Project Objectives

• To provide early childhood education professionals with clear and easy-to-use methods for supporting multilingual children.
• To strengthen the role of multilingual families in supporting their child’s language development.
• To develop shared practices for early childhood education that can also be applied in pre-primary and basic education.

Project Activities

• We assess the needs of professionals and families related to everyday language support.
• We develop and pilot methods that support Finnish language learning and multilingualism.
• We build the MOKSU model to support the language development of multilingual children.
• We create learning materials that utilize music.
• We train professionals and compile a toolkit of strengths-based and inclusive methods for everyday practice.

Results and Impact

As a result of the VOIKO project, the following will be developed:

• The MOKSU method and a guide for its implementation.
• The music-based method MusaMOKSU to support Finnish language learning.
• A strengths-based methodological guide for early childhood education professionals.

The methods are developed in close collaboration with early childhood education professionals and piloted in partner daycare centres. As a result, professionals’ capacity to support multilingual children is strengthened, and families’ participation in their child’s language learning process increases.