City of Helsinki Social Services Department Early childhood education in Helsinki The early childhood education consists of care, education and teaching linked together. The aim is to ensure the prerequisites for healthy growth, learning and development of children. 1
Index A healthy happy child 3 Early childhood education services 5 Municipal day care Child home care allowance and Helsinki-supplement Private day care allowance and Helsinki-supplement Social Services Department s Helsinki-supplement Forms of early childhood education services 7 Day care centres Pre-school teaching Family day care Play activities Club activities After-school care of pupils How to apply for day care 9 Day care fees 10 Nutrition 10 The early childhood education 11 Implementation of the early childhood education Early childhood curriculum Pre-school teaching Children with various language and cultural background Special day care Early childhood education quality 13 Quality improvement Client feedback Further information and contact information 2
Childhood is the beginning, the first sentence of a life long story. A healthy happy child Childhood is the beginning, the first sentence of a life long story. Every child must be allowed to get the best start in life. Child needs caring, safety, and encourage. Child needs someone to set up the limits and support, goals and experiences of success. Child needs to be loved and respected as she/he is. Child needs to get experiences and to be given the chance to learn. - Child often needs also nursery care or the family needs support for childcare at home! The City of Helsinki provides services for early care and education in terms of municipal day care, 3
private and family day care support and various other activities. Early childhood education also covers preschool teaching. The early childhood education consists of systematic and target-oriented interaction and cooperation by putting the main emphasis on children s natural inclination to play. The partnership in prevailing early childhood education means that children s parents and childcare staff consciously are committed to supporting together the child s growth, development and learning. 4
Child needs caring, safety, and encourage. Child needs someone to set up the limits and support, goals and experiences of success. Early childhood education services Families can choose between municipal childcare, home care support for children under three-year-old or private day care support for children under sixyear-old. Besides the national support they can get Helsinki-supplement. Municipal day care The city offers childcare and early education services in terms of the day care centres, family day care, and play and club activities. It is the function of the city to support, guide and supervise the private day care. Parents may apply for municipal childcare services from the end of the period of maternity, paternity and parenthood allowance on until the child begins school. 5
Child home care allowance and Helsinki-supplement Child home care allowance is paid to families with children under three-year-old on the basis of the application. The basic allowances and a supplement depend on the age of child, the number of children and family earnings. If parents choose to apply for the home care allowance they cannot have the municipal or private childcare with which the city has a contract of purchased services. Applications for these allowances can be sent to the Social Insurance Institution (KELA). Private day care allowance and Helsinki-supplement The family can choose a private day care provider instead of the municipal childcare. Private day care will be provided in private day care centres, family day cares or private carer at the child s home. The allowance can be paid to every child of the family from the end of the parenthood allowance on until the child begins school. The city supervises the private child day care. Applications for these allowances can be sent to the Social Insurance Institution (KELA). The Social Services Department s Helsinki-supplement The family can apply for Helsinki-supplement of private care allowance when it receives child home care allowance and the over three-year-old sibling is in private half day care or a 3-5-year-old sibling is daily in both private and municipal day care. Applications for this allowance can be sent to the Social Services Department. 6
Child needs to be loved and respected as she/he is. Child needs to get experiences and to be given the chance to learn. Forms of early childhood education services Day care centres There are about 300 day care centres in Helsinki. Day care centres are usually open from 6.15 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. Parents agree on the child s daily program with day care centre staff. Children can stay not longer than ten hours per day in day care. The children of the part-time program stay four to five hours in the morning or afternoon in day care. Some day care centres provide services in the evening or 24-hours per day or seven days a week if necessary due to the various working hours of the parents or the studying. 7
Pre-school teaching Every child is entitled to free pre-school teaching one year before attending the primary school. Preschoolers are entitled to day care too. Pre-school teaching supports the child s ability to learn. Pre-school teaching is four hours per day during the school times including the same half-terms as the primary school. Finnish speaking pre-school teaching is offered in the municipal day care centres and Swedish speaking pre-school teaching in day cares centres and in the schools. Family day care Following types of family day care are available: a private caregiver s home, three-family day care and group family day care. A private family caregiver may work in her/his own home, caring for one to four children, including her own ones. A pre-schooler or a school-age child may be a fifth member of the group. In three-family day care two to four homes having no more than four children under school age build a childcare ring. One pre-schooler or a school-aged attending the primary school can be a fifth member of the group. Group family day care may be arranged in a facility allocated by the city with two or three caregivers. There are from 10 to 12 children in the group. Family day care at the child s home is intended for children with special needs whose care and guidance cannot be arranged in other ways. Play activities Play parks and family parks can offer toddlers and preschoolers various supervised activities in outdoor and indoor contexts from Monday to Friday. Programs 8
may consist of supervised activities together or free playing. Activities of play parks are free of charge, and require no registration. The play park staff have the responsibility to have an eye on the children. Children who cannot manage on their own must have their own caregiver with them. Further information about weekly programmes are available in the play parks and on www.hel.fi/sosv Club activities Some day care centres and play parks provide club activities for a couple of hours a day from two to five times per week. The parents have to pay for it including no meal. After-school care of pupils Some day care centres provide after-school activities in groups for pupils in class 1 and 2 or in special school. This activity is chargeable and it includes a snack. Play parks provide open activity for all school children free-of-charge. Pupils in class 1 and 2 or in special school can buy a snack. How to apply for day care Applications for day care should be made in general at least four months before day care is needed. Application should be given to the day care centre or the family child care supervisor, who will decide on the allocation of day care placements. Applications for pre-school teaching free of charge and after-school activities of school-age children should be made at the same time with school-age children s enrolling the compulsory school. Annual announce- 9
ments are published in newspapers in February and on web pages of the Social Services Department. Applications for club activities can be made throughout the year. Application forms and further information about services and payments, child home care allowance and private day care allowance are available from day care centres, family day care supervisors, social advisers phone 01066011 and on web pages of the Social Services Department www.hel.fi/sosv Day care fees Law calculates day care fees. They are calculated in percentage of the family earnings and depend also on the family size. In 2007 the smallest monthly payment is 18 euros and the highest 200 euros. The fee is collected no more than for eleven calendar months per fiscal year. 10 Nutrition The day care centres guide children s eating habits, and mealtimes are a part of the children s care, raising and teaching. The children participating in a wholeday program will get breakfast, lunch and a snack, which cover two-thirds of children s energy need per day. Lunch is served in the half-day program, and dinners in the evening care, and snack if desired. The menu will be repeated every six weeks, and also children s parents are informed of it. The special diets are served for health reasons mainly. The menu can be read on the web pages of the Social Services Department www.hel.fi/sosv.
