General questions about moving to Finland

Family life in Finland from kindergartens, child education, language schooling and everyday life. Share information and experiences. Network with other families.
Post Reply
mollypicon
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2017 6:40 am

General questions about moving to Finland

Post by mollypicon » Sun Mar 05, 2017 6:51 am

Hello! My husband has just been offered a job in Helsinki. I am American, husband is Russian, and we have a 2 year old daughter who has only been brought up in the U.S./Florida so far and only speaks English. I have a few questions as I am making some decisions about the future. The excellence of the Finnish education system is well known. However, unless we are planning to stay in Finland long term (I really have no idea if we would, I've never even been there), would my daughter even benefit from the excellent public education? If we are only going for a year or two (we have a lot of decisions to make) it doesn't necessarily make sense to put her in a Finnish school; if we are going for longer it might. Are the English language schools also good quality or is it just the Finnish public schools where children have recess every hour and don't start on academics until they are 7?



General questions about moving to Finland

Sponsor:

Finland Forum Ad-O-Matic
 

Rosamunda
Posts: 10650
Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2004 12:07 am

Re: General questions about moving to Finland

Post by Rosamunda » Sun Mar 05, 2017 11:06 am

Children start school at 7 so if your daughter is only 2 years old and your husband is only working here for a few years, she won't be going to school.

There are public and private daycare centres for children aged 3-6 years old. They are not controlled by the Ministry of Education or the municipal Board of Education as they come under the auspices of municipal health and social affairs. The people who work there are not qualified teachers (they have special training for caring for young children). Daycares (päiväkoti) come in all shapes and sizes. Some have English (Russian, French) as the lingua franca. The English-speaking daycares are private but they are subsidised. There are also Montessori/Steiner daycare centres.

You can find them by going to the website of the place where you will be living. eg for Helsinki:
http://www.hel.fi/www/Helsinki/en/day-c ... e/options/

The year before school starts (age 6) children receive pre-school education (usually at the daycare, but sometimes in a proper school).
http://www.hel.fi/www/Helsinki/en/day-c ... preschool/

You really need to make long-term plans because you could find yourself in a situation where it would be difficult for your daughter to integrate a US school if, for example, you were to return there when she is 7-8 years old. You might need to do some home-schooling alongside daycare if you choose that option.
And if you think you are going to stay here long term then it would make sense to put her into a Finnish speaking environment quickly. But at her age, as long as she socialises with other kids, she will pick it up very quickly anyway.

mollypicon
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2017 6:40 am

Re: General questions about moving to Finland

Post by mollypicon » Mon Mar 06, 2017 5:26 pm

Rosamunda wrote:Children start school at 7 so if your daughter is only 2 years old and your husband is only working here for a few years, she won't be going to school.

There are public and private daycare centres for children aged 3-6 years old. They are not controlled by the Ministry of Education or the municipal Board of Education as they come under the auspices of municipal health and social affairs. The people who work there are not qualified teachers (they have special training for caring for young children). Daycares (päiväkoti) come in all shapes and sizes. Some have English (Russian, French) as the lingua franca. The English-speaking daycares are private but they are subsidised. There are also Montessori/Steiner daycare centres.

You can find them by going to the website of the place where you will be living. eg for Helsinki:
http://www.hel.fi/www/Helsinki/en/day-c ... e/options/

The year before school starts (age 6) children receive pre-school education (usually at the daycare, but sometimes in a proper school).
http://www.hel.fi/www/Helsinki/en/day-c ... preschool/

Thanks. I'm curious why you think I'd have trouble reintegrating my child to the U.S.- is this because children in Finland are not taught to read until they are 7?
You really need to make long-term plans because you could find yourself in a situation where it would be difficult for your daughter to integrate a US school if, for example, you were to return there when she is 7-8 years old. You might need to do some home-schooling alongside daycare if you choose that option.
And if you think you are going to stay here long term then it would make sense to put her into a Finnish speaking environment quickly. But at her age, as long as she socialises with other kids, she will pick it up very quickly anyway.


Post Reply