There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom's Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids (from Friluftsliv to Hygge)

by Linda Åkeson McGurk

In Finland, a country envied by educators worldwide as the only non-Asian country to consistently rank in the top ten on the PISA test, students typically get a fifteen-minute break after each lesson, averaging seventy-five minutes of recess every day. They also have fewer instructional hours than students in any other country in the developed world, and little homework, leaving the children with more time to play outside. This is a drastically different approach to education than what is normally found in Asian countries, where many students rack up twelve hours or more per day hunched over their textbooks. Obviously, many other factors go into the Finnish success story. But one thing is for sure: The fresh air that teachers and parents in Scandinavia insist that children get every day is not just good for them—it’s actually essential to their health and well-being.