Child examines, enjoys doing artwork and expresses oneself. Child learns and gets feelings of success. The early childhood education Implementation of the early childhood education The early childhood education covers care, training and teaching. The aim is to secure the prerequisites for healthy growth, learning and development of children. Child enjoys being together with other children and the educators. Child examines, enjoys doing artwork and expresses oneself. Child learns and 11
gets feelings of success. It s through exercise, play, language, and fairy tales that children develop their imagination and creativity. Children s day care provides the child a growing environment that encourages the child to explore, to learn, and express oneself. Staff will daily communicate with parents about all the matters of the child. The opinions of children and their parents contribute to the curriculum content. Early childhood education curriculum During 2006 the early childhood education curriculum of the City of Helsinki will be created on the basis of the national regulations. By the end of 2007 a new early childhood education curriculum is introduced in every child day care unit. Every child will get an individual plan for early childhood education. Its implementation and details will be assessed together with the child and parents. The child day care units will evaluate and adjust the realisation and the contents of the plan together with the child and parents. Pre-school teaching Pre-school teaching encourages and supports the prerequisites for healthy growth, learning and development of children. It enables a smooth transition from pre-school teaching to primary school. Pre-school curriculum is a part of the early childhood education curriculum. The Social Services and Education Departments have drawn up together the pre-school curriculum. Pre-school teaching is implemented in cooperation with local schools. 12
Children of various language and cultural background Children of different language and cultural background must have the possibility to grow in a multicultural society by manifesting their own cultural features and become members of the Finnish society. Day care system promotes this tendency of growth in working with parents. Early childhood education is included in the normal early education services that will promote the communication and social contacts of these children. Special day care Children with special needs are getting individual support in the day care. The care and guidance plan (early childhood education curriculum) and the child s individual plan for pre-school education include all the special needs of the child. Education professionals, parents and the school will design the special plan. The plan will be evaluated and updated regularly. Early childhood education quality Quality improvement Evaluation and improvement of the early childhood education are based on strategies of the City of Helsinki and the Social Services Department, and the outlines and plans of the early education and pre-school teaching. The framework for the early childhood curriculum and pre-school teaching describes the central goals of developmentally 13
appropriate early childhood education. Besides the education staff, the parents, children and various co-workers will participate in the evaluation of the early education. Evaluation provides a basis for recognising the strengths of the operation and the need for improvement. Documenting regularly is a part of quality management and enables a follow-up and evaluation in the long range. Client feedback A daily contact of the parents and day care staff is the most natural way to give mutual feedback. In addition the parents of children are frequently given written inquiries. They help to improve the day care quality accordingly. Feedback can also be sent on the web. 14
Further information The Social Services Department s web pages www.hel.fi/sosv The telephone directory of Eniro The Mannerheim League for Child Welfare www.mll.fi switchboard 0753 2455 00 child care service tel. 0753 2454 30 The Family Federation of Finland, child care service www.vaestoliitto.fi tel. 612 6130 FAMILIES AND CHILD DAY CARE PERSONNEL TOGETHER HAVE TO ENSURE THE CHILD WILL DEVELOP TO ITS FULLEST POTENTIAL. THE PARENTS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN A CHILD S LIFE, AND DAY CARE PERSONNEL HAVE ACHIEVED EXPERTISE ON CHILDCARE, EDUCATION AND TEACHING THROUGH PROFESSIONAL AND EXPERIMENTAL SKILLS. THEY WILL GIVE THEM THE GREATEST CHANCE FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND A GOOD EDUCATIONAL PARTNERSHIP. 15
Every child has the right to get the best start in life. City of Helsinki Social Services Department P.O. Box 7000, 00099 City of Helsinki tel. (09) 310 4011 www.hel.fi/sosv 16 Photos: Tuija Linkola and Kuvaario Oy / Kimmo von Lüders and Krista Keltanen. Layout: Helena Kajander. Printed by Speedmaster Oy, 2007.