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Early childhood education in different languages

The City of Helsinki organises early childhood education in Finnish, Swedish and North Sami. Early childhood education in other languages is provided in private early childhood education. As a municipal service, education in other languages is available from pre-primary education onwards (age 6 and up).

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Lapsia päiväkodissa piirtämässä pöydän ääressä
Photo: Jefune Gimpel

Swedish-language immersion

The Swedish-language services of the City offer early childhood education fully in Swedish.

The aim of the language immersion programme is that a child who does not know Swedish learns the language in daycare and school. The programme is designed so that at the beginning of the child’s learning path the teachers and educators almost exclusively speak Swedish to the child. Later on, more Finnish is used in both teaching and learning. By staying in the immersion class throughout basic education, the child will develop strong skills in both Finnish and Swedish.

The best time to start language immersion is the year the child turns four. They can also start later, but no later than by the beginning of their pre-primary education at the age of six. Language-immersion path continues from early childhood and pre-primary education in daycare centre to basic education in school until the end of ninth grade.

Swedish-language immersion is aimed at children who do not know any Swedish and one of the languages spoken at home is Finnish. For the child’s language skills in both Swedish and Finnish to develop, the daycare centre, school and home must work in close collaboration. During the first years, the guardians are in charge for developing and reinforcing the child’s skills in Finnish, as well as in other languages spoken at home. The daycare centre and school, in turn, oversee the child’s Swedish language learning.

Children participating in the language immersion programme learn Swedish as part of all activities by hearing and using it every day. At the daycare centre, the staff only use Swedish with the children, but they understand Finnish and communicate with the child’s guardians in Finnish. The children are free to use their mother tongue until they gradually learn enough Swedish to communicate in it. As the learning path progresses, they are encouraged to use more and more Swedish as their language skills develop.

At the language immersion daycare centre, the child learns Swedish through activities such as fairy tales, songs, stories, games and thematic work. The teachers supplement the meaning of words and expressions with gestures and pictures. In the language immersion, the child's Swedish language skills are systematically supported and guided.

The language immersion programme is designed so that at the beginning of the learning path, Swedish is used almost exclusively and in the later years the proportion of Swedish is reduced and Finnish is also used in teaching and learning. In early childhood education and pre-primary education, educators and teachers use only Swedish.

In the first and second grades (age 7 and 8) in school 90% of teaching is in Swedish and children learn to read and write in Swedish. In grades 3 and 4 (age 9 and 10) about 70% of teaching is in Swedish and in grades 5 to 9 (age 12 to 16) about half.

There are language immersion daycare centres and schools around Helsinki. The language immersion path is determined by the daycare centre in which the child starts the language immersion in early childhood education. What this means in practice is that after pre-primary education, the child transfers to the language immersion school on that path. The language immersion path continues in the language immersion class until the end of grade nine.

The Swedish-language immersion paths available in Helsinki are listed below:

Picture of Swedish language immersion paths in Helsinki

* An example of a language immersion path: If the child begins early childhood education in the language immersion group in Daycare Linnunlaulu, the child will also go to pre-primary education at  Daycare Linnunlaulu. The child will then move on to Kallio Primary School for grades 1–6 of comprehensive school and to Pasila Comprehensive School for grades 7–9.

As applying to language immersion is not yet possible through Asti, you need to fill out a paper application and send it to according to the instructions on the form.

You can access the application here: Application for early childhood education, PDF (opens in new tab)

  • In section 4 of the form (Need for early childhood education), select the option ’Swedish-language immersion’.
  • In section 5, write the names of the language immersion daycare centres to which your child is applying. You can apply to a total of three different daycare centres. The language-immersion daycare centres are:
  • Write in section 6 (Other matters related to the child’s early childhood education) that the child is applying to Swedish-language immersion.
  • The application period ends annually on 31 March, and the families are notified of the selection by the end of April.
  • You can also apply to Swedish-language immersion outside of the application period. In that case, the child can get a place in a Swedish-language immersion daycare centre if the language immersion group has free places left.
  • If the child already has a place in early childhood education, you can submit a transfer application to a Swedish-language immersion daycare centre for the child.

Children with siblings in a daycare centre’s Swedish-language immersion group or in language immersion grades 1–2 are given priority when applying to Swedish-language immersion. If there are more applicants than there are free spots, the selection is made through a draw.

If you have applied on paper and you have a non-disclosure agreement for personal safety, we will send you the decision primarily by secure email. Alternatively, you can pick-up the decision from our offices at Työpajankatu 8 by booking an appointment.

