The new foundations of early childhood education bring the three-level support familiar from primary school to early childhood education.
Sannan the boy was three and a half years old when the staff of the kindergarten group suddenly changed.
All the adults moved elsewhere during the summer to work. The surrogate drum began, causing unrest in the group.
Eventually, an incompetent caregiver was hired as a teacher who, according to Sanna, did not have the skills to work with children with special characteristics.
Due to the child’s privacy, Sanna does not appear in this story under her own name.
Sannan the boy has been sensitive to stimuli since the baby. The boy has sensory regulation challenges that lead him to occupational therapy.
He is also suspected of having so-called nepsy difficulties. They refer to a variety of neuropsychiatric characteristics that can manifest themselves in a variety of challenges, including learning, behavior, motor skills, and emotional regulation.
Sanna’s son, for example, needs adult support to start playing with a friend and a lot of anticipation. When moving out, for example, the instructions have to be cleaved: the boy is not only told to wear outerwear but to go to the hall, to wear an overalls, to wear gloves, then shoes, and so on. Excessive load or uncertainty is reflected in outward restless behavior.
With the help of a rotating special education teacher, Sanna received an enhanced support decision for her son. However, according to Sanna, the support meant in practice that the child was in a double bed and there were 13 children in the group instead of the normal 14.
“In kindergarten, the child was still struggling, but crying often started at the gate, and he could ask at home: why do adults always cry?” Sanna says.
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“Municipal practices may vary in how the skills needed to support a child are implemented in groups of children.”
Over here Until then, there have been varied practices in municipalities about how child support is provided in early childhood education.
The principles of the National Board of Education’s early childhood education plan have been renewed and the new principles will be published during February, the National Board of Education reports.
The background is the reform of support for the Early Childhood Education Act, which in August will also bring the three-level support familiar from basic education to early childhood education. The forms of support a child needs are divided into three: general, enhanced and special support. Admittedly, instead of stairs, the criteria talk about levels of support.
“The principle is that the child receives the support he or she needs flexibly, so that as the child’s need for support increases, so does the support,” says the education counselor. Kirsi Alila from the Ministry of Education and Culture.
If necessary, general support is given to all children, who in any matter. When moving from general to enhanced or special support, the child needs more continuous, individualized and varied support. They also oblige private day care centers.
Read more: Quick drawing, picture cards and support signs – Some children need special support in kindergarten, and now they want to give it to the school model
In part municipalities, such as the municipality of Sanna, have had similar levels of support in the past. Especially in big cities, there has been a struggle with a shortage of teachers.
How will the new criteria change the situation if there is a shortage of qualified staff, Sanna asks.
The change is mainly structural, says the specialist Marjo Katajisto Talentia, a trade union for higher education in the social field.
“No actual new forms of support are presented. Municipalities still have a say in what the various subsidies mean. As the criteria do not take a position on the number of staff, the municipalities’ practices may vary in how the skills needed to support a child are implemented in groups of children. ”
Education specialist of the Trade Union Confederation (OAJ) Mint Ilveskivi-Hentilä considers that the new legislation is a step in the right direction, but that there is still room for improvement. According to the OAJ, for example, a special needs teacher should always be involved in assessing the support of children in need of support.
“She has training and expertise in special education. Now no such regulation has been laid down, ”says Ilveskivi-Hentilä.
The good thing about the new legislation is that an administrative decision has to be made on support services and enhanced and special support. This means, for example, that a complaint can be made about the denial of support.
“It strengthens the child’s right, as the authority must also give reasons for the decision.”
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A qualified teacher who takes the needs of a special child well into account has revolutionized the well-being of the whole family.
Sannan the boy is now six years old and attending preschool, where he also received an enhanced support decision. This time, however, it happened that two preschool groups shared an additional resource for one special education teacher.
In addition, the group has a qualified teacher who, according to Sanna, takes good account of the needs of a special child. Sanna says it has revolutionized the well-being of the whole family.
For example, a boy can wear outerwear in his own peace, if necessary, without the commotion of the rest of the group. In queuing situations, he does not have to stand in line but can wait last.
According to Sanna, however, the most important thing is not such little tricks or jips. She feels that her child is now better understood as a whole.
“It feels like a big stone has fallen from the heart, and we can trust with all our hearts that the child will be taken care of during the daycare.”
Boy nepsy difficulties have not gone away and are now also a preliminary diagnosis by a doctor. In any case, the day-to-day running of the kindergarten is also clearly reflected in the child’s well-being and behavior at home.
“I’m still very sad to think about how we lost the boy’s life for two years, when his social skills could have improved if we had gotten the support he needed,” Sanna says.
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