Hi, I am wanting to move to Finland with my toddler who will be 3 at the time, I was just wondering what the quality of life is for children in Helsinki.
I have heard very good things about the education provided in Finland but was wondering if anyone had any similar experiences as to wether he would fit in being from England and not knowing any Finnish yet and wether an english/international nursery or a finnish nursery would be best as i really want him to be able to learn to speak the language?
Also what is tehre for children to do in Finland particularily in the colder winter months?
Thanks in advance
Elektra
Moving to Finland with a toddler
Re: Moving to Finland with a toddler
My kids are half English/half Finnish aged 1 and 3. Quality of life is pretty good. Clubs, nurseries etc are typically good and quite reasonably priced. The parks here are really good. My advice would be to totally immerse them in a Finnish language environment if they are going to a club or nursery. Winter can be a bit tough here, outside activities with my 2 in the winter tend to be sledging or skating or playing in the snow but it's so cold you can't be out all day in it. There are some indoor places you can go e.g. indoor sports centres have kids mornings and of course swimming. Feel free to PM me with any questions.elektra wrote:Hi, I am wanting to move to Finland with my toddler who will be 3 at the time, I was just wondering what the quality of life is for children in Helsinki.
I have heard very good things about the education provided in Finland but was wondering if anyone had any similar experiences as to wether he would fit in being from England and not knowing any Finnish yet and wether an english/international nursery or a finnish nursery would be best as i really want him to be able to learn to speak the language?
Also what is tehre for children to do in Finland particularily in the colder winter months?
Thanks in advance
Elektra
Re: Moving to Finland with a toddler
Thankyou for your help, I am just saving up enough money to get by until I manage to get a job over there... which I have heard is going to be hard.
The main reason I want to move is to provide a better life for my son but unfortunately I would be moving there with no family.
The main reason I want to move is to provide a better life for my son but unfortunately I would be moving there with no family.
Re: Moving to Finland with a toddler
To be honest if you don't have any reason to move here other than that I would stay in the UK. There are plenty of nice places to live in the UK which will provide just as good a standard of living as Finland.elektra wrote:Thankyou for your help, I am just saving up enough money to get by until I manage to get a job over there... which I have heard is going to be hard.
The main reason I want to move is to provide a better life for my son but unfortunately I would be moving there with no family.
Re: Moving to Finland with a toddler
One thing to bear in mind is that primary school starts at 7 years old.
If you are NOT working then you might not even be offered a place in daycare since priority goes to working parents. How can you look for work or go to language classes while you are at home caring for your toddler? Then if you get lucky and find a job, you might not be able to find a daycare place close to home/work because they are all full up. It's a bit of a Catch-22 situation I believe - not just for foreigners moving here, but for all families with young children. Most daycares shut down in the summer maybe for 4-5 weeks or even more... what will you do then? You won't qualify for any paid leave from your job (assuming you get one) until you have worked for a whole year.
Just a few things to think about. I think your idea is a nice one, but it might be an idea to wait until your toddler is a bit older. In the meantime you can prepare your move by learning the language or getting some skills that are in short supply in Finland.
If you are NOT working then you might not even be offered a place in daycare since priority goes to working parents. How can you look for work or go to language classes while you are at home caring for your toddler? Then if you get lucky and find a job, you might not be able to find a daycare place close to home/work because they are all full up. It's a bit of a Catch-22 situation I believe - not just for foreigners moving here, but for all families with young children. Most daycares shut down in the summer maybe for 4-5 weeks or even more... what will you do then? You won't qualify for any paid leave from your job (assuming you get one) until you have worked for a whole year.
Just a few things to think about. I think your idea is a nice one, but it might be an idea to wait until your toddler is a bit older. In the meantime you can prepare your move by learning the language or getting some skills that are in short supply in Finland.
Re: Moving to Finland with a toddler
Ye its similar in England... almost impossible to get a job which will allow school holidays... apart from maybe working in a school and really hard to find childcare that coincides with getting a job.
