Hun sørger altid for, at børnene har madpakker med, før de går i skole.

Sørge for is a very common Danish expression meaning to make sure, to see to it, or to ensure.

So Hun sørger altid for, at ... means something like:

• She always makes sure that ...
• She always sees to it that ...

A useful thing to learn is that sørge often goes together with for as a fixed expression:

• Jeg sørger for det = I’ll take care of it
• Han sørger for, at alle er klar = He makes sure that everyone is ready

Yes, in this sentence for belongs with sørger as part of the expression sørge for.

That means you should learn it as a unit:

• sørge for noget = take care of something
• sørge for, at ... = make sure that ...

This is very similar to English verbs that need a preposition, such as look after or make sure of.

So in Hun sørger altid for, at børnene ..., the for is not random. It is required by sørger.

Because Danish main clauses usually follow the verb-second pattern.

In a normal statement, the finite verb comes early, and adverbs like altid often come after it:

• Hun sørger altid for ...

Compare:

• Hun kommer altid tidligt = She always comes early

This placement is very normal in Danish. English often puts always before the main verb, but Danish often puts altid after the finite verb in main clauses.

At introduces a subordinate clause, like that in English.

So:

• Hun sørger altid for, at børnene har madpakker med
  = She always makes sure that the children have packed lunches with them

In everyday English, that is often omitted, but in Danish at is very commonly used in this structure.

Because in Danish subordinate clauses, the word order is different from main clauses.

After at, the subject usually comes before the verb:

• at børnene har madpakker med

This is a key contrast:

• Main clause: Hun har altid ...
• Subordinate clause: ..., at børnene har ...

So once you see at, expect more straightforward subject-verb order.

Børnene is the definite plural form of barn.

Here is the pattern:

• et barn = a child
• barnet = the child
• børn = children
• børnene = the children

The plural changes irregularly:

• singular: barn
• plural: børn

Then Danish adds -ene for the definite plural:

• børnene = the children

Madpakker is the plural of madpakke.

A madpakke is a packed lunch or lunch brought from home, especially the kind children take to school.

So:

• en madpakke = a packed lunch
• madpakker = packed lunches

This is a very common everyday word in Danish culture.

Because have ... med means to have something with you or to bring something along.

So:

• have madpakker could just mean to possess packed lunches
• have madpakker med means to have packed lunches with them / bring packed lunches along

The med adds the idea of with them.

This structure is very common in Danish:

• Har du penge med? = Do you have money with you?
• Hun havde sin taske med = She had her bag with her

That is normal for Danish. Small particles and prepositions in expressions like have ... med often appear later in the clause.

So Danish likes:

• børnene har madpakker med

rather than putting med right next to har.

You can think of har ... med as a split expression, similar to English phrasal verbs:

• take ... with
• bring ... along

The meaning is still one unit, even if the words are separated.

It means before they go to school.

In this sentence, the most natural meaning is before they leave for school that day, not before they begin school in life.

So the sentence is about a daily routine:

• she makes sure the children have packed lunches with them before they head off to school

The context makes that clear.

Yes. De refers back to børnene.

So:

• børnene = the children
• de = they

That gives:

• før de går i skole = before they go to school

This is exactly like English using a pronoun after first mentioning the noun.

Because gå i skole is the normal Danish expression for go to school / attend school.

This is an idiomatic phrase, so it is best learned as a set expression:

• gå i skole = go to school
• være i skole = be at school / be in school

Using til here would sound wrong in standard Danish.

Danish commonly uses commas before subordinate clauses, so the commas here are very normal.

You have commas before:

• at børnene har madpakker med
• før de går i skole

That is because both parts are subordinate clauses introduced by at and før.

So the punctuation reflects the sentence structure quite clearly.

Yes. A natural English translation would often be something like:

• She always makes sure the children have packed lunches with them before they go to school.
• She always makes sure the children take packed lunches to school.

The Danish structure is not always translated word-for-word. In particular:

• sørger for, at ... often becomes makes sure ...
• har ... med may become have ... with them or take ...

Both are natural depending on context.