What is it like to be at home: the experiences of five- to seven-year-old Finnish children

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Abstract
What kind of place is the home for the children of today’s world where the tight working pace and schedules frame children’s lives and transitions between home and day care? The primary significance and value of home is unquestionable for children’s development and rarely have the adults stopped in order to listen to the children’s thoughts about how they experience home. The purpose of this article is to describe on the one hand the experiences that the children have of the home as a place and on the other hand to bring out how the children talk about their experiences. Twenty-nine Finnish day care children (aged 5–7) are the research subjects. This study uses the existential phenomenological method to describe children’s experiences as they appear to the children themselves. The children’s opinions on a home are an essential means for developing parenthood. In addition, the working hours in the modern society are worth reflecting: other surroundings hardly substitute for home.

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