Now that we're back and my son has had a chance to get a feel for middle school in the United States, I thought it would be fun to have him write up a comparison of school in Sweden and school in the U.S. Not surprisingly, he didn't think writing an essay sounded fun at all. He did humor me and agree to be intereviewed for this blog and he read and had final editing control over the result. Keep in mind that this is an anecdotal comparison-- he has only experienced one particular school in Sweden and one particular school in the U.S. Officially, it's not called Middle School or Junior High in Sweden. Grundskolan, the compulsory school, runs from grade 0 through grade 9 (approximately age 6-14). Some schools include all those grades but often they have grade 0-5 at one school and then 6-9 at another--so like a U.S. middle school. After finishing the compulsory school, students can chose to go on to gymnasium (like U.S. High School). So how do the the schools in the two countries compare....
ACADEMICS
How does the difficulty of class work compare?
Most subjects are comparable and the average classroom experience feels about the same. The Swedes are definitely way ahead of the U.S. in languages-- by the time Swedish kids are 13 they've already spent several years learning English and most can read, write and speak English quite well. They've also learned some basics of Danish and Norwegian--close relatives of Swedish. Then in middle school they start learning an additional language--French, German or Spanish. My son also learned a lot more geography in Swedish schools-- he learned the countries, capitals and important geographic features of Europe, North America, South America, Austrailia and some of Africa and Asia.
The U.S. is definitely ahead in math. My son found all the math they had him do was incredibly easy-- even when he worked on his own and was a book ahead of the rest of his class. We found this also held true in gymnasium. My theory on this is that they seem to emphasize a "whole learning" approach to education-- big on concepts and ideas, not so big on drilling the basics. That can be nice in some subjects but can be dangerous in a subject like math where you simply have to know the facts.
Homework
Hands-down the U.S. school gives more homework. In Sweden, my son rarely had any homework. If he did have any it would be ridiculously small-- like one page of math that he had an entire week to finish. In the U.S. he usually has 15-20 minutes worth of homework for each of several classes every night. No surprise that he preferred the Swedish approach on this one. :-)
Standardized Testing
My son took Swedish National exams in all his major subjects last year and if I understood right, that was a new thing for his age. The Swedish National exams included multiple choice, fill-in-the-blanks, short essay, long essay and oral portions for most subjects while the Virginia SOL (Standards of Learning) tests are nearly all muiltiple choice (aside from a writing test every few years). My son found them of similar difficulty (although that is a little hard for him to judge since he had to take all the Swedish ones in Swedish). The main difference he found was the emphasis placed on the tests. In Sweden he didn't hear about them until a week or two before the tests and then they just quickly went over the format they should expect and reviewed a little. He says the teachers didn't even know until a week or two before the exam which topics within their subject would be covered. That was a big contrast to the U.S. where it feels they are always forced to teach to the test and are always talking about the SOLs. Here it is September and he says they are constantly talking about the SOL writing test (which they will take in the spring).
Grading
Sweden just recently introduced (well, probably reintroduced) letter grades to the middle school years. Previously, students only received grades in Grade 9 and these grades were used for placement into gymnasium programs. Now they earn letter grades in 6-9. The grades look similar to U.S. grades but are very different. Passing grades are A-E with F being a failing grade. The first strange thing to us was that the teachers told the kids over and over "Es are good." That is a very different mentality than the U.S. where while officially Cs and Ds are passing grades, they are not considered acceptable. For example, if you got all Cs and Ds you would not be allowed to play school sports and participate in other extra curricular activities. It seems like there is also a limit on how many Cs and Ds you can get in core classes and still have credits for graduation. But in Sweden, Es really were satisfactory if not stunning grades.
