Week 19 - Professional

This week in Turku has been my last full week in Turku, and so I have had to finish my placement. I have completed 235 hours in placement, and I have enjoyed almost every moment of this. At the beginning of my placement it was difficult to me to find my place, as the children and the adults were quite shy to speak English to me, or to involve me in their play. However, as time went by, I felt like I was a member of staff in this placement, and the parents, children and staff were very friendly and welcoming towards me. Throughout my experience in the Finnish Eskari, I have noted many differences with this placement, compared with placements in Northern Ireland. The first, most obvious difference is that the children in this pre-school were aged 6 and 7, whereas in Northern Ireland, the children are aged 3 and 4 in a pre-school. Another major difference for me was that in the Eskari, the children learn to speak another language (English).  To learn this language, the children would normally have morning circle time, where they would speak about the date, the type of weather, what day it was, the season and the months of the year. I think that this is really great that the children are encouraged to speak and learn another language, because in Northern Ireland, the children do not learn another language in pre-school or even primary school. Throughout this time, I realise how important it is for children to learn another language when they are so young, because they learn so quickly. Some children in this placement even spoke 3 languages fluently! This has changed my original view on children learning languages, and now I think it is very important. Leaving this Eskari was difficult for me because I feel that I have learnt so much there, in such a short space of time. I am certain that I will never forget the time I spent in this Eskari, and I hope that one day the Finnish I learnt there will be put to good use!