How do you think about päiväkoti in finland?
How do you think about päiväkoti in finland?
I will send the baby under 1 year, Are they good feeding and take care? please tell your opinion.
I've been really happy with our experience. My son is in a perhepäiväkoti and has been since he was 11 months old. Although they are in a home, they have structured activities and a regular schedule for library visits, music, and a visit to a local school gym. He started in a group of five, but now there are only 4 and the group will only get smaller as the children leave for school. Our sitter is retiring as soon as the kids are gone and is not accepting any new kids.
When the sitter is sick or on holiday, Reino goes to a larger daycare nearby. It's not the one he goes to for music and the annual Christmas and summer parties, so it always feels like a strange place to us. If he went to a larger daycare all the time, he wouldn't have to switch out when someone goes on vacation.
I think people have the wrong impression about the home daycares. I was asked a couple of weeks ago about it because the person had seen a small group of home daycare kids and the sitter wandering around during the day. I know that Reino and his group go to different places, so they might seem to be wandering. Usually they go as a group with other home daycares or meet the group at the destination. They go to the larger päiväkoti for music every week and to the local school gym each Friday. They visit the local library every week for story time and go to a movie almost monthly. They visit different play parks on other days. In the summer and early autumn, they learn those secrets that all Finns know about the forest.
That's been our experience.
When the sitter is sick or on holiday, Reino goes to a larger daycare nearby. It's not the one he goes to for music and the annual Christmas and summer parties, so it always feels like a strange place to us. If he went to a larger daycare all the time, he wouldn't have to switch out when someone goes on vacation.
I think people have the wrong impression about the home daycares. I was asked a couple of weeks ago about it because the person had seen a small group of home daycare kids and the sitter wandering around during the day. I know that Reino and his group go to different places, so they might seem to be wandering. Usually they go as a group with other home daycares or meet the group at the destination. They go to the larger päiväkoti for music every week and to the local school gym each Friday. They visit the local library every week for story time and go to a movie almost monthly. They visit different play parks on other days. In the summer and early autumn, they learn those secrets that all Finns know about the forest.
That's been our experience.
We have a 31/2 year old who started(10 months) in perhepaivakoti( Family daycare) and we never bothered to get her into the larger daycare. The family daycare cannot have more than 4 kids at most, by law.
We didnt want ous kid to go to a bigger daycare cos of the no. of times they ll get sick, larger groups etc ( Even though our kid is perfectly fine with small as well as large crowds and is very social).
Daycare is best started at 10 months or older ( some say earlier the better and we believe it to be very true in our case..but Ur case may vary) as it gives routines, interactivities, and sense of learning for the kids.
I dont think that there is anything better in this world than the Finnish daycare... ( Its way too difficult to find the kind of daycare people in Texas for e.g. than here). If u didnt know, Daycare persons need to be trained and certified before they even start on a bigger one and more training if they need to offer their family daycare. of course, Every daycare person has a supervisor who evaluates monthly( U need to sign a monthly form indicating that Ur kid has been to the daycare at that time and date).
Of course, its always best to know the daycare person beforehand and then have an open conversation with them regarding their way of taking care of the kids and what Ur expectations are.
/Raam
We didnt want ous kid to go to a bigger daycare cos of the no. of times they ll get sick, larger groups etc ( Even though our kid is perfectly fine with small as well as large crowds and is very social).
Daycare is best started at 10 months or older ( some say earlier the better and we believe it to be very true in our case..but Ur case may vary) as it gives routines, interactivities, and sense of learning for the kids.
I dont think that there is anything better in this world than the Finnish daycare... ( Its way too difficult to find the kind of daycare people in Texas for e.g. than here). If u didnt know, Daycare persons need to be trained and certified before they even start on a bigger one and more training if they need to offer their family daycare. of course, Every daycare person has a supervisor who evaluates monthly( U need to sign a monthly form indicating that Ur kid has been to the daycare at that time and date).
Of course, its always best to know the daycare person beforehand and then have an open conversation with them regarding their way of taking care of the kids and what Ur expectations are.
