Hello,
We have 2 kids aged 4 and 1.5 and will be moving to Finland shortly. It was the plan all along to have both in a finnish daycare, be we are now starting to hesitate. We feel it will be quite easy for the youngest as she is so young and has a warrior personality, but we have some fear for the oldest... He is quite sensitive and we don't know how he will cope. I must say that our mother tongue is not English either, but they both have some basic vocabulary in English. No matter how long we stay, we wanted our children to be as integrated as possible, to be able to play on playgrounds interacting with other kids and to benefit from the Finnish educational system.
What were your experience with children aged 4-5 learning Finnish language?
Thank you,
Tina
Finnish daycare vs english
Re: Finnish daycare vs english
If English is not their mother tongue, choose the Finnish daycare. Even the 4 yo will have little problems in adopting the language.
Re: Finnish daycare vs english
No, I don't have the experience you're interested in, but I'd say if you think there is at least a reasonable chance you'll be staying longer, I'd put them to a Finnish day care. Younger they are, the easier is them to learn a new language and in day care they don't yet need to learn anything else (except some level of civilized behavior in a group).
Probably you're moving to some area where the daycare staff must have quite a lot of experience with children that do not speak any Finnish on their first day.
Probably you're moving to some area where the daycare staff must have quite a lot of experience with children that do not speak any Finnish on their first day.
Re: Finnish daycare vs english
Hi, thanks for the advice. We will stay min 5 years according to my husband's contract..I am not yet sure where we will live, but I am guessing Helsinki/Espoo area should be fine with daycare staff having experience of expat kids in their groups.
R, Tina
R, Tina
Re: Finnish daycare vs english
I certainly regret not putting my youngest into Finnish daycare/schooling when we arrived and he was 5 yrs old then. But we didn't know we would be staying so long (12 years already!)
Re: Finnish daycare vs english
Hi, how long did it take him to be fluent?
Re: Finnish daycare vs english
Slightly different situation (Finnish mum, English dad) - we were in Brussels for a few years before moving back here.
We put ours in English daycare here but have noticed that our 4 year old is now a bit behind in his Finnish - mainly vocab - simply because there are so many words he just doesn't come across in Finnish.
My stepdaughter who went to Finnish daycare until 2½ and into English therefafter - first in Belgium then when we returned when she was 5½ - has no problems in eiher language.
It has made us think just how much additional language immersion they get in daycare. As I say slightly different because as a family we speak English so our 4 year old only speaks Finnish directly when one on one with his mum, but if you do choose Finnish daycare, I'd be mindful of making sure the 1,5 year old hears enough of your mother tongue to progress. For example, we're now making sure that bedtime stories are now more in Finnish to ensure our son gets more quality exposure to Finnish.
We put ours in English daycare here but have noticed that our 4 year old is now a bit behind in his Finnish - mainly vocab - simply because there are so many words he just doesn't come across in Finnish.
My stepdaughter who went to Finnish daycare until 2½ and into English therefafter - first in Belgium then when we returned when she was 5½ - has no problems in eiher language.
It has made us think just how much additional language immersion they get in daycare. As I say slightly different because as a family we speak English so our 4 year old only speaks Finnish directly when one on one with his mum, but if you do choose Finnish daycare, I'd be mindful of making sure the 1,5 year old hears enough of your mother tongue to progress. For example, we're now making sure that bedtime stories are now more in Finnish to ensure our son gets more quality exposure to Finnish.
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Flossy1978
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Re: Finnish daycare vs english
Put both children into Finnish daycare.
At their ages, they are so young it's so easy for them to pick up Finnish. They'll be fine in daycare.
In the Helsinki/Vantaa/Espoo area there are so many foreigners nowadays, the daycares are very use to foreign children being in their care. Your children will be fine. They'll be taken care of properly. Don't worry about that. Daycare workers here usually need proper education, at least in the proper run daycares, not home daycares.
You could also pay a teenager to come and play with your kid a few times a week in the afternoons/evenings for an hour or two. So they get more Finnish. The teenager could take the kids to the park or something. Just be with them speaking Finnish. Naturally they'll have to know how to talk slowly and as easily as possible for the kids to learn. It'll also help them pick up the language.
The problem is, if you aren't native English speakers, their parents. You really shouldn't be speaking English with them. Finland has this thing that a parent should speak their own native language to their children, especially young children. Just a thought. You should stick with your own language with your kids, if you don't. And when you fill out forms, you need to put the native language of what the mother speaks on the forms for your children. The law is, that the children's native language is what the mother's native language is. You said English isn't your native language, so you need to write what is your native language in forms. If you put your own native language, it can often lead to getting extra help with your kids if they need it. Free of charge. The government takes care of children of different languages. Naturally depending on the city you live in. Espoo is a wealthy city. Full of foreigners. You'll probably easily get help if you need it.
