applying early for English daycare

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bostonian
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applying early for English daycare

Post by bostonian » Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:18 pm

I have a two year old daughter and a two month old son, and we would like to put them in English daycare in January 2009. However, I've heard that most of the waiting lists for English daycare are like three years long. Does anyone know this to be true? Also, we live in Kallio - Does anybody know of any English daycare close by (or just in Helsinki)? Any comments about any daycare centers is welcome. Thanks in advance.


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applying early for English daycare

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Sara
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Post by Sara » Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:23 pm

Ive been teaching English kindergarten in Espoo and Ive just finished for maternity leave.

The English kindergartens I know off do have a waiting list of around 3 years, but are worth the wait!

They also wont take the children until they are 3 and in my experinece they need to be out of nappies so you may need to wait for your youngest one anyway.
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raamv
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Post by raamv » Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:32 pm

IMHO, If you are here for long-term, you are better off putting your kid in a regular daycare( päivakoti or Perhepäivakoti) as they have THE greatest opportunity to pick up Finnish ( Kids have an amazing ability to adjust..its just the adults who have those problems)..and som Swedish..
and it costs a MAX of upto 200 Euros/month/child( or 180 for 2nd shild)(depending on your income) while you wait for your English Daycare...
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Hank W.
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Post by Hank W. » Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:34 pm

The limeys complain here the staff speaks 'merkin, and theres Australians so the poor darlings might end up speaking with an accent different from paahk the caah inna haahfaad yaahhhd anyways.
Cheers, Hank W.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.
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raamv
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Post by raamv » Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:35 pm

Oh yes and Finnish err normal daycares accepts children from 10 months old onwards( officially as soon as maternity ends) ...I wonder how many of them know about this..
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Sara
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Post by Sara » Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:51 pm

raamv wrote:IMHO, If you are here for long-term, you are better off putting your kid in a regular daycare( päivakoti or Perhepäivakoti) as they have THE greatest opportunity to pick up Finnish ( Kids have an amazing ability to adjust..its just the adults who have those problems)..and som Swedish..
That is true, my little one hasnt popped out yet but when the time comes will go to Finnish kindergarten. Daddy is Finnish but Ill be home with the little one so they will proberly be stronger in English. I dont want the little one to be held back with dodgy Finnish skills.

Kids pick up languages so easily and really dont care when they get things wrong or dont quite understand whats going on. They jump in with both feet and have a go. Ive had Finnish 3 year old kids start school in August with no English and be using simple sentances by December! 8)
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Sara
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Post by Sara » Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:53 pm

Hank W. wrote:The limeys complain here the staff speaks 'merkin, and theres Australians so the poor darlings might end up speaking with an accent different from paahk the caah inna haahfaad yaahhhd anyways.
Well they have never complained for my teaching :wink:
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raamv
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Post by raamv » Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:54 pm

Sara wrote:´Well they have never complained for my teaching :wink:
Hmm do ya teach with an accent ?? :wink: :roll:
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Sara
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Post by Sara » Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:55 pm

Well as Hank can tell you I would be one with a 'Limey' accent :lol:
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Hank W.
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Post by Hank W. » Wed Sep 19, 2007 11:33 pm

See now Raam, your daughter might end up speaking geordie!
Cheers, Hank W.
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raamv
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Post by raamv » Wed Sep 19, 2007 11:35 pm

Hank W. wrote:See now Raam, your daughter might end up speaking geordie!
ei Kiitos!! My DD speaks fluent Finnish as well as Fluent English..and now a little confused on where Swedish and Tamil Stand!! :wink: :wink:
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karen
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Post by karen » Thu Sep 20, 2007 5:56 am

Another good reason to put your kids into a local-language daycare is so they can learn to communicate with other kids. Sure, there's the international language of play but it can be frustrating when kids can't communicate with each other.
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Sara
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Post by Sara » Thu Sep 20, 2007 10:40 pm

We dont have any family round us so I know that the Finnish will be limited, but we'll see how we get on. :D
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raamv
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Post by raamv » Thu Sep 20, 2007 11:50 pm

Cory wrote:
Sara wrote:That is true, my little one hasnt popped out yet but when the time comes will go to Finnish kindergarten. Daddy is Finnish but Ill be home with the little one so they will proberly be stronger in English. I dont want the little one to be held back with dodgy Finnish skills.
Depends on the kid, really. My 8 year old was at home with me (the ml English parent) until 3 and then with an English speaking nanny until he started eskari. Even though ML Finnish Dad wasn't at home during the day, he had tons of exposure to ML on the playground, playgroups, neighbours, ML grandparents and other relatives, etc. His ml was (and remains) strong but his ML was (and is) equally strong..truly bilingual. He entered ML eskari with no problems at all with his ML Finnish. He's now in 2nd class in a typical Finnish school and his ml English remains strong although I'm now about the only ml speaking person in his life on a daily basis and he spends 4-7 hours without me during the day while being immersed in ML. Just wanted to offer the another perspective. :)
I am confused about your ml and ML abbreviations.. :oops: :cry:
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raamv
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Post by raamv » Fri Sep 21, 2007 1:17 am

Hmm and I ya come from India ( N China or SE Asia) generally many languages are spoken..but only the mother tongue sticks as Mother tongue ...and others can as well be native languages..
e.g. my Mother tongue is Tamil but my native language can very well be English ( I speak and write better than many American/Brits/Aussies, including punctuation and spelling..and of course write with a Texan accent..but thats my preference)..
On top of this I speak/understand at least 3 other languages ( Malayalam, Some Kannada, Some Telugu, Hindi and Telugu and some Gujarathi and some Marathi)..
So I was confused when you have to say ML or ml..
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