Frequently asked questions about early childhood education and care

Complete an early childhood education application as soon as you plan to move to Hämeenlinna. The application must be submitted at least four months before the desired start date. You can use the same application to apply for municipal early childhood education, a daycare centre, family daycare, or a private daycare centre.

You can find information on the practices related to starting at daycare on the following page:

You can make changes to the application and add further information yourself while the application is in draft status. Once the application has been submitted, you can no longer edit it. If you wish to provide additional information after submission, please contact varhaiskasvatus(at)hameenlinna.fi.

If you require more or fewer childcare hours for your child, you can submit a notification of change regarding childcare hours. The change remains in effect until further notice, but for a minimum of three months.

You will receive a decision regarding your child’s early childhood education place approximately one month before the planned start date.

Up-to-date proof of income must be submitted immediately via the income statement form if there is a significant change in the family’s income situation or family size. You can find more information about client fees on the early childhood education client fees page.

You can submit a transfer application if you wish to move your child to another daycare centre. Please note that you can only submit a transfer application if your child already has an approved daycare place.

Transfers are generally processed twice a year, with starts in either January or August. We will contact you via a Suomi.fi message to inform you of the application processing period. Decisions on internal transfers are made in October–November for January starts, and in March–April for August starts.

Temporary early childhood education is occasional care where a child can attend for a maximum of five (5) days per month. During temporary early childhood education, the family does not lose their right to home care allowance.

You can enquire about a temporary care place from the daycare centre director.

There is no separate application for temporary care. For insurance, statistical, and billing purposes, the family’s contact details are recorded at the temporary care location and stored in the early childhood education client information system.

The fixed fee for temporary early childhood education is €19 per day of care.