As we gear up for another school year to start, your kids might be interested in how other kids learn. Whether you have a child who is getting ready to go to school for the first time, you’re adding back to school books to your classroom library or you’re a homeschooler who wants to talk about how other kids do school, Where Kids Go to School Around the World by Stepanka Sekaninova, Helena Harastova and Michaela Bergmannova is a fun read.
The book looks at different types of schools in different places around the world, from an online school that serves kids in remote Australia to a British boarding school, a school for monks in training in India and a school on a boat in Bangladesh to name a few.
In all, 15 schools are highlighted, including a school in a hospital, a Montessori school, a school in a refugee camp and a sports school. Not all of them have locations mentioned but they give kids an idea of how others kids go about their school day.
Each school is illustrated with a scene on a two-page spread surrounded by facts about going to school and activities they do through the day from the point of view of a student. For example the page about a school in Japan talks about how kids help clean the classroom, what they eat for lunch and how they prepare for earthquakes, among other things.
The page about Finland notes they don’t start schooling until age 7, the school day doesn’t start until 9:30 and the kids don’t take tests. Your kids may have some opinions on which would be their favorite place to learn after reading this book!
Where Kids Go to School Around the World gives you a chance to compare and contrast different learning environments, and could lead to having kids talk about or draw what their ideal classroom would look like. You can talk about how some kids aren’t able to go to school because their families can’t afford it, there isn’t one locally or they just aren’t allowed to.
About the book: 36 pages, hardcover, published 2023 by Albatross Media. Suggested retail price $15.99.
Leave a Reply