Siru Varsamäki helps children learn Finnish: “I dreamt of being a language teacher from an early age”

It is a crisp autumn afternoon, and the daycare centre’s yard is filled with colourful leaves. Daycares Herukka and Mustikka form an early childhood education unit where Siru Varsamäki supports children learning Finnish as a second language.

– I have always been fascinated by languages, and I knew already from an early age that I wanted to be a language teacher, Siru Varsamäki says. 

Siru’s first degree was in social services. She experienced working in daycare during her social service studies, but at that point, she did not plan to make her career in early childhood education. After graduating, she settled into social work as a social counsellor for adults and families. Around this time, she was also planning a groundbreaking trip to Brazil.

– I started learning Portuguese through an intensive course for my upcoming trip. I fell in love with the language and took every course I could find, but it still was not enough. I could not shake the dream of becoming a language teacher. 

Return to daycare as an S2 teacher

To pursue her dream, Siru applied to study Portuguese philology at the University of Helsinki. Even though she graduated as a Portuguese language teacher, the degree also included Finnish language courses. 

– During my studies, the manager of daycare Herukka, Onerva Annaniemi-Nguyen, encouraged me to do on-demand work at daycares in the capital area, Siru recalls.

When she did her first substitute job as an early childhood education teacher, she wondered why she had ever left daycare centre work. 

– I remember thinking how much fun it was and that I wanted to do this forever. 

When a full-time S2 teaching position opened up at Herukka, Siru seized the opportunity. Today, she teaches Finnish to children as part of her daily work.

– I get to combine my passion for languages with early childhood education. My profession merges the best of both worlds into one.

Siru has previously worked as a project coordinator, social advisor, and workforce planner. With social services, Siru often found herself constantly putting out fires, which sometimes felt exhausting. Return to the daycare centre offered an energising working environment.

– Children are the future, and they are full of energy. It is inspiring to work with them. This job allows me to combine the academic side with interaction. Besides, I would have way too much energy to just sit at a computer all day, Siru laughs.
 

Children learn through everyday interactions 

We continue our chat in Siru’s office, which is quieter than usual because of the autumn break – only a handful of children are at the daycare centre today. Usually, one can spot the sounds of many languages: Arabic, English, Chinese, Somali, Portuguese, Bulgarian, and Punjabi, just to name a few.

Siru works primarily with small groups at Daycare Herukka, where children with similar language proficiency levels play together to learn Finnish. She also provides pedagogical support once a week at the neighbouring Daycare Mustikka. Mornings are spent playing and working with small groups, using various learning tools to help develop language skills. Afternoons are usually dedicated to office tasks.

– With children, we have around a 30-minute teaching session that begins with talking about how the children are feeling and introducing the day's topic with the help of visual aids. Then we might read, practise new vocabulary through games, or engage in guided play. Sometimes, we also go on day trips. For instance, we recently learned animal vocabulary before visiting the Finnish Museum of Natural History, Siru explains. 

The children’s drawings of Noah’s Ark and its animals now decorate the daycare centre walls as a colourful memory of the museum visit. The daycare walls also display a variety of visual aids like communication boards and Roihusten family materials that support learning Finnish. While play and games are essential, Siru emphasises the importance of everyday interactions.

– Everyday pedagogy is what really matters. Children’s vocabulary grows best when adults actively narrate what is happening throughout the day. In Finnish early childhood education, teachers have quite a lot of freedom in implementing the educational objectives, which allows them to create their own style of pedagogy and better cater to the children’s interests and needs. 
 

The play has an important role

Play is a fun tool and a source of joy that significantly contributes to language learning. Siru points out one of her favourite books for children: Mur and Mustikka. The book’s simple and beautiful story is ideal for children who are still building their vocabulary. 

One of the children’s favourite games involves career figure legos. Siru shows a baker and a police officer figures that have been used in many language-learning play sessions. 

– We create a work environment for the figure, then think together about the tools they might need. Memory games are also effective, especially for children with smaller vocabularies, as their language skills expand naturally during play. These activities also allow children to practise sentence structures and ask questions.

Adult participation in play is crucial. Without it, children might naturally switch to the dominant mother tongue in the group or to English as a lingua franca. Adults are responsible for incorporating Finnish vocabulary into play and ensuring that every child feels included.

Multiculturalism is a richness

Siru’s understanding of multiculturalism deepened during the time she lived in Portugal. She now better understands what it feels like to navigate an unfamiliar language and cultural environment. Even though there is not always a shared language with the parents in a multilingual daycare, effective communication methods are always found. 

– We use gestures and visual aids when meeting with the parents. For more important discussions, we always have an interpreter present. 

Siru views multiculturalism as a significant strength among the children and the staff. She hopes that the children at Daycare Herukka will also grow to appreciate the richness of multiculturalism and become open-minded individuals.

Equal learning opportunities for everyone 

According to the Common European Framework for languages, the goal for basic language users is to be able to express their basic needs and manage simple social interactions. Seeing how creative and adaptive children are with language is inspiring in a daycare environment.  

– Hearing the kids’ unique takes on words is always fun. For example, they call an open gate “aukiainen” (from the Finnish word “auki” which means open), Siru says with a smile. 

At Daycare Herukka, children learn Finnish naturally, which is crucial because language barriers can become challenging once children start school. Siru has also taught substitutes in elementary schools, where she encountered students who spoke primarily English. Understandably, they struggled to keep up with their peers due to insufficient language skills needed to succeed in a Finnish school environment.

– It is fantastic that early childhood education focuses on developing Finnish language skills from a young age. There are significant gaps in the Finnish language abilities among multilingual children, and we are ensuring they have equal learning opportunities when they enter school.

Text: Miia Sundström