Pilot Playgroup for Immigrant Children to Start in August 2012

Children learn a second language (Finnish) more easily when their first language is very strong.

The aim of the playgroups is to bring together pre-schools children (3 to 7 years old) from the same culture to help them strengthen their mother tongue and the links with the culture of origin through stimulating activities, such as playing games, singing, reading stories, drawing, painting and crafting. Differences and similarities between the mother tongue and the Finnish language will also be highlighted through language games. 

The motivation behind these activities is to help children build a positive concept of ethnic identity by making them feel proud of their mother tongue and heritage, to encourge strong family and cultural connections with the country of origin and to build a strong foundation for the learning of a second language.

The groups are run by volunteer parents with a background in early-childhood education and pedagody. The first group to start in autumn of 2012 is a group for Romanian speaking-children living in Finland. Visit the pages of the Zmeişorii playgroup for more information.

Learning for integration ry has vast experience in creating different kinds of teaching material. We aim to produce freely downloadable material for both teachers, students and parents to use in class or in their free time. Some of this material will be used in the playgroups, groups for teenagers, and the language exchange.

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Learning for Integration (LFI) is a non-profit organisation founded in 2012 in Finland. If you would like to find out more about our work, please visit our website at www.lfi.fi or feel welcome to contact us: info@lfi.fi