Finland Forum

I forgot to add that the playgroup that my child was in last year cost 60€ per month. That was one teacher, 8 three year olds, 3 times a week for 3 hours each time. So it was about 36 hours per month. Pretty darn cheap, ey? And this lady was singing and dancing and reading books, making crafts. All ...

a haa.... ok. thanks for that input!

I asked our 19 year old next door neighbor to help us out with teaching our 4 year old Finnish. The idea is for her to create a Finnish language immersion setting for him while playing with him in our community sandbox. I will be at home while they are out playing, and I can see the sandbox from my ...

jas_rho: no i haven't applied yet, but like i said, i have that appt for that emergency passport next week, if I want to go get it. And one more thing, I tried that KlM.com site again as a US citizen residing in the US, traveling between the US and Finland via the Netherlands. Still, it only said 'v...

Well, I did a ton of calling around. I called the Foreign Ministry of Finland. They told me about this 3 month rule, that I will have problems because my passport is not valid for three months after the travel period. So, not good. And, This US government page http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/trav...

Ok! So I wonder. I have a US passport, and I will be traveling from Helsinki to the US back to Helsinki soon. It will be a 3 week trip, and my passport (and residence permit) [b]will be valid during the trip[/b]. The passport expires about 3 weeks after we return to Finland. I just read somewhere th...

Any recent luck finding kefir buds? Or ready kefir? Or even yogurt that contains L. bulgaricus and S. Thermophilus? I heard those are the two most impt cultures. Just mailed Lindhals (makers of that lovely Turkish yogurt) and asked them what bacteria they've got in their yogurt. What about making yo...

ok, sorry, thought that you had been also teaching.

ok.

What about you, Cory, did you have training in Finland?

Ok, will call OPE and ask. Thanks. Now, a different question: What about becoming certified? Has anyone (non-native Finnish speaker) studied to become certified as a daycare teacher/nurse? How was that experience? How long did it take? How were your Finnish skills, and how big a problem was the lang...

Are you serious? No qualifications are necessary if you are hired by a private kindergarten? Is there an actual law that states that?? I would love to know where it's written down. So does that go for all the teachers? Or does at least one (or two, or three, etc) have to have some kind of qualificat...

Hi! Can anyone tell me what the Finnish law says about native English-speaking people working with children in daycare? Must they have teaching credentials, childcare qualifications, etc? If you want to get a job in an English themed daycare as an English teacher, and you have experience with kids, ...

Ooh, the satuli.fi site is great!! Thanks for that link! So is her sale next week also an internet sale?? I didn't see any info about it on her website. Do you have any more info about it? And the Bruder trucks, my son would go wild over them, but I'm not ready to dish out 50€ for a truck....that is...

Thanks for the input!

Annekmc, does the Biltema train set fit with the Brio set?

We've got loads of Legos, and don't need any more for a while! They are great too.

What about toys used at those schools I mentioned (Waldorf, Montessori, etc)--any ideas on that?

Oh yeah, i had thought about that several months ago as a possible gift actually! Hmmm.... thanks for reminding me about that! There are several brands out there, I think Brio being the most expensive. Even IKEA has their own set. But do you think it's worthwhile to buy the Brio? Is there better qua...