Early childhood education in Vantaa
Children in home care have activities available in early childhood education clubs, public day care centres and residential parks.
What does early childhood education consist of?
Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is part of the Finnish education system and an important stage on the child’s path of growing and learning. The mission of ECEC is to promote children’s holistic growth, development and learning in collaboration with their guardians.
All children under school-age have a subjective right to ECEC should their parents so decide. The Finnish ECEC is based on an integrated approach to care, education and teaching, the so-called “educare” model. Learning through play is essential. ECEC in Vantaa is primarily organised in day-care centres and in family day-care. Forms of open early childhood education including clubs, open day care and residential parks for children and their families.
- to promote every child’s age- and development-specific overall growth, development, health and wellbeing
- to bolster the conditions for children’s learning and to promote life-long learning and realization of educational equality
- to implement versatile pedagogical activities based on play, physical exercise, arts and cultural heritage, and to enable positive learning experiences
- to ensure a formative, healthy and safe early childhood education environment that promotes learning
- to apply an approach that respects children and to ensure as stable as possible interactive relationships between children and early childhood education employees
- to give all children equal early childhood education possibilities, to promote equality between the sexes, and to provide the children with facilities to understand and respect the general cultural heritage, as well as everybody’s linguistic, cultural, religious and ethical background
- to identify children’s need for individual support and to arrange appropriate support in early childhood education, when required, in multidisciplinary cooperation
- to develop children’s cooperation and interaction skills, to promote their acting in a peer group, as well as to guide them toward responsible and sustainable activities, respecting other people, and being a member of society
- to ensure children’s possibility of participating in and affecting matters affecting them
- to work together with children and their parent for the benefit of the children’s well-balanced development and overall wellbeing, as well as to support the children's parents or other guardians in raising their children.
Early childhood education in the capital region
Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen have signed an inter-municipal agreement on the organisation of early childhood education when a family moves to another agreement municipality. Children’s early childhood education can be organised in the previous municipality of residence until the end of the following autumn or spring term and until no later than the start of pre-primary education. These families will receive a new temporary early childhood education decision.
Helsinki and Espoo are included in the trial for free early childhood education for under 5-year-old children. Free early childhood education does not apply to those children who are residents of Helsinki or Espoo but attend early childhood education in Vantaa.
Information on current topics in early childhood education and pre-school education in Vantaa
Information for families with children in Vantaa, Lasten Vantaa Facebook (In Finnish)
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