The basis of the grading was also very different. In a U.S. school, you get a list of assignments, tests, quizzes, etc. Each is worth a certain number of points. Your grade is completely based on the percentage of points you earned. The relative weight of homework versus tests is clearly established at the beginning of a course. In Sweden you never see a list like that. The report card instead is a list of all the concepts and skills that they want the student to master in a given subject. Teachers subjectively mark how well each item has been mastered (based roughly on tests, assignments, classroom activity, etc.) and then assigns a grade for the subject. If you have mastered the required information for your grade and nothing more, you earn an E. If you've done above normal, you can earn a C or a D. Bs seemed fairly rare and As were practically unheard of. For example, my son usually got the highest score in his class on all their science tests and he got B's in those subjects. He only earned A's in English (he never even went to to the class or did any of the work because they knew he could already meet all the course objectives being a native speaker) and math-- where he was working on his own a book ahead. If not all the objectives have been covered yet, it is impossible to earn a high grade. In all subjects, the objectives are designed to span multiple years in which case it is extremely difficult to get above a D or E in the first few years. This approach also applies to classes like physical education. In a U.S. physical education class, if you show up with required equipment every day and participate, you will be given full points and an A. In a Swedish physical educaion class, you are evaluated on a number of physical skills they want you to master-- how well did you swim the 200 meters at the pool?, how fast did you run the obstacle course?, how well have you mastered the skills of a specific sport?, etc. Oh, and they also gave separate grades for different topics within some subjects. For example, in science they studied some biology and some chemistry so they had both on their report cards. And in social studies they had separate grades for history, geography and world religions. I was afraid this grading approach would be difficult for my son (who was used to straight As all the time), but he actually didn't mind it. He says that in the U.S. the best you can do is to not mess anything up and therefore get an A. He liked having something BEYOND that to shoot for.
I should also add in that the concept of an "honor roll" is completely unheard of in Sweden. There are no award programs or incentives for good grades. Culturally they are very into the concept that everyone should be equal.
Subjects Offered
In our U.S. middle school, students all take the basics: math, language arts, social studies, science, and physical education. Then they get to chose 2, semester-long electives from subjects like home ec, shop, music, art, etc. In Sweden, all students took math, language arts, social studies, science, English, physical education, foreign language (grades 7-9), music, art, home ec, and handiwork (could do sewing or wood working projects). They managed the larger number of subjects by having a much more varied schedule. Each day of the week had a unique schedule, including varied start and end times. It was nice having wide variety of subjects and also nice to have days that you got home early (his end times ranged from 1 pm to 4 pm). Some classes like math and language arts were held several times a week. Other classes like music were only once a week. A few, like home ec and art, were just for one semester. This is very different from our U.S. school where school starts and ends at the same time each day, classes are the same length and in the same order each day and the only variation is an every other day exchange between the physical education class and elective classes.
While our U.S. middle school offers both band and choir programs, the Swedish school only offered a general music class. They had a small choir that practiced after school and sang at school assemblies. Students who wanted to study an instrument and play in an ensemble or sing in a more advanced choir did so through a regional music school outside of school hours that you paid a monthly tuition to attend. The tuition covered a weekly private lesson and participation in any level-appropriate ensembles. There was usually a waiting list to get a spot for popular instruments like piano, guitar and voice.
Sports and Other Extracurriculur
These really don't exist in Sweden. Sports and other hobbies are all done through clubs in the community, not through the schools. As opposed to the U.S. where school sports are huge.
Teacher Conferences
In the U.S., conferences are held twice a year between the parents and the teacher. In Sweden, conferences are held twice a year between the student, parent and teacher. In both, the teacher presents how the student has been doing in class and discusses what could be improved. My son liked that he was included in these discussions but I do know of some kids that were having trouble in school that found hearing a discussion of themselves upsetting. The strangest thing for me in the Swedish conference was when the teacher looked at my son and said, "What can I do better to meet your needs?" Kids are treated much more like people in Sweden-- with their own rights-- and the conferences I attended were very much framed as what goals can the student, parent and teacher each make to improve the learning of this student.
SOCIAL
Class size and structure
In his U.S. middle school, my son is assigned to a "team" of around 100 students-- half of his grade. This team shares the same teachers for their subjects and are mixed together in different ways for each subject/class period. He most likely has at least one class with each student on his team. In Sweden, students are divided into classes of around 25 students. They then move to different teachers for different subjects with their class. They are always with those same students-- the only exception being foreign languages where they mix the classes to allow choice of language. This class stays intact throughout their entire time at the school. Their teachers also move along with them. (Another interesting tidbit, when entering the school, the kids were able to request 2-3 friends who they wanted to be placed in a class with.) My son enjoyed the comfortableness of having a very knowable group of people. The downside to this system was that you meet fewer people. There was only one other class his age at his school. They would occasionally do activities together and would interact at class breaks and lunch, but primarily his time was spent with his class.
