Swedish Day Care and the Growth of the Five Senses


Before migrating to Sweden, I knew very little about the concept of Day Care. Having a relative living abroad I had heard about crèche, which is a typical British day nursery. A Day Care, in my understanding, was a place where babies can be left during the day-time in case both the parents are working.

When my turn came to get my daughter admitted to a Swedish Day Care (in Swedish it is called Dagis) the first thing I did was that I started comparing my own childhood days with that of her. For me, my “Kindergatan” or “Pre-school” year was a compulsive extra year which I had to spend before I started my real schooling. Did I enjoy going there? Well yes, I did. I made a few good friends who are still in my contact-network. What did I learn there? I can still remember to have learnt a bit of drawing and then we even did a stage show together with the teachers. So, I started with the belief that my daughter’s case would be a similar one. But I was mistaken. Her journey was different.

It all starts at the age of one! At that age, every single child is unique in a way. Dagis system offers enough opportunities to every child to develop its mind, mindful thoughts and thoughtful acts. All these are done in a playful manner without any force whatsoever. Most importantly, enough attention is paid to develop their five senses – the senses of hearing, touch, taste, smell and vision.

It is the duty of a Dagis to devote time and energy to build up and nurture the sense-enhancing processes within a child. The child's name is the first and the foremost thing to remember in a Dagis! The name is used again and again. The child’s identity is established. No names are insignificant! By calling their names, teachers make children aware of their identities. Through the act of hearing, the children start to realize who they are.

Music plays a very important role in a Dagis. Teachers sing in front of children. They often use an instrument or a music player. These work as tools to ring a sound pattern in the baby-ears. If name is the primary tool, music is the most important secondary tool developing hearing sense. The heads nod, the hands start to move and the eyeballs circle. The baby starts to react during these musical sessions. A soft yet effective process affects every child and starts to develop a sense of satisfaction within it. A sort of inner growth follows.

"Taste" and "smell" are two similar senses - especially if the tool to develop these are "food". A child must like to eat and relish food. The child can thus develop a sense of connection towards taste and smell of the food served. Be it meatballs, or a bowl of green pea soup, if children like their food, half the job is done. It could as well be a piece of creamy lasagna, or an oily corn patty - properly cooked food can play a great role in developing a child’s appreciation towards odor and taste.
                                                                                                                                      
I really like the proverb "Seeing is Believing". Take it in the context of Dagis and we understand exactly why. A typical Dagis works a lot to develop a child’s vision through colors and figures. Colors are never easy to take in, especially since it has many layers. The shapes are perhaps easier for a child. Through small drawing sessions, or block-building exercises, every child is exposed to a world full of colors and figures. The child starts to understand reality. The world around is full of such things. Every object a child sees has a color and shape. The child starts to believe in things that it sees.

I believe the sense of "touch" contributes a lot to develop feelings within humans. At the Dagis, a child can roam around in the garden. It can touch plants, and it can play with the leaves of a small tree by touching them. The child comes in direct contact with dust, clay, soil, water, rain and even snow! The child is encouraged to embrace the snow. No restrictions are put on the child when it comes to touching objects. Through all these, they start to feel the world around. They feel things. Later, they will learn words. It would then be easy to connect words to feelings. Feelings that have been developed through touch.

My daughter is now a grown-up girl going to school. From a gloomy autumn day to a snowy day, and from a sunny day to a rainy day, she has seen it all! She has jumped in excitement to see a circus-act with her buddies, she relishes her broccoli soup, she can dress herself on her own, she knows the basics of Swedish language and she understands the science behind a growing tree. I could realise what senses were growing inside her but I could hardly understand how and when. It was the Dagis that took care of the rest.

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