A Finnish Education

I have definately been getting a Finnish education in Vaasa.

Yesterday I arrived at the home of my host family. My host taught me how to pronounce Finnish words. Almost all the vowels have different pronunciations than our vowels, but each vowel only has one sound. This is nice compared to the many sounds that vowels can have in English. So I can now pronounce Finnish words. All I need to work on now is knowing what the words actually mean!

Today we were also educated about the Finnish school system. Some interesting points are:

¤ Teachers must have a masters degree.

¤ The school provides lunch for all the students.

¤ Postsecondary education is free for students from Finland and also for students from abroad. Students still must pay for books and living costs but tuition is free. The area of Vaasa has many foreign students in their Universities and technical schools.

¤ Parents are encouraged to stay home to care for their children up to the age of 3 years. The state and sometimes the city provide a subsidy to help offset the cost of not working. Parental leave is with pay for the first 12 weeks and then a lower amount up until 10 months. After than a parent can extend their leave without pay until the child is 3 years old without losing their job. The Finns believe that the parents are the best caregivers in the early years.

¤ If a parent chooses not to stay home with their child, the city provides daycares that take children as young as 10 months old. The cost of the daycare for the parents varies according to the income of the family to a maximum of $350 CAN. Nice!

¤ Students can attend preschool at age 6. This is not mandatory.

¤ At age 7 students enter Grade 1.

¤ By the end of Grade 9, students much choose to go to highschool (AKA a gymnasium) or attend a trade school.

¤ Students take home economics and industrial arts beginning in Grade 1! Then in Grade 6, students choose to take only one.

¤ Different grades attend different numbers of hours of school per week: Grade 1 and 2 = 20 hours, Grade 3 and 4 = 24 hours, Grade 5 and 6 = 27 hours, and Grade 7 to 9 = 30 hours.

¤ In Grades 1 to 6, teachers are generalists with few specializations. In grades 7 to 9 teachers are specialists.

¤ In terms of class size, they try to keep Grades 1 and 2 to be no larger than 20 students. Upward to Grade 9, they try to keep classes at a maximum of 24 students.

¤ In Vaasa, if you attend a Finnish school, at third grade you will begin English, and then between 4th and 6th grade you will have the option to begin Swedish. You must begin Swedish in Grade 7. If you attend a Swedish school, at third grade you will begin Finnish, and then bewteen 4th and 6th grade you will have the option to begin English. You must begin English in Grade 7.

These are just a few of the things that we learned today. As a teacher, it was an interesting afternoon and since the presenter was my host, our discussions have continued. I have been fortunate to have hosts in both Pietarsaari and Vaasa who work in the field of education.

I have also learned that Finnish food is excellent! We have been treated so well! The fish is very good as well as the reindeer and beef meatballs. I am also enjoying the many types of berries. Tonight my hostess made blueberry pie. It was almost like a cheesecake. I asked how to make it and apparently I will need to write a letter to the dairy companies in Canada when I return. We are being cheated out of one of the necessary ingredients. It is called kermavilli and my hosts describe it as similiar to sourcream but not sourcream. If anyone can figure out what it is let me know so I can stop drafting my letter!

Lastly, since arriving in Vaasa, I have been educated in the area of vintage cars. My host has a 1969 Volvo which we ride into the market area of Vaasa everyday. I have pictures sitting in the front seat but unfortunately my camera pictures will not load onto the computer so I will have to add these pictures later on.

Keep watching the blog!