Homeschooling in Sweden
Hello!
I am American and my husband is Swedish. We are homeschooling our 3 kids.
We live in Sweden, near Stockholm, and would like to know if you know of any competitions that they can enter if we don’t reside in the US. (Our permanent US address is in Illinois, although we have not actually lived there for over 7 years.) The children are very interested in history and science, so anything along those lines would be great.
Just a few brief facts on homeschooling in Sweden: There are only 100 homeschoolers (of 9 million people) in Sweden, as it is Socialist/Communist politically here. Sweden has about 10% born-again Christians, and the rest are active atheists, agnostics and Muslim (15%). The closest other homeschoolers are about a 1.5 hour drive. The political system opposes homeschooling and is continually trying to close all private schools. Private schools have a “voucher” system, where 75% of the cost of a public school student’s budget is given to the private school if a parent chooses to send their child there. And since it is Socialist, no one could be “better” than anyone else in their gifted areas, so there are no competitions like we have in the US, like the science fairs, etc.
Thanks for any ideas you may have!
A., Sweden
14 Responses to “Homeschooling in Sweden”
Leave a Reply
Previous Entries
Links
Archives
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
November 12th, 2006 at 12:21 pm
We also homeschool in Sweden near Stockholm. Any chance we can get together? L, Stockholm
July 23rd, 2007 at 4:19 pm
just checking in again….I am looking to make contact with A, Sweden. I am also and American and we also homeschool near Stockholm. Please let us know so maybe we could meet!
L, Sweden, near Stockholm
July 30th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
I am moving to Sweden near Stockholm. How do I homeschool? Do you go through a US school?
July 31st, 2007 at 8:53 am
Hi! We are moving to Stockholm, Sweden in September, from Calif, USA. We have been homeschooling so far but I am now wondering how realistic it is to homeschool in Sweden? Is it very difficult or lonely? Are there classes available for kids? Have you met many homeschoolers? Thanks so much! Sasha
July 31st, 2007 at 9:48 am
I’m sorry, but I don’t have any contact information for “L, Sweden, near Stockholm” — the original poster. Laurie Bluedorn
September 16th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
We are moving to Stockholm in January 08, planning to finish homeschooling for this school year and then 2 more years. I am not sure how it works, any info out there?
November 8th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Hi Karen - it’s a long shot, but when you do move here I would be very happy to have some contact with you. We were homeschooling in California until moving here a couple of months ago, and now are unsure about our future as homeschoolers! Would be great to have someone else to chat to while facing these dilemmas! Send me a mail if you want to!
Sasha
December 2nd, 2007 at 4:49 pm
The original poster is clearly ignorant. Sweden is NOT communist politically. It’s socialist which is patently different.
I am an international student from Sweden currently studying in college in the U.S. I have gone through the public school system in Sweden and it was an overall negative experience. I have full understanding for American parents who wish to homeschool their children. My advice is to homeschool, don’t send them to public schools. I was beaten, degraded (I had to lick someone’s shoes while other bullies twisted my arm), assaulted, verbally abused, among other things.
January 28th, 2008 at 10:21 am
I am a newcomer and finding the Swedish school system still has not realized that the rest of the world changed curriculum directions some time ago. One of my daughters was at a local Uni. this morning to apply for some extension of her Eng.Lit.BA degree completed at one of the worlds top 15 English Language Universities. She grad. with 1st class honors and has a greeen light to do a Doctorate at Oxford next year. In the interim period she thought it useful to obtain a Swedish teachers lic. as well, but no one she was interviewed by had any idea what a B.A. or 1st Class Honors meant. Partly due to the fact that there has not been a grading system in Sweden for a long while and partly because no one has applied from Australia before. We left Sweden in 1996 so that both our daughters could complete high school in Australia, giving them the opportunity to enter University. It was evident then and even more so now that the public system has deteriorated a lot further. We also have a 13 year old son who is currently facing the same situation. In an attempt to influence some change instead of another international upheaval, I am working towards a combination of homeschooling and conventional participation. So far it has been a slow process and have this week taken the step of signing up for a combination of various virtual learning schools. One is based in England, the other in India. Why is due to the complimentary curriculums. An Indian style mathematics system known as Vedic Maths has tremendous advantages by the enthusiasm for the subject that it inspires. It also has a program suited to the EU standard. The English system is chosen as it follows the same EU requirements as the Swedish. Swedish and cultural subjects will hopefully be organized through the conventional system on certain days only. Skolverket do not have a problem with the idea and as the law states is within its framework. The problem is the particular Kommun region in which we live that is the difficult part. I shall keep this page updated on our progress, if there is an interest.
March 16th, 2008 at 6:48 am
Hi!
I am an Englishwoman living in Sweden. My partner is Swedish and our son is 2.
We are very worried about the state of Swedish education and thus far have only found 2 schools (both Montessori thankfully)that MAY be suitable for him.
He is very bright and already doing his ABC’s, counting and spelling his name. His vocab is huge and he is interested in everything.
Our main worry is the “no-one should aspire to be better” mentality that pervades here in schools and the bullying which is increasing dramatically.
Add to that the grouping together of children by age instead of ability and its a real worryer.
I would be really grateful for any help or info you have.
Many thanks.
Donna
May 20th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Hello!
Yes, I am interested in what any of you have to say about your experiences with homeschooling in Sweden! I had basically heard that it was impossible… but with rumors that someone was doing it. Tonight I was at the HSLDA site and saw a report on homeschooling in Germany. I didn’t know that HSLDA works in other countries than the U.S. That made me google ‘homeschooling Sweden’ and here I am. I homeschooled my daughter in the States but when we moved to Sweden, she went to the public school until old enough to attend an ‘international’ school. She is now in college in the States. My son is 3 1/2 and I really cringe at the idea of him attending school here.
I see that there are posts here every few months. I hope you haven’t given up hope about responses and stopped checking. Let’s talk!
June 24th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
I am amazed that such a wonderful country has such a slack schooling system. In Australia anyone can homeschool. That probably explains a lot actually. Our government has the opinion that when you get behind in your taxes they will come and see what you are up to. We have no support from the government with homeschooling, being it financial or moral. They make it very clear that if you try and fail, they will be there to rub your nose in it. It is interesting that the reasons parents choose to homeschool are consistant the world over.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:29 am
HELP! You’re scaring us with this information!
Here’s our dilemna: In August, we are moving back to Stockholm - after 2½ years in the USA. Our 2 children have been attending a great public school outside of Washington, DC. Our son has been in the Talented and Gifted program for the last 2 years. He is entering 6th grade but is due to take Honors level Lang Arts, Soc Studies and Science and 8th grade Math.
We would be grateful for any advice or assistance in providing this level of education in Stockholm.
September 29th, 2008 at 5:49 am
Hello friends. I just sent my daughter to our local Swedish school in the 7th grade here. I am thinking of homeschooling her until we can get her into an international school in Stockholm. I would love to connect with all of you. I really ned advice how to do this. We just moved to Sweden from Los Angeles.