kindergarten - History, Kindergarten systems of various countries, Function of Kindergarten, What should kindergarten activities include?, Readings

A nursery school for children under the age at which they must legally attend school. In many countries the kindergarten is organized on informal lines, with the emphasis on social development as well as on preparation for formal schooling. Provision of preschool education varies from near universal availability to very low. In the USA, kindergartens are part of the public school system.

Kindergarten  (help·info) (German, "children's garden") is a name given in many parts of the world to the earliest stage of a child's structured classroom education. In some places kindergarten is part of a formal public or private school system;

History

Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel officially opened the first kindergarten on 28 June 1840, to mark the four hundredth anniversary of Gutenberg's discovery of movable type. The first kindergarten in the United States was founded in Watertown, Wisconsin by Margarethe (Margaretta) Meyer Schurz (wife of activist/statesman Carl Schurz). Margarethe Schurz initially taught five children in her home (including her own daughter Agatha) in Watertown, Wisconsin, but was so successful that she opened her first kindergarten in America in 1856. While Schurz's first kindergarten was German-language, she also advocated the establishment of English-language kindergartens. The first English-language kindergarten in America was founded in 1859 in Boston by Elizabeth Peabody, who received her first exposure to a kindergarten from Margaretta Schurz in Watertown. The first publicly financed kindergarten in the United States was established in St. Louis in 1873 by Susan Blow.

Kindergarten systems of various countries

Australia/New Zealand

In the state of New South Wales the first year of infants school is called kindergarten. In Victoria, kindergarten is a form of, and used interchangeably with, pre-school. In Queensland kindergarten is usually an institution for children around the age of 4 and thus the precursor to preschool and primary education. In South Australia school for children age 3 to 5 is called Early Learning Centre or Prepatory School. In New Zealand, kindergarten consists of the first 2 years before Primary School, from age 3 to 5.

Bulgaria

In Bulgaria, the children go to kindergarten at the age of 3 and leave it at 6, to go to preschool class (1 year) and after that they go to primary school.

Catalonia

In Catalonia, the equivalent term to kindergarten is Parvulari. The children go to kindergarten at the age of 3 and leave it at 6.

China

In China, the equivalent term to kindergarten, pronounced as you er yuan in Chinese.

France

In France, the equivalent term to kindergarten, école maternelle, designates also preschool. State-run, free maternelle schools are available throughout the country, welcoming children aged from 2 to 5 (although in many places, children under 3 may not be granted a place).

Germany

Kindergartens (German plural Kindergärten) in Germany are not a part of the actual school system, as they are in the USA. The German translation of "pre-school", Vorschule, is used for educational efforts in the Kindergarten, which are handled differently in every German state. Kindergarten establishments (day-care) in Germany are normally for pre-school children between 3 and 6 years of age, and are often run by churches, city or town administrations.

Many kindergartens are named "Anglo-Chinese Kindergarten" and "English Kindergarten", emphasising their focuses in English-language education.

India

In India, kindergarten is divided into two stages- lower kindergarten (LKG) and upper kindergarten (UKG). Typically, an LKG class would comprise of children 3 to 4 years of age, and the UKG class would comprise of children 4 to 5 years of age. After finishing upper kindergarten, a child enters Class 1 (or, Standard 1) of primary school. Often kindergarten is an integral part of regular schools. In most cases the kindergarten is run as a private school. It is run as part of the kindergarten.

Israel

In Israel a fully developed Kindergarten (or Gan) system has been developed to cope with the extremely high percentage of working women in society. Attendance in kindergarten is compulsory from the age of 5 years. State kindergartens are run by qualified kindergarten teachers who undergo a 4 year training. At the conclusion of the Chova year (5-6) each child is assessed as 'ready' to attend school, those that are deemed not psychologically and cognitively ready will repeat the Chova year before moving on to school.

Japan

See the article Preschool and daycare in Japan

Korea

In South Korea, children normally enter into kindergarten around the age of 5, and leave it just before 7, to go to primary school.

Mexico

In Mexico, one year of preschool education is mandatory before elementary school. Previous grades of Kindergarten are optional, and may be offered in either private schools or public schools.

At private schools, Kindergarten usually consists of three grades, and a fourth one may be added for nursery.

United States

In the United States (and Canada) kindergartens are usually administered in an elementary school as part of the K-12 educational system. Kindergarten is considered the first year of formal education although the child may have gone to pre-school/nursery school.

Canada

In Ontario (as in some parts of Wisconsin in the U.S.) there are two grades of Kindergarten; Junior Kindergarten and Senior Kindergarten (JK and SK). In Ontario, both the Senior and Junior Kindergarten program, under the umbrella title of 'Early Years' are optional programs. Unlike in France, kindergarten is called la maternelle in Canadian French and JK as prématernelle within the province of Québec. Within the French school system in the province of Ontario, JK is referred to as la maternelle and SK as jardin d'enfants, a direct translation of kindergarten. After kindergarten a child moves to the first grade.

Singapore

Kindergartens in Singapore provide up to three years of pre-school programmes for children aged 3 to 6. Kindergarten is not a commonly used term in Scotland, where Nursery School is also a form of pre-school daycare with structured activities and learning.

Function of Kindergarten

Children, usually aged 3–6 years old, attend kindergarten to learn to communicate, play, and interact with others appropriately. For children who previously have spent most of their time at home, kindergarten may serve the purpose of training them to be apart from their parents without anxiety.

After kindergarten, depending on the school, the children would advance to the next level which is usually referred to as first grade.

Kindergarten may be half a day in length (either morning or afternoon) or may be a full day.

What should kindergarten activities include?

There seem to be many positive learning and social/behavioral benefits for children in kindergarten programs. At the same time, it is widely felt that what children are doing during the kindergarten day is more important than the length of the school day. Gullo (1990) and Olsen and Zigler (1989) warn educators and parents to resist the pressure to include more didactic academic instruction in all-day kindergarten programs.

Also, an all-day kindergarten program can provide children the opportunity to spend more time engaged in active, child-initiated, small-group activities. Teachers in all-day kindergarten classrooms often feel less stressed by time constraints and may have more time to get to know children and meet their needs.

Readings

All day kindergarten is becoming increasingly popular to helping close the achievement gap. Benefits of full day kindergarten include an easier transition into first Grade. There are opponents who question the reason for full day kindergarten. There are those who feel that all day kindergarten is not an effort to improve student achievement, but more of an effort to fulfill obligations of the No Child Left Behind Act. They feel that full day kindergarten is a contributing factor for the teacher shortage. "Success outcomes of full-day kindergarten: More positive behavior and increased achievement in the years after." "The effect of full-day kindergarten on student achievement: A meta-analysis." "A study of longitudal effects of all-day kindergarten attendance on achievement." "An assessment of the all-day kindergarten movement." "Kindergarten literacy: Matching assessment and instruction in kindergarten."