In Sweden, the reception and education of migrant children is seen as a challenge for the school system, and the opinions concerning how to educate and socialize young migrant children differ. The educational system in Sweden, and elsewhere, has historically been given a double function. On the one hand, it is viewed as a mediator of dominant culture, language, and imagined nationality, and on the other hand, in an increasingly globalized world, it is seen as a promoter of values like multiculturalism and tolerance (Hjerm 2001; Lappalainen 2006; Tobin 2013; Mavroudi and Holt 2015; Allemann-Ghionda 2015). As Mavroudi and Holt (2015) point out, schools and preschools are often at the forefront in teaching children to be more accepting and tolerant of differences, as part of a democratic mission. However, at the same time they also remain key sites where national belonging and identity are taught. Both these aspects are at play in the Swedish preschool curriculum and practice. On the one hand, ideals of child-centeredness related to aspects such as tolerance, equality, egalitarianism, democracy and cooperative social relationships are emphasized (Einarsdottir et al. 2014). On the other hand, monolinguistic as well as a monocultural norms prevail in settings aimed for education of the future citizens, and previous research has shown that these norms concern specially immigrant children (Johansson and Pramling Samuelsson 2006; Johansson 2012; Lunneblad 2013). The paper explores how the tension between these different ideas is embedded in the preschool curriculum and how the ideas are interpreted and operationalized. This is made through the lense of everyday nationhood, and therefore specifically at how issues concerning language and culture are expressed in relation to the pedagogy formed around the migrant child. We consider preschool policy documents, educators’ talk as they try to reinterpret the ideas, and everyday routines formed around migrant children. Questions asked are: What are the explicit and implicit purposes of the preschool education for migrant children? Who is the migrant child to be educated and to what ends?