General Environment
The biggest shock to my son, on returning to U.S. school, was the sheer noise and volume of people. Part of that was because his school in Sweden was half as big (280 students versus 570) but more because you seldom had all the students in one place, at one time. In Sweden, each class's schedule was different from the others. Classes were started and let out at different times. Breaks between classes varied in length between 10 to 30 minutes, depending on what was needed to make the overall schedule work. In the U.S. school, all the students arrive at the same time and are held in a few common areas until time for class--one grade on the gym bleachers, one grade in the cafeteria and one in the auditorium. That is a lot of kids in a small space and it is loud. Then the bell rings and they all have 4 minutes to cram through the halls to their lockers and classes. At each class break, they all move through the halls again, trying to get where they are going (and if they're lucky squeeze in a restroom break) in 4 minutes. He found the crowds those first few days a bit overwhelming and exhausting.
He was also not used to teachers constantly "herding" him everywhere. In Sweden, the students were very free to roam where they wanted during class breaks. They could go outside and play for a bit or walk where they wanted in the buildings. Hall monitors were unheard of. Officially they weren't suppose to leave the school campus, but that wasn't enforced and kids even routinely walked to nearby shops to buy snacks. At his U.S. school, he says if you stop at the drinking fountain during a class break you'll likely have a teacher telling you to hurry up and get to class. They even have to use specific hallways and stairs to go to the cafeteria and back. Any time outside the classroom is very rushed, very regulated, and very much as a herd.
Discipline
The downside to the freedom given to Swedish students is a lack of discipline. My son was constantly amazed at how little respect teachers were given. Students were constantly arguing with the teachers over assignments they didn't want to do and any policies they didn't like. Sweden culturally is big into discussion and reaching concensus and combine that with the idea that a kid has rights comparable to an adult... Teens are adept at using all that to their advantage. Often kids would just announce they didn't want to do things and not do them. And teachers seemed to have very few tools at their disposal to counter these rebellions. There seemed to be little or no motivation to get good grades so no carrot there and I don't think they were allowed to do much at all in the way of punishment. Here's an example, the teachers were having trouble with kids distracting the class by using their mobile phones. They had to call a special class meeting with parents to try and get permission to temporarily take away students' mobile phones if they were disruptive. In the U.S., the teacher would just take the mobile phone--. and then make the parent come to the school and get it if the student ever wanted it back. At his U.S.school, if you are late to class or break other rules, you face lunch detention, after-school detention or suspension. At his Swedish school, if a kid was late continually or a consistent problem, the teacher might contact his parent or occasionally they might keep them in from a class break to finish an assignment. One day, my son headed for school and came back a several minutes later-- his bike chain had broken. He swapped bikes and headed out again, now thoroughly late for school. I asked him if I needed to write him an excuse note or call the school. He rolled his eyes at me and said, "Mom, this is Sweden. They don't care." Another example, the last week or two of school, there were mass water balloon fights throughout the school. These went on for days.
Safety
The lack of discipline also resulted in increased bullying. Last year was the only year of his entire school career when my son was harassed by bullies. Of course, he didn't admit he was having troubles until after he'd solved it himself but it was obvious that he was not enjoying school. He said things got better once he learned who and where to avoid during class breaks. The school knew there was a problem and took some surveys and gave some lectures, but my son didn't think it changed anything. And my daughters' friends at gymnasium, from a wide variety of middle schools, all had similar stories to tell about their middle school years. My son's U.S. school is also having lots of lectures on bullying, but he says he hasn't actually seen any bullying going on.
Thanks to the recent school shootings, U.S. schools have tightened down on security. Before we left, they starting locking all the doors during the day and having lock-down drills. Now they've added video camera monitoring at all the entrances. You have to show your ID before they'll buzz you into the school. Then you have to go straight to the office. There is always an armed policeman standing near the front door as the kids enter the school in the morning and he is there all day.
You definitely didn't see armed police in the Swedish schools. The check-in/check-out policies were surprisingly non-existant. No office staff to talk to. You just told your child's teacher you were coming for them and wandered into the school and got them or you could just tell them to let your kid walk home. I wonder a little on these differences-- are the odds of something bad happening at the U.S. school actually higher. Afterall, there are crazies everywhere. Or is the U.S. a bit overparanoid and the Swedish school still a bit too naive.
