Min, a Singaporean woman currently living in Sweden, says raising children is definitely different in Sweden from back in Singapore.
Min – a mother of two children aged 7 and 5 – mentions among other things that in Sweden people have more time to spend with their family and their various hobbies.
“Swedish people have an insane amount of hobbies. People are so happy because they have time for that,” Min said to CNBC Make it.
“In Singapore, learning is very structured. Not that it’s bad, but we learn things differently. Here, children learn through free play in nature.”
In Sweden, children are encouraged through education to be closer to nature. Her kids are even attending forest school on the weekends, where they learn outdoor skills like building fires and tying knots. Very different from the learning process in Singapore, Min said in the interview with CNBC.
Besides the free play, Min also stresses how children have a bigger voice in Sweden which was s struggle for her to adapt to, as kids in Sweden have a lot to say and are respected as if they were adults – which was different from her own experience in Singapore, where she said ‘there wasn’t the same amount of freedom.’
But she likes the autonomy and sees the benefits of giving children more of it now. She says it gives them a chance to learn about taking responsibility for one’s own choices early on. And lastly, Min sees how it’s even beneficial in terms of avoiding bullying.
“In hindsight, that’s how behaviors like bullying start — because a child learns from adults that authority gives you power.”
Read the full interview with Min here.
