Finnish daycare for foreign students?

[LiisaD]

Hi! I'm new to the site and am a graduate student in Canada. I study linguistics and am wanting to come to Finland to learn the language and do some research. The thing is, I have 2 young kids and I was wondering what the daycare costs are like there. Thanks for any help anyone can give! Liisa

[Rosamunda]

How young?

Daycare is almost non-existant for toddlers under 3 years old.

Are you thinking of Jyvaskyla or Helsinki?

If you want English speaking daycare for over 3's you will have to go private, but you may (under certain circumstances) qualify for some state funding, which would cover part of the cost.

I guess some universities might have their own childcare facilities, not sure. Childcare for pre-schoolers is organised by the Ministry of social affairs (not the Min. Education) and they are financed by the municipalities. You can find contact info for daycare establishments on the internet sites of each municipality. eg: http://www.helsinki.fi or http://www.jyvaskyla.fi
eg:

http://www.hel.fi/wps/portal/Sosiaalivi ... t/pk_kieli

the Finnish word for daycare is "päiväkoti"

[Flossy1978]

Huh? Daycare is almost non existant for under 3 year olds? That doesn't make any sense.

There are many children who go to daycare under the age of three here. All my friends have sent their children to daycare under 3, my own child started at the age of 1 year and 10 months. There are 1 year olds in my son's daycare that are there 8-10 hours a day too.

If you are looking for an English speaking daycare, they have those too for under 3 year olds. My friend had her child in one out in Espoo. He's now almost 6 years old, but he started when he was about 1.

There are a few special daycares that are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I know of one in Helsinki and there's one open during the week like this in Vantaa that one of my friends takes her child too in the evenings when she has to work.

Then there's the special daycares that take very young babies. You have to look for them, but some take them as young as 6 weeks old. I am not sure if it's inhome care or a real daycare.

The only problem down here in the south is the waiting lists. There can be long waiting lists to get into places. It took almost 4 months for my husband and I to be allowed to take our child to the daycare he is enrolled in. He got enrolled in it quickly, but it for some unknown reason takes forever to actually get to start.

[Rosamunda]

Could you post some links to those places? Do you know the names of them, so we can google and find them?

We have had many people looking for daycare on this bulletin board, so that information would be useful.

Also the prices if you know them as that is what the OP was asking for.

Thanks for your input.

[sinikettu]

Huh? Daycare is almost non existant for under 3 year olds? That doesn't make any sense.

There are many children who go to daycare under the age of three here. All my friends have sent their children to daycare under 3.

The only problem down here in the south is the waiting lists. There can be long waiting lists to get into places. It took almost 4 months for my husband and I to be allowed to take our child to the daycare he is enrolled in.

So all of your friends waited 4 months also.??

Real Day Care..Registered Päiväkoti ..or a couple of old ladies who will look after your under 3 toddlers?
(I have seen them..two old aunties taking 4 or 5 kids in push chairs for walks one lady pushing 2 or 3 kids in one chair).

These ladies might not take kids if they understand just English language, only Finnish kids?

I dont know..Where is Sara.??.dam I think she in UK for her sisters wedding...she has lots of Real Päiväkoti working knowledge.
She has always said the "Päiväkoti dont take foreign kids under 3"...some occasionaly take them from 2 and a bit if the kid is potty trained..but not often. She mentioned one such place in Leppävaara...
Think this is it..but the web site says..."from 3 years old"
http://www.albatrossdaycare.fi/english_ ... _home.html

[Rosamunda]

The English speaking day cares generally have waiting lists of up to 2 years so they are not interested in taking kids under 3. I assume there are also regulations about the qualifications of staff members (eg as in UK, you would have to be a registered nursery nurse).

But I am genuinely interested in Flossy1978's sources, childcare is a frequent request on this forum and I like to update my own bookmarks so I can give the information when the need arises.


By the way. Here is a pdf file that outlines fees for state-controlled päiväkoti.

http://www.hel2.fi/social_service_depar ... e_fees.pdf

[Flossy1978]

Well one of my friends, her child was already over 3 when he went to a daycare centre where they speak only Finnish. His Mother and himself are American, while the Husband (not the Father of the child) is Finnish. They didn't wait two years, but her child was already over 3. So that's defunct I suppose in regard to this conversation. Oh he didn't speak and Finnish then.

The other friend, she's Indian, so is her Husband. Their child started at a Finnish private (but English speaking) daycare centre when he was just over 1 year old. It's there in Espoo, Soukka (is that how it's spelt?). They got in straight away when they asked because there just happened to be an opening. They moved out to Masala and he got into another private daycare centre that was only Finnish speaking, that took a couple of months and their child didn't speak any Finnish. He was about 4 then. When he went to the first daycare centre, he didn't speak any language at all. Not Hindi, not English and not Finnish. Not because he couldn't speak, but because the parents messed up his language skills by talking too many different languages around him. To this day he doesn't speak very good Finnish, but a bit better English and no Hindi which is funny because that's what his parents speak LOL.

