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Children peek out of an indoor window at HEI Schools
Business

Montessori and Finland's Education differences: History

As an operator or a parent, choosing the type of early childhood education appropriate for your school and children can be challenging. There are a variety of well-established alternative preschool models, such as ...

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Special Needs & Inclusion

How to address stigmas about special needs in ECE

According to a recent UNICEF report, there are nearly 240 million children around the world with disabilities, and children with special needs are subject to more discrimination because of their differences. Compared to ...

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Teaching

Finland’s Approach to Special Needs & Inclusion

In Finland, quality ECEC is the right of every child and according to the national constitution, everyone is equal before the law. The country prides itself on taking a holistic approach and providing all citizens with ...

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children going upstairs
Teaching

Defining Special Needs & Inclusion in Early Childhood Education

Special needs and inclusion are two important concepts to know and understand when it comes to early childhood education. After prolonged school closures and distance learning, it’s more important than ever that all ...

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HEI Schools wins Grand Prix in prestigious Fennia Prize design competition

HEI Schools had the honor of winning the Fennia Prize, one of the most respected design awards in Europe. The Fennia Prize competition rewards companies and organizations that strategically use design in their business. ...

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Education

The Top 10 Benefits of the Holistic Approach to ECE

Holistic development is the social, emotional, physical, mental, and intellectual growth of a person. It’s an important focus area in early childhood education and care because children develop rapidly between the ages ...

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teacher training

HEI Schools & Kompas Int. College Start Teacher Training Collaboration

HEI Schools, a Finnish early education company, and Kompas International College (KIC) in Ipoh, Malaysia have signed an agreement to collaborate in Kompas Int. College’s Early Childhood Education Teacher program in ...

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Boy with wooden house
Education

What is Holistic Development?

Imagine you are building a house. You make detailed plans for the study with specifications about how big the room should be, where the desk should go and the size of the windows. As for the rest of the house, you leave ...

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HEI Schools Diploma

Diploma Diaries: A New Teacher Finds Her Style

Our Diploma community is growing quickly, and we now have over 350 students representing 40 countries! With such a large community, we are highlighting members every month to give them the attention they deserve. This ...

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early years teacher training
Business

EF chooses HEI Schools as their teacher training partner

EF, the international education company, selected HEI Schools, a Finnish early education company, as their trusted teacher training partner for an early education pilot program in China.

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Business

Including All Kids: How HEI Schools Incorporates Diversity

Inclusion and special needs are becoming increasingly important in the educational field, especially during the last two years when many schools were required to shut down or implement remote teaching due to the ...

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Children and teachers enjoy circle time at HEI Schools on a daily basis
Company news

Together, We Are Stronger - The HEI Schools Global Community

At HEI Schools, we’re united by one thing: a passion for early childhood education. This common goal has brought us together with like-minded people around the world and helped us create a wonderful community, which is ...

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Business

HEI Schools and SEGi University and Colleges to begin a collaboration

HEI Schools, a Finnish early education company, and SEGi University and Colleges in Malaysia have signed an agreement to cooperate in developing SEGi’s Early Childhood Education Teacher Diploma program in Malaysia. With ...

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Business

HEI Schools to collaborate with the City and University of Helsinki

HEI Schools is starting a collaboration with the City of Helsinki and the University of Helsinki in a kindergarten in Jätkäsaari, a neighborhood in Helsinki. The goal of the collaboration is to further develop the ...

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teacher with two children reading
Family

The Best Educational Books and Resources About Finnish Education

Finland is well-known for its education system, and there are many resources out for those who want to know more. We've compiled some of the best books, website and webinars to help you get familiar with the Finnish ...

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Business

HEI Schools receives €2 Million investment

We are very happy to announce that HEI Schools has received €2 million investment from Practica Capital and Tesi in its latest funding round. The money will be used to continue building and strengthening the growing ...

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The Finnish education company will be opening its first Learning Center in Bangkok in 2021. This will be the first of two HEI Schools opening in partnership with the local team, Children Must Play Co, Ltd.
Company news

HEI Schools expands into Thailand

The Finnish education company will be opening its first Learning Center in Bangkok in 2021. This will be the first of two HEI Schools opening in partnership with the local team, Children Must Play Co, Ltd. Helsinki ...

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teacher and baby high fiving
Education

Early Learning for Babies and Toddlers

"Can toddlers learn anything?" "Is early education just babysitting?" "What’s the point of bringing my baby to school?" We hear these questions often in our line of work, and our answers are yes, no and let us explain! ...

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Partner Talks

Partner Talks - HEI Schools Australia

At HEI Schools, we receive many questions about what it’s like to start and run a Learning Center with us. To address those topics, we started a new series called “Partner Talks” in which we sit down with our current ...

