We wanted the kids to learn to speak Norwegian and the best
way for them to do so by being surrounded by it. We also wanted the kids to have some
playmates and friends here in Stavanger.
Many of the family have both parents working so there aren’t many kids
playing at the parks in the neighborhoods.
Luckily, Jan’s company has a sponsored barnehage (BHG), which is like a
“day care” in the US. Since we are
expats we were given a spot for Marcus early in January and Rebecca was able to
start mid-February.
The first day for Marcus at BHG was more of a meet &
greet. Jan and I both met at the BHG,
while Bestemor came over to play with Rebecca.
It lasted a couple hours so we could see what the children did and who
his teachers would be. The second day, I
went back to BHG and sat with him for a while in the classroom. He really hit it off with one of his teachers
who was laying in the floor with him playing with his cars. I left for a short while and then came back
and he was still a happy little boy… The
next days I left him longer each time until he was staying a full day, well
what we consider a full day. He takes a
nap and they provide a bed for him to sleep in complete with a sheepskin under
the bottom sheet, blanket and a thick duvet.
Let me explain, they sleep in an unheated room all the younger children
in one large room and they have done this forever. Some of the BHG have the children sleep
outside in their stroller, regardless of weather, with a plastic cover of
course, its just a different culture ;-)
Marcus sleeps very well in his new nap surrounding.
The BHG is open from 7:30 until 4:30, I think. The BHG our children attend serve three meals
to the children, they get breakfast, then a hot lunch and a big snack
mid-afternoon. I usually drop them off
around 9a and pick them up at 3:00p.
There isn’t a strict schedule at Norwegian like in American programs or
the ones we have attended. It is a play
day all day, they do have learning sessions but their focus is on playing. The one HUGE thing they do differently is the
kids play outside almost every day regardless of weather. Please keep in mind, there aren’t many
thunder & lightening storms like in Houston and they have proper
clothing. They have a full winter suit
that is insulated, with wool thermal underwear, and then a fleece layer and
Goretex boots when its cold. And then
when its raining or muddy, they have a rubber suit complete with rubber
boots. Typically we leave the suits all
week and if they need cleaning or we plan to use them we bring them home on
weekends. But on more than one occasion,
Rebecca has had to bring hers home mid-week because it was so MUDDY. Yes this girl is not scared of getting a
little muddy J
and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
While we were waiting for Rebecca’s spot to open up, she was
missing her friends and wanted to make new ones. We tried a couple of toddler play groups but
the average age of the children were much younger than Rebecca. There are some open BHG, which a caretaker
(parent, grandparent, nanny) needs to be present while attending. The first one we went to was great because
she made a friend, a little girl who was about the same age and they played so
well together. It was so nice seeing the
girls play. Rebecca came home and was so
excited because she made a friend. The
next week we met her new friend at a different open BHG and the girls were fast
friends. It absolutely warmed my heart
to see her making a friend.
Then it was time for Rebecca to start BHG. We were a little nervous because all of the
18 children in her class speak Norwegian and only three speak English. The “play” language is Norwegian, but all of
her teachers speak English. Jan met
Rebecca & I in her classroom after we dropped Marcus in his class. I had all her suits prepared with a couple
extra sets of clothes…you know in case she got muddy or wet playing
outside. She was a little reserved at
first, but two of her classmates came over and helped her complete a puzzle. I could tell in her eyes she was super
excited to be there, finally. Jan could
tell as well, he left after a short time.
I hung out with the class and then stood back so she could interact with
the teachers and the other children.
Then it was time to eat lunch, which is when we had planned to
depart…key work: planned. Rebecca asked
what they were having…hotdogs & mashed potatoes, ummm some of her
favorites. So she stayed and ate with
the kids. Then after eating some of the
children started changing their clothes and putting more layers on. I asked what they were doing and her teacher
said oh they are going outside now. She
looked at me and said, Mommy can I stay and you leave, my teachers will look
after me. How in the world could I tell
her no, she was having so much fun. I
asked her teacher and he said sure she can stay. (yes, she has a male teacher and two female
teachers, Marcus has 3-4female teachers) We agreed, I would only go for about an hour
then return to see how she was doing.
Guess what???!?? I get back to
pick her up and she is playing with a little girl in the sand and said mommy
I’m not ready to leave… can you come back later ;-). I was so happy!!!! I spoke with another one of her teachers and
they were wanted to make sure we ended on a happy note and didn’t want to push
her to stay too long on the first day. I
tried to explain, she has been counting
down the days until she would be ale to start BHG. The teacher agreed to allow her to stay
another hour until I picked up Marcus. I
had one happy little girl that evening and tired too. The next day was suppose to be only a couple
hours, nope not for this little girl.
She was there from 9-3.
So these days I drop both Rebecca & Marcus off at 9 and
then pick them up around 3p. They both
enjoy going to BHG, they play all day both inside and out, rain, snow, mud and
on the occasion SUNSHINE. Rebecca’s
class usually takes a “field trip” every Monday to a nearby forest to search
for creatures and such. They walk
together and its normal, throughout Stavanger & Norway, you
see little BHG classes walking on the sidewalks and through fields exploring. Marcus’ class not as frequent because his
class has ages 12mos until 3yr, then they are promoted to the older class, but
they have gone on walks and my American boy wants to ride in the cart for the
younger kids.
I’m not sure if Marcus is speaking Norwegian in class but we
think he understands it. Its hard to
determine with him because he hasn’t built up his English vocabulary.
Rebecca came to me last night and said sko momma sko, I looked at her
for a second then I realized she was saying shoe in Norwegian. So for the 3 weeks she has been in BHG she is
learning.
I know they love it at their new BHG, both of them are super
happy when I pick them up. This past
Friday, Marcus kicked me out of his class, telling me to leave, ha det momma ha
det (which is Good bye in Norwegian).
So it makes me feel so good that have adapted to their new life so well
and are making friends.
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| The kids were celebrating Carnival, they were allowed to dress up. I'm so glad I packed their costumes. Superhero Rebecca & Fireman Marcus |
