August in Denmark is the
beginning of fall.
The summer strawberries
disappear from the
supermarkets, the leaves
start to turn brown on
the trees and the primary
schools open again.
After their usual brief
six week summer vacation,
this month, some young
Danes will be starting
school for the very first
time.
They're usually welcomed
with a ceremony that
includes Danish flags,
speeches and songs.
Their parents attend and
take a lot of photos on
the first day of school.
This was something I
unfortunately didn't
know.
When my own daughter
had her first day of
school in Denmark. She'd
already been going to
playground classes
there.
So on the first official
academic day, I just
dropped her off at
school as if it were an
ordinary day and there
was nobody there to take
her picture.
Such is being a foreigner
and not knowing the
local customs.
She still brings it up to
this day anyway.
It's hard to understand
Danish culture without
understanding early
Danish childhood
education, which doesn't
begin in school.
It begins when children
are toddlers.
Almost every child enters
Danish daycare at 12 to 18
months after the parents
finish their one year
childbirth leave.
Daycare in Denmark isn't
free.
It costs up to 5,000
crowns a month in
Copenhagen, for example,
about US$800, although
the price is lower for
low income people.
And daycare is actually
mandatory for some of
the poor.
If you live in a socially
marginalized district,
usually a district with
high crime and a large
immigrant population,
your child must attend
daycare for at least 25
hours per week in order
to receive your child
check welfare payments.
This is so all kids learn
the Danish language and
Danish values right from
the start.
What are those values?
Independence and self
sufficiency.
You learn to put on your
own shoes and jacket
responsibility.
You learn how to clean
up after yourself.
You learn group spirit,
inclusion.
You learn conflict
resolution, empathy.
Preschools in Denmark
don't teach kids to read
and often don't even teach
them letters and
numbers.
That doesn't happen until
they start school at age
6.
And Danish kids generally
don't learn to read until
they are seven or eight
years old.
Basic math has to wait as
well.
I've been spending a lot of
time with Danish children
lately.
As you know, I make my
living giving speeches
about Danish working
culture to corporate
groups or academics.
But in the summer I like
to take on other jobs and
learn about Danish
working culture from the
inside.
This summer I've been
working at several
preschools that serve
ages 3 to 6.
A great age to work with.
They're old enough to be
verbal and express
interesting ideas, but not
so old that they are
"flabet" which is the Danish
word for sassy.
Talking back the Danish
government spends
enormous resources on
kids, in particular
preschool kids.
One of the preschools
where I work, owned by
the Copenhagen
municipality, is built just
for that purpose, with
high ceilings and big
windows, a seemingly
infinite number of toys,
five separate
playgrounds with trees
and sandboxes, a pillow
room for jumping around
on rainy days, and a well
equipped art room and an
extensive kitchen where
professional cooks
prepare meals.
One day this summer we
had a very nice baked
salmon with rice and
broccoli, followed by a
snack of fresh
strawberries, granola
and yogurt.
We adults practice
educational eating, which
means we eat lunch with
the small children to
work on their table
manners and appropriate
table conversation.
We teach them that it's
important to talk about
things that interest
everyone, like what's your
favorite ice cream?
Or which is better, trains
or motorcycles.
And we teach them to
avoid chatter about
things that are only
interesting to you, like my
pants are so wet.
That's not good table
conversation.
Of course.
I once made the mistake of
leading a one sided
conversation myself.
We were talking about
masks and I mentioned
masks as part of the
COVID lockdowns before
realizing that I was the
only person at the table
who had been born
during the COVID
lockdowns.
Denmark is a very good
place to be a child and to
have children.
Yet the birth rate is
dropping, as it is in so
many other countries.
Some preschools have
shut down due to lack of
kids.
Just this year Denmark
reached a population of 6
million, a big landmark
for a little country.
But that's mostly due to
immigration, not more
children being born.
All the initiatives that
international experts
recommend for
increasing fertility
already exist in Denmark,
like child checks for
parents, long parental
leaves after childbirth,
good universal daycare
and tax funded health
care.
The Danish government
even offers free fertility
treatment for the first
and second child, and it
offers this to single
women as well as
committed couples.
Yet fertility is well below
replacement levels at
about 1.5
children per woman in
2024.
Why are there not more
babies?
My guess is long
educational requirements
for both men and women,
plus high housing prices
in the big cities.
But Denmark is still a
very child friendly
culture.
There's nothing more
Danish than a long line of
small children on a field
trip from kindergarten,
walking along the
sidewalk in their bright
vests, each holding hands
with a buddy while an
adult desperately tries to
make sure that they don't
run into traffic.
I've been one of those
adults and it is amazing
how many smiles and
waves we get from
passerby from kids just a
few years older who
remember their own
kindergarten days.
From old ladies wheeling
their shopping along.
From workmen in vans
who come to a full stop
during their busy day to
make sure all the
children have crossed
the street safely.
Denmark likes kids, even
if there are fewer kids
these days.