Hi
I and my husband are thinking about moving to Helsinki next fall.
We are from Iceland and will take our son with us wich is 8 years old.
What we need is information about schools for out son. Is it mayby better for him to go to a Swedish or English school instead of Finnish. He speak Icelandic (offcourse) and few word in English. What is the best thing for him because Finnish is not an easy language to learn.
What kind of school option for 8 years old Icelandic boy?
Re: What kind of school option for 8 years old Icelandic boy?
On the other hand, children tend to be good at learning and adapting.hafos wrote:Hi
I and my husband are thinking about moving to Helsinki next fall.
We are from Iceland and will take our son with us wich is 8 years old.
What we need is information about schools for out son. Is it mayby better for him to go to a Swedish or English school instead of Finnish. He speak Icelandic (offcourse) and few word in English. What is the best thing for him because Finnish is not an easy language to learn.
How long do you plan to stay here? I'd think the most sensible option depends quite a lot on that.
Re: What kind of school option for 8 years old Icelandic boy?
I don't know about specific schools in Helsinki, I live further north.
How long are you planning on staying in Finland because although it may be a difficult language, children are incredible and learn faster than you could imagine. If you are planning on staying in Finland for a longer time it would be better for your son to learn Finnish, it makes it much easier for him to make friends, join in in activities and feel part of the place he lives.
In the Finnish schools there are immigrant classes, where for the first year pupils study Finnish and are gradually integrated into the "normal" class. In addition pupils have the right to receive a certain amount of hours teaching each week in their mother tongue although this depends on if there is someone who can teach them in their mother tongue and if there is a reasonable amount of pupils to be taught (I think there needs to be 4 or 5 within a certain area).
I have no idea about the english schools in Helsinki, but in Oulu pupils are requires to speak a reasonable amount of English to be able to get into the school. The International school here normally recommends that if the child doesn't speak english then they should go to the immigrant class in a finnish school as there is more resources for supporting their language development there. The do make exceptions if, for example; you are only going to be in Finland for a short period of time and it is likely that you will be moving to another country where you child will continue his education in English.
How long are you planning on staying in Finland because although it may be a difficult language, children are incredible and learn faster than you could imagine. If you are planning on staying in Finland for a longer time it would be better for your son to learn Finnish, it makes it much easier for him to make friends, join in in activities and feel part of the place he lives.
In the Finnish schools there are immigrant classes, where for the first year pupils study Finnish and are gradually integrated into the "normal" class. In addition pupils have the right to receive a certain amount of hours teaching each week in their mother tongue although this depends on if there is someone who can teach them in their mother tongue and if there is a reasonable amount of pupils to be taught (I think there needs to be 4 or 5 within a certain area).
I have no idea about the english schools in Helsinki, but in Oulu pupils are requires to speak a reasonable amount of English to be able to get into the school. The International school here normally recommends that if the child doesn't speak english then they should go to the immigrant class in a finnish school as there is more resources for supporting their language development there. The do make exceptions if, for example; you are only going to be in Finland for a short period of time and it is likely that you will be moving to another country where you child will continue his education in English.
Re: What kind of school option for 8 years old Icelandic boy?
Hi again
The time we are thinking about is not quite certain yet, but at least 2 years.
The reason for my concern is that my son has ADHD, and even though he is quite smart, school is sometimes very difficult for him. He adapts very quickly in new situations but doesn´t always connect very well....
The time we are thinking about is not quite certain yet, but at least 2 years.
The reason for my concern is that my son has ADHD, and even though he is quite smart, school is sometimes very difficult for him. He adapts very quickly in new situations but doesn´t always connect very well....
Re: What kind of school option for 8 years old Icelandic boy?
ADHD....
My advice would be to visit several schools and talk openly and honestly about your son's problems. Not all schools have the resources to cope with children (especially non-Finns) with ADHD. Generally children with learning difficulties are encouraged into mainstream schooling but in severe cases where this is not practical they will be refered to a special school (eg there is one in Kivenlahti in Espoo) either full-time or part-time. Some schools have assistants in the classroom who give 1-to-1 help to children with diagnosed difficulties. All schools have Special Ed teachers (at least part-time) who help children with remedial work (but usually this is only for kids who are a bit slower than average in eg: maths or maybe if they have some minor speaking impediments)
I suggest you have any assessments translated into English or Swedish. If you haven't had an assessment done recently then it is important to do that in his native language before you leave Iceland. You won't find an Icelandic speaking educational psychologist in Helsinki (even the English speaking ones are hard to find). Bring all your assessments and reports with you.