I am a native English speaker, so I have to put my son's native language as English each time. Even though he's born in Finland and he speaks both English and Finnish at the same level, fluently. Finnish is his "emotional" language. But still we constantly get asked if he needs help because of being an English speaker. But actually his Finnish is the same as any other Finnish child. Actually when he was younger, it was better than other Finnish children his age. And in his English classes at school he's infact a teachers aid in grade two helping other children with the school work. So the school also recognised his good linguistic abilities and help put him to work.
They're good with dealing with other languages here. And it really is in the best interest of your children to put them into a Finnish daycare. They'll be fine. The daycare will take care of them. Especially the 4 year old. The 1.5 year old will be much easier because he/she is like a blank slate in regards to languages.
At their ages, they are so young it's so easy for them to pick up Finnish. They'll be fine in daycare.
In the Helsinki/Vantaa/Espoo area there are so many foreigners nowadays, the daycares are very use to foreign children being in their care. Your children will be fine. They'll be taken care of properly. Don't worry about that. Daycare workers here usually need proper education, at least in the proper run daycares, not home daycares.
You could also pay a teenager to come and play with your kid a few times a week in the afternoons/evenings for an hour or two. So they get more Finnish. The teenager could take the kids to the park or something. Just be with them speaking Finnish. Naturally they'll have to know how to talk slowly and as easily as possible for the kids to learn. It'll also help them pick up the language.
The problem is, if you aren't native English speakers, their parents. You really shouldn't be speaking English with them. Finland has this thing that a parent should speak their own native language to their children, especially young children. Just a thought. You should stick with your own language with your kids, if you don't. And when you fill out forms, you need to put the native language of what the mother speaks on the forms for your children. The law is, that the children's native language is what the mother's native language is. You said English isn't your native language, so you need to write what is your native language in forms. If you put your own native language, it can often lead to getting extra help with your kids if they need it. Free of charge. The government takes care of children of different languages. Naturally depending on the city you live in. Espoo is a wealthy city. Full of foreigners. You'll probably easily get help if you need it.
I am a native English speaker, so I have to put my son's native language as English each time. Even though he's born in Finland and he speaks both English and Finnish at the same level, fluently. Finnish is his "emotional" language. But still we constantly get asked if he needs help because of being an English speaker. But actually his Finnish is the same as any other Finnish child. Actually when he was younger, it was better than other Finnish children his age. And in his English classes at school he's infact a teachers aid in grade two helping other children with the school work. So the school also recognised his good linguistic abilities and help put him to work.
They're good with dealing with other languages here. And it really is in the best interest of your children to put them into a Finnish daycare. They'll be fine. The daycare will take care of them. Especially the 4 year old. The 1.5 year old will be much easier because he/she is like a blank slate in regards to languages.
Re: Finnish daycare vs english
And how does your child cope with Finnish now? Does he think a Finnish daycare centre would've been a better option for him?Rosamunda wrote:I certainly regret not putting my youngest into Finnish daycare/schooling when we arrived and he was 5 yrs old then. But we didn't know we would be staying so long (12 years already!)
We are facing the same dilemma. Next year we are going to put our kid into a daycare centre and have to decide in advance whether it's gonna be a Finnish or an English speaking centre.
We're going to stay in Finland for the next five years and no one knows what happens next. Maybe we'll have to move back, maybe will stay longer.
I agree with all the points mentioned above. If a kid speaks Finnish it's easier for him to find friends and just to live in the country. But every childhood comes to an end sooner or later and in "adult" live different languages may carry different opportunities. If here are Finns on the forum - please, don't get me wrong but Finnish is a bit too local as a language whereas English opens doors for you in many countries and industries.
Not an easy choice...
Re: Finnish daycare vs english
You forget that english is something you do learn regardless of school.84Ger wrote:Rosamunda wrote:If a kid speaks Finnish it's easier for him to find friends and just to live in the country. But every childhood comes to an end sooner or later and in "adult" live different languages may carry different opportunities. If here are Finns on the forum - please, don't get me wrong but Finnish is a bit too local as a language whereas English opens doors for you in many countries and industries.
Not an easy choice...
Also you forget that living isnt only "opportunities". I would be mad about all "open doors" if i couldn't be happy in my home.
Caesare weold Graecum, ond Caelic Finnum
Re: Finnish daycare vs english
You're right, though the level of fluency will be different if on doesn't learn from birth.You forget that english is something you do learn regardless of school.
Again agree. But as I said no one knows how things turn out. We weren't going to live in Finland for the rest of our lifes.I would be mad about all "open doors" if i couldn't be happy in my home.
In our home country Finnish (unlike English) will be useless