School Lunch
And now, the most important question of all. Whose school lunch is better? In Sweden, lunch is included. No lunch money required (They were downright appalled at the thought you could be charged for lunch.) So no one ever packed a lunch from home. So my kids ate, and sometimes complained about, school lunch every day. Now that he is back to the U.S., ....drum roll....he has declared that U.S. school lunch is worse. His complaints are that you can't chose the size of your portions or go back for more of the things you like He says the food in the U.S. is more repetitive and that he really misses being trusted with a butter knife. In Sweden, a knife is as crucial for eating as a fork. My daughter concurs, her main complaint being that American school lunch feels more unhealthy.
THE FINAL VERDICT
So which school system does he prefer? He says that somewhere in the middle of the two would be perfect-- he'd like more freedom and variety than the U.S.system gives him but more discipline and consistency than he found in Sweden. I think one of the biggest lessons we learned from our overseas assignment is that there is definitely more than one way to do things.
The U.S. is definitely ahead in math. My son found all the math they had him do was incredibly easy-- even when he worked on his own and was a book ahead of the rest of his class. We found this also held true in gymnasium. My theory on this is that they seem to emphasize a "whole learning" approach to education-- big on concepts and ideas, not so big on drilling the basics. That can be nice in some subjects but can be dangerous in a subject like math where you simply have to know the facts.
Homework
Hands-down the U.S. school gives more homework. In Sweden, my son rarely had any homework. If he did have any it would be ridiculously small-- like one page of math that he had an entire week to finish. In the U.S. he usually has 15-20 minutes worth of homework for each of several classes every night. No surprise that he preferred the Swedish approach on this one. :-)
Standardized Testing
My son took Swedish National exams in all his major subjects last year and if I understood right, that was a new thing for his age. The Swedish National exams included multiple choice, fill-in-the-blanks, short essay, long essay and oral portions for most subjects while the Virginia SOL (Standards of Learning) tests are nearly all muiltiple choice (aside from a writing test every few years). My son found them of similar difficulty (although that is a little hard for him to judge since he had to take all the Swedish ones in Swedish). The main difference he found was the emphasis placed on the tests. In Sweden he didn't hear about them until a week or two before the tests and then they just quickly went over the format they should expect and reviewed a little. He says the teachers didn't even know until a week or two before the exam which topics within their subject would be covered. That was a big contrast to the U.S. where it feels they are always forced to teach to the test and are always talking about the SOLs. Here it is September and he says they are constantly talking about the SOL writing test (which they will take in the spring).
Grading
Sweden just recently introduced (well, probably reintroduced) letter grades to the middle school years. Previously, students only received grades in Grade 9 and these grades were used for placement into gymnasium programs. Now they earn letter grades in 6-9. The grades look similar to U.S. grades but are very different. Passing grades are A-E with F being a failing grade. The first strange thing to us was that the teachers told the kids over and over "Es are good." That is a very different mentality than the U.S. where while officially Cs and Ds are passing grades, they are not considered acceptable. For example, if you got all Cs and Ds you would not be allowed to play school sports and participate in other extra curricular activities. It seems like there is also a limit on how many Cs and Ds you can get in core classes and still have credits for graduation. But in Sweden, Es really were satisfactory if not stunning grades.
The basis of the grading was also very different. In a U.S. school, you get a list of assignments, tests, quizzes, etc. Each is worth a certain number of points. Your grade is completely based on the percentage of points you earned. The relative weight of homework versus tests is clearly established at the beginning of a course. In Sweden you never see a list like that. The report card instead is a list of all the concepts and skills that they want the student to master in a given subject. Teachers subjectively mark how well each item has been mastered (based roughly on tests, assignments, classroom activity, etc.) and then assigns a grade for the subject. If you have mastered the required information for your grade and nothing more, you earn an E. If you've done above normal, you can earn a C or a D. Bs seemed fairly rare and As were practically unheard of. For example, my son usually got the highest score in his class on all their science tests and he got B's in those subjects. He only earned A's in English (he never even went to to the class or did any of the work because they knew he could already meet all the course objectives being a native speaker) and math-- where he was working on his own a book ahead. If not all the objectives have been covered yet, it is impossible to earn a high grade. In all subjects, the objectives are designed to span multiple years in which case it is extremely difficult to get above a D or E in the first few years. This approach also applies to classes like physical education. In a U.S. physical education class, if you show up with required equipment every day and participate, you will be given full points and an A. In a Swedish physical educaion class, you are evaluated on a number of physical skills they want you to master-- how well did you swim the 200 meters at the pool?, how fast did you run the obstacle course?, how well have you mastered the skills of a specific sport?, etc. Oh, and they also gave separate grades for different topics within some subjects. For example, in science they studied some biology and some chemistry so they had both on their report cards. And in social studies they had separate grades for history, geography and world religions. I was afraid this grading approach would be difficult for my son (who was used to straight As all the time), but he actually didn't mind it. He says that in the U.S. the best you can do is to not mess anything up and therefore get an A. He liked having something BEYOND that to shoot for.
