According to the standards of preschool education, a kindergarten aims to meet the needs of every child in terms of care, safety, and respect. Moreover, it provides an opportunity for a child to grow in a social environment, helping to develop skills such as socialization, communication, cultural integration, and language.
All kindergartens in Norway operate from 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning and close after 16:30, although in practice, most children are picked up by 16:00. This is because the average official working day for Norwegians is 7.5 hours, but most office workers actually work around 6-7 hours a day. The 16:00 end of the workday is aimed at allowing people to literally “connect with nature.” This factor is also reflected in the customs of Norwegian kindergartens, where children nap outdoors during the day, regardless of weather conditions – be it snow, rain, windy weather, bright sun, or temperatures as low as -10 degrees Celsius. After lunch, educators put the children in strollers and take them outside to sleep.
A few years ago, the then-mayor of Oslo, Marianne Borgen, during a meeting with the Minister of Education and Research, Ganna Novosad, noted: “Our children play outside all the time – in the rain, in the snow, in the heat. For this, they need the right clothing. Usually, we have additional clothing in kindergartens so that educators can compensate for it if a child forgets something.” Furthermore, she emphasized the importance of feedback, and in kindergartens, they often take photos and videos of the children to show to the parents. They also frequently conduct surveys to continuously improve the work of preschool institutions.
All these so-called “rules” are simply the customs of a particular country tailored to the lifestyle of its citizens. These characteristics are linked to numerous factors influenced by the government and the trends it prioritizes.