And another Indian couple I know, their child started before the age of 2 at this daycare centre in the city that is Finnish speaking. It's one that is open 24/7. I don't know how long it took to get him into it, but it can't have taken two years because he started there before he was two. He didn't speak any Finnish, nor even any English when he started there.

My own son didn't speak Finnish when he started his daycare either. He was almost 2 then. There are a few other foreign children in his daycare too. It's in Lassila, if you want to look it up. It's a city daycare, that's why it took a bit long to get to start. Not 4 months to be accepted.

I do not know the names of the daycares, I only know that the one the American child goes to is in Myyrmäki, the one in Soukka and the one in the city. All three aren't 'normal' everyday government daycares, so it won't be hard to look them up.

I didn't mean to imply anything by my post. I just thought you meant that it wasn't possible to get into daycares under 3. But really it's not impossible. You just have to look and be willing to shell out a bit more if you go private.

[Rosamunda]

Thanks

Generally speaking I don't think there are any language requirements for any of the daycares, public or private. The English speaking daycare centres take Finnish kids who do not speak any English at all (that's the whole point!). My youngest went to a French daycare in Espoo and he was the only one there who spoke French (apart from some of the staff). Some places, as sinikettu said, do require toddlers to be potty-trained (ie out of nappies).

It's really just a problem of supply and demand, which can change rapidly from one year (even from one month) to the next. I was chatting to a friend from an English daycare in Leppavaara and she told me they had a long waiting list at the moment. Reputation can be a big thing too. Some of the places with a really good reputation get "sold out" months and months in advance. But whenever I am asked I always recommend that the parents go take a look for themselves..... actually visit the place and hang around for a while. Unfortunately this is not always possible if arriving from another country.

BTW.... LiisaD
In case you didn't already have the information (you have a Finnish pseudo????)... children start primary school when they are 7 yrs old. So päiväkoti is usually from 3-7 years. The last year in päiväkoti is sometimes a "pre-school" year where they get ready for entering school and follow a slightly more scholastic programme.

[RA]

Children can go to daycare (päiväkoti) can start before age 3. At least I know this is the situation in Espoo, Lohja, Kuopio, Jyväskylä, Tampere. Ours started in a päiväkoti at age 1 year and 2 months. Parents do have the option of staying home until their child is 3, so some do not start until they're 3. A lot of English daycares do not take children under the age of 3. In some cities, they may not take children to the päiväkoti until 3, but put kids younger than 3 in a perhepäivähoito (the ladies with 3-4 kids at home), but generally some sort of care is provided.

[raamv]

Finnish Daycares can start from 10 months old. Theres perhepaivakoti where they accept a 10 yearl old and some of the päivakoti can take children for 1/2 daycare. As long as there is no english speaking requirement, daycare can start from 10 months old. Both of our kids went to daycare ( in HEL, Ruoholahti, in a perhepaivakoti) and in Kirkkonummi ( perhepäivakoti) and in Inkoo ( perhepäivakoti)..
All of the perhepäivakoti came with a backup in case the Daycare provider became sick and the backups were generally in a regular päivakoti.

[Sara]

Ive been teaching English Kindergarten here for several years now. I dont know of a single English kindergarten take a child under 3 years old. Generally they have to be out of nappies, though I know one place that will allow it. The age is linked to the childs language development as many children are Finnish or have a Finnish parent and its important to have that language developing strongly. Some of the English immersion places wont take a child unless one parent is Finnish, but then its best to check with the school you are interested in as they will have some of their own rules and requirements.

[LiisaD]

Actually, my kids are 3 and 5. I would need sort of a short term solution since I am planning on doing some research in Finland for a couple of months (up to 6) but not moving permanently. What is the cost like for daycare?

My name is actually Finnish since I have Finnish background. Not just a pseudo

[Rosamunda]

By the way. Here is a pdf file that outlines fees for state-controlled päiväkoti.

http://www.hel2.fi/social_service_depar ... e_fees.pdf

The private ones fix their own fees. You should call them up directly (list on the webpages of the town you will be living in) and they will give you the info and also give you an idea of how long the waiting list is..... I guess you won't qualify for any KELA state subsidies.

[REK1]

Hi,
I have an 18 month old baby and he started when he was 13 months to go to public Finnish nursery. We are a non-finnish speaking family but the access was very fast (I live in Helsinki). We chose the place, made the application and in less than 4 months got a positive reply. Maybe I was lucky!

The maximum fee you can pay for the public ones (full time everyday) as far as I know is 200 €/month. There are some discounts depending on your income and number of children you are sending.

I hope this will give you an idea of the maximum costs.

BR,
Rek

[Sara]

Double post