/Raam
This is a very interesting topic for me right now, as we're thinking of putting our little girl into daycare (either a daycare or then family daycare- we don't know which yet) in September (she'll be 14 months then) and my mind is going beserk with questions. I speak English to her and her dad speaks Finnish (he and I speak both English and Finnish to each other, but maybe more Finnish- usually if one says something in English then the answer's in English and vv), and the daycare place will be Finnish language. Will that mess up with her English? I think this is my biggest worry right now. We're not so eager to put to her into an English daycare here because the prospects of continuing education in English in Kuopio are mediocre, plus I don't think the English playschool here takes kids that young anyway.
saving chimpanzees is a big hairy deal
My daughter goes to a Finnish daycare and it hasn't impacted her English at all. At home I always speak English with her and my husband always speaks Finnish with her. To keep up her English skills I have videos, DVD's, CD's etc. that are in English and of course she has English speaking friends and relatives to talk to as well. So far it hasn't been a problem although Finnish is slightly more dominant for her.RA wrote:This is a very interesting topic for me right now, as we're thinking of putting our little girl into daycare (either a daycare or then family daycare- we don't know which yet) in September (she'll be 14 months then) and my mind is going beserk with questions. I speak English to her and her dad speaks Finnish (he and I speak both English and Finnish to each other, but maybe more Finnish- usually if one says something in English then the answer's in English and vv), and the daycare place will be Finnish language. Will that mess up with her English? I think this is my biggest worry right now. We're not so eager to put to her into an English daycare here because the prospects of continuing education in English in Kuopio are mediocre, plus I don't think the English playschool here takes kids that young anyway.
We checked out many different daycare places (home care, private Finnish speaking, private English speaking, regular) before sending our daughter. We went and asked questions, sat in classrooms and looked around. I am glad we did as the places turned out to be quite different. We had initially thought we might send her to an English daycare or other private daycare but in the end chose a regular Finnish one. That one turned out to be the best in our opinion and was a good fit for us. We really love the place we have her at now - it's very clean, the kids are well supervised, they have interesting age appropriate activities, the teachers are great and our daughter loves it. Before sending our daughter I was very nervous but everything turned out fine and I would say our experience with Finnish daycare has been really positive.
Before going to any of the places we had thought we'd choose a private daycare. Some of the private places we had looked at had good programmes but after visiting we found some safety concerns and the children didn't seem to be supervised as well. Although I'm sure there are very good private daycare centers we didn't feel comfortable with the ones we saw near us.
We didn't choose the home daycare because there is only one person watching the children. You never know what will happen if someone is alone with your child. If there are several teachers they probably watch each other. I know the home care providers are monitored but for us it wasn't the right fit - we just felt more comfortable having several teachers around. I do know many people who have their kids in the home daycare and have had really positive experiences with it. They have really terrific caregivers, they like the small groups and homey atmosphere. I haven't heard of anyone I know who has had a bad experience with home care.
Right on Tadpole's mommy. My daughter didnt speak any english when started daycare and not many interesting english programs for a 10 month old. Anyways, She went to normal Finnish Family daycares ( We moved 3 times and all three times the family daycares have been great). I consistently talk English with her ( and now teaching her Tamil slowly with little aids starting from veggies and fruits and colors now, and waiting to procure more material aids...Tamil is 3 times harder than Finnish. e.g. Finnish 8 contexts, Tamil - 13 contexts). My wife talks Finnish with her and so does my MIL.
Now, Shes 31/2 and has been watching lotsa english programs for a year and now is very confortable with me in English, and Finnish with her mom. Hopefully she ll be fluent in Finnish, English Tamil and Swedish ( We recently moved to a Swedish speaking area but still a Finnish speaking Family daycare).
I did a lot of background work on language skills etc and a Child can learn more than 4 languages when they are young and still remember them at least till 10 years..Of course practice is needed.
Moreover, We found out that its better to get a child into daycare as soon as over 10 months.
If U can afford it, I suggest getting a satellite dish with a Hard disk recorder and record children's programs and other english programs. We subscribe to Viasat( pay) and then also point to a satellite called Hotbird where there re free english/Tamil programs. I m sure that U can get Star and other UK channels. U can even subscribe to Canal digital packages for the satellite.
After watching "Dora-The explorer", She has completely changed from talking Finnglish to English with me.
/Raam
Now, Shes 31/2 and has been watching lotsa english programs for a year and now is very confortable with me in English, and Finnish with her mom. Hopefully she ll be fluent in Finnish, English Tamil and Swedish ( We recently moved to a Swedish speaking area but still a Finnish speaking Family daycare).
I did a lot of background work on language skills etc and a Child can learn more than 4 languages when they are young and still remember them at least till 10 years..Of course practice is needed.
Moreover, We found out that its better to get a child into daycare as soon as over 10 months.
If U can afford it, I suggest getting a satellite dish with a Hard disk recorder and record children's programs and other english programs. We subscribe to Viasat( pay) and then also point to a satellite called Hotbird where there re free english/Tamil programs. I m sure that U can get Star and other UK channels. U can even subscribe to Canal digital packages for the satellite.
