In the peaceful setting of Suutarila, Heli Elomaa works as a dedicated pre-primary education teacher at Daycare Seulanen. She is known for her enthusiasm for maths and creating engaging educational experiences for children.
In Finland, all children attend pre-primary education in the year they turn 6, which is one year before the start of comprehensive school. Heli Elomaa’s joyful group consists of fourteen 6-year-olds in pre-primary education and six 5-year-olds. Heli could not imagine working in any other profession, having spent her entire career in early childhood education.
– Even my mother once said I would be good at this, Heli Elomaa says.
Heli first experienced working in a daycare centre back in 1996, and since then, she has built her career in various daycare centres. Now, she has over fifteen years of experience working with young children.
– I enjoy teamwork and the opportunity to share ideas and develop our activities with my colleagues. We have a lovely team here at Seulanen.
This year marks the seventh that Heli Elomaa and her colleague Hannele Nikkanen have worked together at Seulanen. Their former pupils in pre-primary education are now scattered in every grade in the Suutarila Primary School. Heli describes Hannele as an experienced professional who particularly enjoys activities based on exercise. Their other colleague, Jonna Immonen, has strengths in arts, music, and dance. Together, the trio leverages each other's unique skills to enhance their teaching.
After graduating with a master’s degree, Heli first headed abroad to work as an au pair in England. She enjoyed the experience and continued working as a teaching assistant, substitute teacher, and daycare worker. This international experience gave her a fresh perspective and made her appreciate the strengths of Finnish early childhood education even more. In Finland, the focus is on comprehensive teaching, upbringing, and well-being.
– Children in a private daycare centre in England had less than an hour of outdoor playtime daily. Older children did not have time for rest, and toddlers’ rest time often involved watching videos. Here in Finland, I appreciate how much time children spend outdoors. Also the food is much better here, Heli explains.
Upon returning to Finland, Heli worked for about six years in daycare centres offering education in English. Then she decided to transition to a Finnish-speaking daycare centre when she had her own children.
– Working in the Finnish language is the most enjoyable for me. I can joke and play with the children more freely, and it is also easier to have deeper conversations, Heli says with a smile.
Playing is at the heart of Finnish early childhood education as a source of development. In pre-primary education for 6-year-olds, learning social skills, enjoying the joy of everyone playing together, building friendships, and having fun are central themes. Heli emphasises creativity and storytelling as tools to support children’s social and linguistic development in her teaching.
– Maths stories are one of my favourites. For instance, last year, the children went on a forest trek to find maths story characters, like trolls and fairies. Sometimes, they would even receive a letter from a troll guiding them on an adventure. Through different kinds of stories, children can explore maths and other skills while letting their imagination run wild, Heli explains.
This year, the children have also enjoyed several theme clubs. The emotional skills club, The Fun Friends program, helps children recognise and address their feelings. The producer of the program’s materials in Finland is Aseman Lapset ry. The science club, Kide Science, lets children do exciting experiments, and learn to use pipettes. Child-centeredness and hands-on activities play a significant role when learning new skills through play.
– The most important things are positive pedagogy, building social skills, and ensuring the children feel comfortable and safe. Children can learn anything when they feel like they belong and connect with their peers. Social skills and self-development grow best when we teachers are present, listening, and supporting playtimes.
When the children’s afternoon rest time ends, they sprint to play with magnetic building blocks together with Heli. Heidi and Bani cooperate to create high walls for their colourful creation. When asked about their favourite games, they respond with broad smirks:
– Playing with these magnets, says Heidi.
– Building huts, says Bani.
Heli has always been interested in mathematics and has done further studies at the University of Turku. The Flexible Math program opened new ways for her to incorporate storytelling and practical approaches with maths. Nowadays, she develops her own maths materials for pre-primary education groups.
– I have always enjoyed maths, especially its problem-solving aspect. It is also about giving children the chance to solve problems and use their creativity. For instance, learning sequencing can be fun when there is a story behind it.
In her work, Heli approaches maths as a larger concept. A maths story might involve some gymnastic exercises or a forest adventure. She shows maths cubes, which sometimes become imaginary mushrooms that children sort and name by colour during a forest walk. On these trips, the children focus on listening to the sounds of nature and building homes for bugs. And as an outcome, they count the number of “mushrooms” they found.
Heli’s passion for her work shines through when she talks about watching the development of her pupils. For her, the most rewarding part of the job is seeing the children’s development, particularly when a child overcomes challenges.
– The best moments are seeing the progress and how children’s play and interactions evolve throughout the year. I get to witness their growth both as individuals and as a group.
Heli also values the creativity, flexibility, and problem-solving aspects her profession offers. She enjoys the freedom to adapt her teaching based on the children’s needs and interests.
– If something is not working, we think together about the best way to support the children’s growth. We design activities together with colleagues and children, which lets me be truly creative.
According to Heli, the group at Seulanen is particularly enthusiastic and playful this year. The pre-primary education pupils have a lot to look forward to before the turn of the year, with upcoming events such as Grandparents’ Day, Children’s Rights Week, and Christmas activities like the outdoor elf trail.
– The children always look forward to starting school! Then the students come back to tell us how much they miss our rest and story times and how they would love to be in pre-primary education again, Heli laughs.
Heli remains optimistic about the future and hopes more professionals will join early childhood and pre-primary education to maintain supportive and engaging environments.
– I hope we can continue working in small groups so that we can provide personalised support for each child. It is essential to get more professionals to work in early childhood education.
Text: Miia Sundström
Originally published on 25 November 2024