I should also add in that the concept of an "honor roll" is completely unheard of in Sweden. There are no award programs or incentives for good grades. Culturally they are very into the concept that everyone should be equal.
Subjects Offered
In our U.S. middle school, students all take the basics: math, language arts, social studies, science, and physical education. Then they get to chose 2, semester-long electives from subjects like home ec, shop, music, art, etc. In Sweden, all students took math, language arts, social studies, science, English, physical education, foreign language (grades 7-9), music, art, home ec, and handiwork (could do sewing or wood working projects). They managed the larger number of subjects by having a much more varied schedule. Each day of the week had a unique schedule, including varied start and end times. It was nice having wide variety of subjects and also nice to have days that you got home early (his end times ranged from 1 pm to 4 pm). Some classes like math and language arts were held several times a week. Other classes like music were only once a week. A few, like home ec and art, were just for one semester. This is very different from our U.S. school where school starts and ends at the same time each day, classes are the same length and in the same order each day and the only variation is an every other day exchange between the physical education class and elective classes.
While our U.S. middle school offers both band and choir programs, the Swedish school only offered a general music class. They had a small choir that practiced after school and sang at school assemblies. Students who wanted to study an instrument and play in an ensemble or sing in a more advanced choir did so through a regional music school outside of school hours that you paid a monthly tuition to attend. The tuition covered a weekly private lesson and participation in any level-appropriate ensembles. There was usually a waiting list to get a spot for popular instruments like piano, guitar and voice.
Sports and Other Extracurriculur
These really don't exist in Sweden. Sports and other hobbies are all done through clubs in the community, not through the schools. As opposed to the U.S. where school sports are huge.
Teacher Conferences
In the U.S., conferences are held twice a year between the parents and the teacher. In Sweden, conferences are held twice a year between the student, parent and teacher. In both, the teacher presents how the student has been doing in class and discusses what could be improved. My son liked that he was included in these discussions but I do know of some kids that were having trouble in school that found hearing a discussion of themselves upsetting. The strangest thing for me in the Swedish conference was when the teacher looked at my son and said, "What can I do better to meet your needs?" Kids are treated much more like people in Sweden-- with their own rights-- and the conferences I attended were very much framed as what goals can the student, parent and teacher each make to improve the learning of this student.
SOCIAL
Class size and structure
In his U.S. middle school, my son is assigned to a "team" of around 100 students-- half of his grade. This team shares the same teachers for their subjects and are mixed together in different ways for each subject/class period. He most likely has at least one class with each student on his team. In Sweden, students are divided into classes of around 25 students. They then move to different teachers for different subjects with their class. They are always with those same students-- the only exception being foreign languages where they mix the classes to allow choice of language. This class stays intact throughout their entire time at the school. Their teachers also move along with them. (Another interesting tidbit, when entering the school, the kids were able to request 2-3 friends who they wanted to be placed in a class with.) My son enjoyed the comfortableness of having a very knowable group of people. The downside to this system was that you meet fewer people. There was only one other class his age at his school. They would occasionally do activities together and would interact at class breaks and lunch, but primarily his time was spent with his class.
General Environment
The biggest shock to my son, on returning to U.S. school, was the sheer noise and volume of people. Part of that was because his school in Sweden was half as big (280 students versus 570) but more because you seldom had all the students in one place, at one time. In Sweden, each class's schedule was different from the others. Classes were started and let out at different times. Breaks between classes varied in length between 10 to 30 minutes, depending on what was needed to make the overall schedule work. In the U.S. school, all the students arrive at the same time and are held in a few common areas until time for class--one grade on the gym bleachers, one grade in the cafeteria and one in the auditorium. That is a lot of kids in a small space and it is loud. Then the bell rings and they all have 4 minutes to cram through the halls to their lockers and classes. At each class break, they all move through the halls again, trying to get where they are going (and if they're lucky squeeze in a restroom break) in 4 minutes. He found the crowds those first few days a bit overwhelming and exhausting.
