the harbour. I was gutted not to get it, but experience has taught me it was the right decision.
I lived in the centre of Stockholm for years and also in a city on a Norwegian fjord.
Now i can honestly say that halfway up a mountain, in a village nobody has heard of, in one of the coldest and driest places in Norway is my home. I don't want to live anywhere else. Although, I would move a bit further up the mountain and into the cabin alone in the forest. But it's not practical right now.