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Nami Island Arts and Education Inc. and HEI Schools celebrate the signing of HEI Schools Nami Island
Business

HEI Schools to open HEI Schools Club on Nami Island, Republic of Korea

From left: Mr. Fred Minn, CEO, and Ms. Ellen Chang, Chief International Liaison of Nami Island Arts and Education Inc., Ms. Inkeri Mentzoni, Director of Sales, and Mr. Heikki Vartia, Sales and Partnership Manager of HEI ...

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How to implement the HEI Schools Toolkit at YOUR kindergarten
Business

How to Implement the HEI Schools Toolkit in Your School

The Finnish approach to early childhood education is well-known for a reason! Its progressive pedagogy places the child’s needs and interests at the center with a focus on holistic growth and transversal competencies ...

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Partner Talks

Partner Talks: HEI Schools San Rafael

At HEI Schools, we receive many questions about what it’s like to start and run a Learning Center with us. To address those topics, we started a new series called “Partner Talks” in which we sit down with our current ...

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Education

Finnish Teacher Training in a Nutshell

As experts in Finnish education, a question we often get asked is: “What’s the secret to Finnish education?” Our answer: The teachers. In Finland, teacher training, as well as the approach to the teaching, is different ...

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Company news

HEI Schools opens a preschool in Cairo with Finnish educational model

Laura Kansikas-Debraise, the Ambassador of Finland in Cairo (fourth from right) opened the HEI Schools New Cairo preschool on Sunday, August 16th, 2020 together with HEI Schools New Cairo CEO & Business Development ...

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Business

6 Reasons Why Finnish Early Childhood Education is Excellent

For the past ten years, Finland’s education system has been praised as one of the best in the world. The most recent PISA scores in 2018, showed that Finnish students aged 15 years old were one of the top five in ...

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Education

Montessori & Finnish ECE: Daily School Life, Standardization & Development (Part 3)

Welcome to our article series about how Finland's early education model compares to Montessori. In this series, we deliver a clear picture of how these two different approaches take shape in the classroom and which one ...

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teacher playing with children
Family

Montessori & Finland's Education differences: Philosophy & Environment

Welcome to our article series about how Finland's early education model compares to Montessori. In this series, we deliver a clear picture of how these two different approaches take shape in the classroom and which one ...

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Children playing with their teacher at HEI Schools Baotou
Family

6 Ways to Effectively Implement Routines with Your Children

Routines are helpful for any person, no matter what their age. However, for children, it is especially important to establish and maintain routines. it gives them a sense of security and comfort, and it can also help ...

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Business

4 Ways We Localize the HEI Schools Learning Center Concept

One of the most common questions we receive is how we localize the HEI Schools Learning Center concept. Though based on the Finnish curriculum and model of early childhood education and care, we have developed methods ...

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Company news

University of Helsinki’s Educational Sciences Ranks 23rd in the World

We are proud to announce that our shareholder and partner, University of Helsinki, has been ranked 23rd in the world for Educational Sciences in the 2020 QS World University rankings. This is the third consecutive year ...

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Education

Nordic Know-How: Teaching Children About Themselves & the World

Nordic education systems, and indeed Nordic values, are renowned the world over. Why? Source: HEI Schools In a recent New York Times opinion piece, “This is How Scandinavia Got Great,”* author David Brooks argues that ...

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Education

Praising Children is More Effective than Reprimanding

Many times it feels like increasing your volume when speaking to children just doesn’t motivate them. So what can help? Research shows that praising children in the classroom leads to more on-task behavior and focus. At ...

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Mr Mohamed Farid, Mr Eero Väisänen, Ambassador Petri Puhakka, Ms Mardhiah Zain, Ms Syahirah Hanim Jermadi, and Mr Heikki Vartia
Company news

HEI Schools Expands Into Malaysia with Curriculum Partnership

Pictured left to right: Mr Mohamed Farid, Mr Eero Väisänen, Ambassador Petri Puhakka, Ms Mardhiah Zain, Ms Syahirah Hanim Jermadi, and Mr Heikki Vartia. Helsinki International Schools Group (HEI Schools), a Finnish ...

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Two children take a nap at a HEI Schools Learning Center
Education

Children Study Better in Calm Environments

A recent study has shown that visually rich surroundings distract children from their studies, while less distracting environments improve their performance. A recent study published in the Journal of Experimental Child ...

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Child playing with sandbox toys
Education

How to be Happy: The Importance of Creative, Active Children

The OECD recently released the results for its global test of 15-year-olds in math, science and reading, known as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). China and Singapore ranked first and second, ...

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Education

Let them play: Children who play more grow up healthier

The World Health Organization’s most recent guidelines about physical activity show that children under five should play more and sit less in order to establish healthy lifestyle habits. The World Health Organization ...

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Partner Talks

Partner talks - HEI Schools Senayan

At HEI Schools, we receive many questions about what it’s like to start and run a Learning Center with us. To address those topics, we started a new series called “Partner Talks” in which we sit down with our current ...

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