OMEP Australia’s President, Kym Simoncini was fortunate enough to attend the OMEP Europe Conference in April 2024, held in Kristianstad, Sweden.
Inspiring preschool visits
OMEP Sweden organised for me to visit six preschools in Stockholm and two nature preschools in Kristianstad. It was so inspiring to see high-quality early childhood provision that is basically all funded by the state. Parents can choose where to send their children, and funding is based on the child, so families select a service that best meets their needs and philosophy.
The nature or all-weather preschools were amazing. I believe the world would be different if every child experienced them in their early years.
I must have taken 100 photos of the cloakrooms, as seeing all the cold weather gear (snow clothes) was so different. Children have at least four sets of clothes. At every service, the children were outside playing in the -2-degree weather. I didn’t see any of the children inside. I loved seeing the children sleep outside in their sleeping bags. The provided meals were so healthy and the lack of focus on academic learning was the greatest difference I saw. The nature or all-weather preschools were amazing. I believe the world would be different if every child experienced them in their early years.
Education for Sustainable Development
As expected, many of the services were doing things with Education for Sustainable Development. One of the best projects I saw was an OMEP initiative to reduce disposable nappies and promote early toilet training. Ingrid Engdahl was one of the people behind this project and helped organise my visits.
Unfortunately, I got a cold and only attended the first morning of the OMEP European conference. Alison Clarke and Ingrid Prameling Samuelsson were both excellent keynote presenters. Emeritus Professor Ann Farrell attended the conference and introduced me to many people. Meeting the authors of papers you have read and cited is always inspiring.