If you or the applicant child does not have a Finnish personal identity number, we will send the decision either by secure email or on paper to your home address.

There are also Swedish-language options for early childhood education in private daycare centres. Learn more about the private options in the links below. Apply to a private daycare centre by contacting the daycare centre in question directly.

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Video: Swedish-language immersion in Helsinki

Language immersion in a teaching method, in which children learn the second national language, Swedish, by hearing and using it in daycare and school. In Helsinki's Swedish-language immersion daycare centres and school the language of instruction is Swedish. The aim is that children become bilingual and learn fluent Swedish. Video audio in Finnish and Swedish, English subtitles available.

Early childhood education in North Sami

Daycare centre Susanna in Pasila has a North Sami-language group Luopmánat for children aged 1–5. North Sami-language early childhood education is based on Sami values, which are language, family, community, strong identity, nature, traditional livelihoods, equality and humanity, multiculturalism, peace and solidarity. The objective of Sami-language early childhood education is to raise children to be independent, responsible and social, and support the development of their linguistic skills.

  • You apply to North-Sami early childhood education electronically by filling out an early childhood education application onAsti (opens in new tab).
  • Select Daycare  Susanna as your preferred daycare centre.
  • Send an application and then inform the early childhood education service guidance that you want your child to join a North Sami-speaking group.
  • All children are welcome, and you can apply to the group even without any knowledge of North Sami.

Early childhood education in English

Helsinki has many different options for private English-language early childhood education. The City of Helsinki does not provide English-language early childhood education as a municipal service. Private daycare centres organise early childhood education fully in English and as different kinds of bilingual options in which the portion of English varies. Learn more in the sections below and on the daycare centres’ own websites. Apply to a private daycare centre by contacting the daycare centre of your choice directly.

Please note that bilingual and English-language education does not automatically continue when the child goes to school. If you want to apply for a school place in bilingual or English-language basic education organised by the city, see the application guidelines on the page How and when to apply to basic education in different languages. Learn more about pre-primary education as bilingual or language-enriched education on page Pre-primary education in different languages. If you want to learn more about different language options and the language paths in comprehensive school, see page Basic education in different languages and the school websites. 

The private daycare centres below offer early childhood education entirely in English. Learn more about each daycare centre on their website:

The following private daycare centres in Helsinki offer bilingual Finnish-English early childhood education. Learn more about each daycare centre via the links.

Extensive bilingual Finnish-English early childhood education (over 25% in English)

English-enriched early childhood education (10–25% in English)

 

Early childhood education in other languages

 

In addition to Finnish, Swedish and North Sami, many private daycare centres in Helsinki offer early childhood education in other languages. The City of Helsinki does not provide English-language early childhood education as a municipal service. Private daycare centres offer instruction in languages such as Estonian, French, German, Russian and Spanish. These daycare centres organise early childhood education entirely in these languages and as different bilingual options, where the amounts of different languages might vary. Learn more about these options by browsing the lists of the private daycare centres below. Apply to a private daycare by contacting the daycare centre directly.

Please note that bilingual and English-language education does not automatically continue when the child goes to school. If you want to apply for a school place in bilingual or English-language basic education organised by the city, see the application guidelines on the page How and when to apply to basic education in different languages. Learn more about pre-primary education as bilingual or language-enriched education on page Pre-primary education in different languages. If you want to learn more about different language options and the language paths in comprehensive school, see page Basic education in different languages and the school websites. 

Options in private language immersion daycare centres

Browse the lists of the private daycare centres in Helsinki on the Service map links below:

Early childhood education in Finnish sign language

Children with hearing impairment or sign language as their home language can get a place in Daycare Taneli in the Pitäjänmäki district from August 2024 onwards. By centralising the early childhood education in Finnish sign language to Daycare Taneli enables us to secure the children’s right to improve their sing language skills and support the family’s shared language.

Daycare Taneli will hold a certain number of places for children with hearing impairment and for children whose home language is Finnish sign language. If there are more applicants than places available, children with hearing impairment will be given priority.

You can apply to early childhood education in Finnish sign language with the paper application form. We process the applications to early childhood education in Finnish sign language twice a year. The autumn term starts in late July and early August and the spring term starts at the beginning of January. Applications to early childhood education in Finnish sign language must be submitted at least 4 months before the desired start date.

For the time being, only children who are Helsinki residents are admitted. The situation will be reviewed when the daycare starts.