We’re all excited about Annalise’s new barnehage

Our first choice for Annalise’s barnehage (Norwegian for kindergarten, or day care; Norwegians don’t start real school until first grade) was her old barnehage (which you can read about here, here, and here). She still has some friends there that she misses, so that would have eased reentry. Unfortunately, they didn’t have a slot, so she was enrolled in nearby Kristiansten Barnehage, continuing the unfortunate streak of her changing schools every year.

Kristiansten Barnehage is less convenient and doesn’t have her familiar people, but it has advantages, too. First, it’s right next to the city fortress, which is a great place to play with lots of sled hills, open fields, and cannons to clamber on; the barnehage regularly leaves its own walls to take advantage. Second, it’s in the same district as her old one, meaning she’s actually been there a lot – her old school used to take field trips to play at her new school’s playground. Third, it’s bigger, so there’s a wider variety of resources. Fourth, the five-year-olds from both schools get together once a week, so she’ll still spend time with her old friends.

School is not in session yet, so we thought we’d take Annalise to play on the playground and develop some good vibes before school started. Annalise was pretty nervous about it, but agreed to go when we told her all the new unfamiliar people wouldn’t be there yet. When she saw it was a place she remembered and had good memories of, she got really excited, and we all felt a lot better. Here are some of the outdoor features of Kristiansten Barnehage!

We find a lot of Norwegian playgrounds are more creative than American playgrounds, which tend to just have some slides and ladders and are ultimately not that distinct from each other. Norwegian playgrounds have a lot more room for other kinds of play, including pretend play.

Annalise’s favorite thing to talk about from her old barnehage was the fleet of tricycles – this school also has a road she’s excited to try out. Note the sweet jump made of a pallet in the back!

She was also excited to see hopscotch, which our Annapolis neighbor had often drawn on the road.

Socially, Annalise has not let the language barrier stop her from asking other kids to play on playgrounds – and, in fact, on a playground while playing with a Norwegian kid she switched back to protesting with “Nei” rather than “No,” and calling Allison “Mama” in the Norwegian style rather than “Mommy;” I thought it was pretty interesting those came back in a unit, as if the Norwegian synapses were coming back online as a group.

We came with a lot of worry that the adjustment would be tough for Annalise – we are already much more comfortable. Socially, we see already how quickly she’ll figure it out and get the language back. Her school construction is very sweet and thoughtful, and it’s a place she’s excited to be. We’re going to have lots of emotional swings to our days, from “oh god, what have we done,” to “this was the best decision.” This was a good day.