Support for children

The objective of early childhood education is to promote the balanced development, growth and learning of children. In early childhood education, children can also be provided with general, intensive or special support, if needed.

Photo: Taru Turpeinen

For a child’s development and learning, it is crucial that their need for support is identified in early childhood education as soon as possible and it is reacted to immediately. Children are provided with support in accordance with the Act on Early Childhood Education and Care.

No diagnosis or other statement is required for accessing the support. If the need for support is known before the child starts attending early childhood education, you should mention it in the early childhood education application. If needed, you can also contact the coordinator for special-needs early childhood education in your region (contact information at the bottom of the page).

Early, adequate and correctly targeted support can be used to promote children’s development, learning and well-being. The aim is to stop the issues from deepening and becoming more varied and to prevent social exclusion.

Assessing the need for support and arranging the support

The child’s need for support is assessed in cooperation with the child’s guardians, the personnel of the early childhood education unit, an early childhood education special-needs teacher, and, if needed, other experts. The early childhood education special-needs teacher participates in the assessing of the child’s need for support, planning the support, implementing the support and monitoring the support in cooperation with the personnel and guardians.

As a rule, the support the child needs is provided at a day-care centre or family day care unit located near the child’s home. The support is provided in the child’s daily life as part of the other activities of early childhood education. The learning environment is adapted to support the child’s personal needs and strengths. Early childhood education personnel support the child’s development and learning and can utilise different methods and tools whenever necessary.

The support for the child can also be provided in a smaller group or special group that has an early childhood education special-needs teacher. If needed, the early childhood education personnel will cooperate with family centre employees or other experts.

Early childhood education is provided in accordance with the principles of inclusivity. This means that early childhood education and the support for the child take into account equality, non-discrimination, appreciation of diversity, and social participation and communality.

Levels of support

In early childhood education, support for children is provided as general, intensive and special support.

  • General support is offered to all children in accordance with the individual needs of each child and as part of the basic functions of early childhood education. The child may require support in things such as getting dressed, linguistic development or friendships. An administrative decision is made concerning the support services of general support, such as assistance and interpretation services, but otherwise no administrative decision is needed.
  • Intensive support is offered if general support is not an adequate solution for the child. An administrative decision is made concerning intensive support. Support can be provided on a short- or long-term basis. The support is regular and can involve several support measures.
  • Special support is the strongest form of support in early childhood education. The child can be provided with special support if intensive support is not an adequate solution for the child or if the child has a disability, illness or developmental delay due to which they need the support. An administrative decision is made concerning special support. Special support is continuous and full-time support and it involves several different forms of support.

Before the administrative decision is made, the child’s guardians attend a meeting where the provision of support for the child is discussed (the hearing of the guardians and child). Guardians can appeal administrative decisions by lodging appeals with the Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland.

​​​​​​​Forms of support

All levels of support utilise pedagogical, structural and therapeutic forms of support.

  • Forms of pedagogical support include creating a daily routine that the child can easily understand and predict, and different methods that support interaction (e.g. signs, images). Additionally, pedagogical support can also include the comprehensive support of a special-needs teacher or the utilisation of the competence of a language and culture teacher.
  • Forms of structural support include increasing the competence of the personnel or decreasing the number of children in the group, the comprehensive support of an early childhood education special-needs teacher, and special groups. Additionally, structural support can also include additional personnel and assistance services.
  • Forms of therapeutic support include assistance services, aids, and forms of support related to the child’s health (treatment for diabetes or a special diet, etc.).

​​​​​​​Support for children in private early childhood education

Pursuant to the Act on Early Childhood Education and Care, private service providers are obligated to provide children with the support they need. The provision of the support for the child is the responsibility of the service provider, and the City of Espoo supports private service providers in arranging the support. The coordinators of Espoo’s special-needs early childhood education advice service providers and coordinate the matters related to the support for children in early childhood education.

Contact information of the coordinators of special-needs early childhood education