He was also not used to teachers constantly "herding" him everywhere. In Sweden, the students were very free to roam where they wanted during class breaks. They could go outside and play for a bit or walk where they wanted in the buildings. Hall monitors were unheard of. Officially they weren't suppose to leave the school campus, but that wasn't enforced and kids even routinely walked to nearby shops to buy snacks. At his U.S. school, he says if you stop at the drinking fountain during a class break you'll likely have a teacher telling you to hurry up and get to class. They even have to use specific hallways and stairs to go to the cafeteria and back. Any time outside the classroom is very rushed, very regulated, and very much as a herd.
Discipline
The downside to the freedom given to Swedish students is a lack of discipline. My son was constantly amazed at how little respect teachers were given. Students were constantly arguing with the teachers over assignments they didn't want to do and any policies they didn't like. Sweden culturally is big into discussion and reaching concensus and combine that with the idea that a kid has rights comparable to an adult... Teens are adept at using all that to their advantage. Often kids would just announce they didn't want to do things and not do them. And teachers seemed to have very few tools at their disposal to counter these rebellions. There seemed to be little or no motivation to get good grades so no carrot there and I don't think they were allowed to do much at all in the way of punishment. Here's an example, the teachers were having trouble with kids distracting the class by using their mobile phones. They had to call a special class meeting with parents to try and get permission to temporarily take away students' mobile phones if they were disruptive. In the U.S., the teacher would just take the mobile phone--. and then make the parent come to the school and get it if the student ever wanted it back. At his U.S.school, if you are late to class or break other rules, you face lunch detention, after-school detention or suspension. At his Swedish school, if a kid was late continually or a consistent problem, the teacher might contact his parent or occasionally they might keep them in from a class break to finish an assignment. One day, my son headed for school and came back a several minutes later-- his bike chain had broken. He swapped bikes and headed out again, now thoroughly late for school. I asked him if I needed to write him an excuse note or call the school. He rolled his eyes at me and said, "Mom, this is Sweden. They don't care." Another example, the last week or two of school, there were mass water balloon fights throughout the school. These went on for days.
Safety
The lack of discipline also resulted in increased bullying. Last year was the only year of his entire school career when my son was harassed by bullies. Of course, he didn't admit he was having troubles until after he'd solved it himself but it was obvious that he was not enjoying school. He said things got better once he learned who and where to avoid during class breaks. The school knew there was a problem and took some surveys and gave some lectures, but my son didn't think it changed anything. And my daughters' friends at gymnasium, from a wide variety of middle schools, all had similar stories to tell about their middle school years. My son's U.S. school is also having lots of lectures on bullying, but he says he hasn't actually seen any bullying going on.
Thanks to the recent school shootings, U.S. schools have tightened down on security. Before we left, they starting locking all the doors during the day and having lock-down drills. Now they've added video camera monitoring at all the entrances. You have to show your ID before they'll buzz you into the school. Then you have to go straight to the office. There is always an armed policeman standing near the front door as the kids enter the school in the morning and he is there all day.
You definitely didn't see armed police in the Swedish schools. The check-in/check-out policies were surprisingly non-existant. No office staff to talk to. You just told your child's teacher you were coming for them and wandered into the school and got them or you could just tell them to let your kid walk home. I wonder a little on these differences-- are the odds of something bad happening at the U.S. school actually higher. Afterall, there are crazies everywhere. Or is the U.S. a bit overparanoid and the Swedish school still a bit too naive.
School Lunch
And now, the most important question of all. Whose school lunch is better? In Sweden, lunch is included. No lunch money required (They were downright appalled at the thought you could be charged for lunch.) So no one ever packed a lunch from home. So my kids ate, and sometimes complained about, school lunch every day. Now that he is back to the U.S., ....drum roll....he has declared that U.S. school lunch is worse. His complaints are that you can't chose the size of your portions or go back for more of the things you like He says the food in the U.S. is more repetitive and that he really misses being trusted with a butter knife. In Sweden, a knife is as crucial for eating as a fork. My daughter concurs, her main complaint being that American school lunch feels more unhealthy.
THE FINAL VERDICT
So which school system does he prefer? He says that somewhere in the middle of the two would be perfect-- he'd like more freedom and variety than the U.S.system gives him but more discipline and consistency than he found in Sweden. I think one of the biggest lessons we learned from our overseas assignment is that there is definitely more than one way to do things.