One place where you could ask for advice is Hero http://www.lukihero.fi/index2.html
This organisation helps families with learning difficulties (dyslexia, ADHD, Aspergers etc), we found an English speaking educational psychologist through them to assess one of my kids. They may be able to set you up a meeting with someone from the Helsinki Board of Education who could advise you on different possibilities. HERO has a walk-in centre in Kaisaniemi in the centre of Helsinki.
I have heard good things about Ressu International School. A couple of people I have spoken to with kids with ADHD have been very impressed by the help they have received there. You might want to check them out. It is a Finnish mainstream school that offers the PYP (IB primary years programme) in English.
From my own experience I would say that Helsinki seems better geared up than Espoo to deal with immigrant children's special needs. Helsinki has bigger budgets (and the larger population) to deal with special ed.
I have no experience of Swedish speaking schools but HERO is a bilingual organisation and they would definitely be able to advise you on that too.
I think it is EXTREMELY difficult for a child with learning difficulties to learn Finnish. This is partly due to the way it is taught in school (grammar-based approach). So, if you do not intend to stay in Finland FOREVER then I think English (or maybe Swedish) schooling may be a better choice for your son. However, if you make that choice then you need to understand that your son will probably never speak Finnish with any fluency.
Each child and each family is different so you really need to talk through your unique situation with a specialist. You are certainly doing the right thing by asking lots of questions before you come here.
My advice would be to visit several schools and talk openly and honestly about your son's problems. Not all schools have the resources to cope with children (especially non-Finns) with ADHD. Generally children with learning difficulties are encouraged into mainstream schooling but in severe cases where this is not practical they will be refered to a special school (eg there is one in Kivenlahti in Espoo) either full-time or part-time. Some schools have assistants in the classroom who give 1-to-1 help to children with diagnosed difficulties. All schools have Special Ed teachers (at least part-time) who help children with remedial work (but usually this is only for kids who are a bit slower than average in eg: maths or maybe if they have some minor speaking impediments)
I suggest you have any assessments translated into English or Swedish. If you haven't had an assessment done recently then it is important to do that in his native language before you leave Iceland. You won't find an Icelandic speaking educational psychologist in Helsinki (even the English speaking ones are hard to find). Bring all your assessments and reports with you.
One place where you could ask for advice is Hero http://www.lukihero.fi/index2.html
This organisation helps families with learning difficulties (dyslexia, ADHD, Aspergers etc), we found an English speaking educational psychologist through them to assess one of my kids. They may be able to set you up a meeting with someone from the Helsinki Board of Education who could advise you on different possibilities. HERO has a walk-in centre in Kaisaniemi in the centre of Helsinki.
I have heard good things about Ressu International School. A couple of people I have spoken to with kids with ADHD have been very impressed by the help they have received there. You might want to check them out. It is a Finnish mainstream school that offers the PYP (IB primary years programme) in English.
From my own experience I would say that Helsinki seems better geared up than Espoo to deal with immigrant children's special needs. Helsinki has bigger budgets (and the larger population) to deal with special ed.
I have no experience of Swedish speaking schools but HERO is a bilingual organisation and they would definitely be able to advise you on that too.
I think it is EXTREMELY difficult for a child with learning difficulties to learn Finnish. This is partly due to the way it is taught in school (grammar-based approach). So, if you do not intend to stay in Finland FOREVER then I think English (or maybe Swedish) schooling may be a better choice for your son. However, if you make that choice then you need to understand that your son will probably never speak Finnish with any fluency.
Each child and each family is different so you really need to talk through your unique situation with a specialist. You are certainly doing the right thing by asking lots of questions before you come here.
Re: What kind of school option for 8 years old Icelandic boy?
At least for preschool Espoo has concentrated all the Swedish education for children with special needs to Finno skola (school), and I think (but I'm not sure) that it is so also for the schools. Finno skola is otherwise a "normal" school, but they have also smaller classes, their own psychologists, occupational therapist, and speach terapist. But in any school you can apply for an assistant.
Contact information is found in the following pages (in Swedish):
http://www.esbo.fi/default.asp?path=323 ... 2534;32557
http://www.finno.esboskolorna.fi/
I really don't know about the school, but I was very impressed with the smaller and integrated class for preschool when we visited there (as a mom).
Contact information is found in the following pages (in Swedish):
http://www.esbo.fi/default.asp?path=323 ... 2534;32557
http://www.finno.esboskolorna.fi/
I really don't know about the school, but I was very impressed with the smaller and integrated class for preschool when we visited there (as a mom).