After watching "Dora-The explorer", She has completely changed from talking Finnglish to English with me.
/Raam
Re: How do you think about päiväkoti in finland?
In general yes, they're quite good. Of course, pk's quality might vary so you are better of going to see the place beforehand and talking with the teachers as suggested.kea wrote:I will send the baby under 1 year, Are they good feeding and take care? please tell your opinion.
I think it is quite normal for bilingual kinds to start speaking a bit later. Having the child exposed to an all finnish environment -except for the home, is likely to speed its learning ans sHe might start resisting speaking the foreign language once it becames clear that you can communicate perfectly in finnish. It's up to you to be consistent.RA wrote:This is a very interesting topic for me right now, as we're thinking of putting our little girl into daycare (either a daycare or then family daycare- we don't know which yet) in September (she'll be 14 months then) and my mind is going beserk with questions. I speak English to her and her dad speaks Finnish (he and I speak both English and Finnish to each other, but maybe more Finnish- usually if one says something in English then the answer's in English and vv), and the daycare place will be Finnish language. Will that mess up with her English? I think this is my biggest worry right now. We're not so eager to put to her into an English daycare here because the prospects of continuing education in English in Kuopio are mediocre, plus I don't think the English playschool here takes kids that young anyway.
The bilingual families web site has a useful faq section and runs a mailing list for expert advice, if you feel like joining.
Thanks for the reassurances. I know to get her speaking English needs us to be really consistent and work and have fun at it too. What got me worried is that I think she's already started to know I speak Finnish too, so that might make her resistant to speak English (?) and then when I visited the daycare place to see all they offer etc. it suddenly dawned on me... my little baby is growing sooooo fast 
and then all sorts of insecurities started coming up.. you know what I'm talking about... is she too little for daycare, her English is going to disappear... my husband says I'm looking for excuses to keep her a at home and a baby longer 
Thanks for that link Ajdias, it was very helpful.
and then all sorts of insecurities started coming up.. you know what I'm talking about... is she too little for daycare, her English is going to disappear... my husband says I'm looking for excuses to keep her a at home and a baby longer Thanks for that link Ajdias, it was very helpful.saving chimpanzees is a big hairy deal
Personally, it was out of order to put our child at a perhehoitaja (family daycare) because they are not controlled and can do whatever they please! Indeed, my neighbour is one, and the only time we can see the kids outside is when they are waiting for the parents to pick them up in the evening and also when in the early morning she goes with them to shop groceries. In addition to that, she is taking care of 4 kids while she just have 2 bedrooms at her place...I must say that we wonder where do the kids go when they arrive at 7:30am and that the husband, daughter and son are still home...or for the day nap when the son (who is working at night) sleeps...
Also if you have an active kid, it is much easier for the person to lose temper than in a bigger place like a daycare centre where they are several people...
But then again, I believe there are very good perhoitaja!!! Don't misunderstand me.
I think that in a päiväkoti, it is more structured, kids are in groups by age 1-3, 3-5, 5+; there they learn manners, they have several people to take care of them, it is more organised as it is more controlled, and unlike I was thinking and fearing due to my experience in the parks, kids behave much much more!!!
I think that in order to have a soft adaptation to the daycare system or perhehoitaja (dunno if u can do it with the perhehoitaja), you must go for 2 weeks, everyday for 1 hour to the daycare, both outside and inside to see what's going on there, how they are organised but above all, for your child to get used to the "aunties" and the children there. Therefore, you will see how your kid interacts with the people, feels in that new place and when he/she will have to start to go without you, he/she will not be on an unknown field. Normally, the päiväkoti suggest it to the parents.
Good luck anyway
Also if you have an active kid, it is much easier for the person to lose temper than in a bigger place like a daycare centre where they are several people...
But then again, I believe there are very good perhoitaja!!! Don't misunderstand me.
I think that in a päiväkoti, it is more structured, kids are in groups by age 1-3, 3-5, 5+; there they learn manners, they have several people to take care of them, it is more organised as it is more controlled, and unlike I was thinking and fearing due to my experience in the parks, kids behave much much more!!!
I think that in order to have a soft adaptation to the daycare system or perhehoitaja (dunno if u can do it with the perhehoitaja), you must go for 2 weeks, everyday for 1 hour to the daycare, both outside and inside to see what's going on there, how they are organised but above all, for your child to get used to the "aunties" and the children there. Therefore, you will see how your kid interacts with the people, feels in that new place and when he/she will have to start to go without you, he/she will not be on an unknown field. Normally, the päiväkoti suggest it to the parents.
Good luck anyway