But I imagine as you say in Finland the situation is even harder to sort out.
Im thinking of maybe studying in Finland but am now wondering what childacre could be sorted out for that and what student accomodation I could find that would be also suitable for my son?
Thanks
Elektra
But I imagine as you say in Finland the situation is even harder to sort out.
Im thinking of maybe studying in Finland but am now wondering what childacre could be sorted out for that and what student accomodation I could find that would be also suitable for my son?
Thanks
Elektra
Re: Moving to Finland with a toddler
Things vary in different areas of Finland. In Oulu I would say the student housing for families is excellent. Where we live, there are 10 buildings arranged in a circle, each building with 4 apartments (2 up, 2 down, each with their own entrance). In the middle of the circle there is the common building which houses the sauna, the laundrette, and the reading room (use of which is included in the rent) and 2 children's play areas. There is a separate car park for the housing are so the only traffic is the occasional person dropping off their shopping so you can feel comfortable letting the children play. The area is surrounded by forest with paths that lead to other similar areas. From when my daughter was 5 there were 6 areas like this that we let her go to on her own because there were no road, only bike paths, to cross.
As far as I understand it city daycares are city funded. You don't need to be in the social system for the daycare place in a city daycare to be subsidised. The most we paid as students for our daughters daycare was about 20€/month. When we fist move to Oulu I was a student and my husband was looking for any work he could get and trying to learn Finnish. At first we were told that it would take up to 4 months to get a daycare place since my husband wasn't working, however, we spoke to the person dealing with the application about my husbands need to attend language classes etc. and they said they would have a place for us within two weeks. We got a place the next week in a lovely daycare 50m from our apartment.
The daycare here don't all close at the same time during the summer so if you need child care during the summer and your regular daycare centre is closed, your child will be transferred to another local centre.
Ok, all that said....
THIS IS OULU I AM TALKING ABOUT NOT HELSINKI, I HAVE NO IDEA HOW THE SITUATION IS THERE.
IF YOU COME FOR STUDY, YOU WILL NOT GET SOCIAL SECURITY
LIFE IN OULU HAS IT'S OWN PROBLEMS. IT IS NOT A BIG CITY, IT IS A SLEEPY TOWN AT THE EDGE OF CIVILISATION. After 3 years living there I still buy most of my stuff on ebay because it is either too expensive or simply not available locally.
IT IS BLOODY COLD! Minus 32 last winter for about a week, minus 20 for a couple of months and it isn't uncommon for the sea to still be frozen at the end of April.
As far as I understand it city daycares are city funded. You don't need to be in the social system for the daycare place in a city daycare to be subsidised. The most we paid as students for our daughters daycare was about 20€/month. When we fist move to Oulu I was a student and my husband was looking for any work he could get and trying to learn Finnish. At first we were told that it would take up to 4 months to get a daycare place since my husband wasn't working, however, we spoke to the person dealing with the application about my husbands need to attend language classes etc. and they said they would have a place for us within two weeks. We got a place the next week in a lovely daycare 50m from our apartment.
The daycare here don't all close at the same time during the summer so if you need child care during the summer and your regular daycare centre is closed, your child will be transferred to another local centre.
Ok, all that said....
THIS IS OULU I AM TALKING ABOUT NOT HELSINKI, I HAVE NO IDEA HOW THE SITUATION IS THERE.
IF YOU COME FOR STUDY, YOU WILL NOT GET SOCIAL SECURITY
LIFE IN OULU HAS IT'S OWN PROBLEMS. IT IS NOT A BIG CITY, IT IS A SLEEPY TOWN AT THE EDGE OF CIVILISATION. After 3 years living there I still buy most of my stuff on ebay because it is either too expensive or simply not available locally.
IT IS BLOODY COLD! Minus 32 last winter for about a week, minus 20 for a couple of months and it isn't uncommon for the sea to still be frozen at the end of April.