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in Afghanistan .]] ( German , literally means "children's garden") is a form of education for young children which serves as a transition from home to the commencement of more formal schooling. Children are taught to develop basic skills through creative play and social interaction. In most countries kindergarten is part of the pre-school system.Kindergarten definition from Microsoft Encarta CD edition, 2004. In parts of the United States, Canada and some parts of Australia kindergarten is the word used to describe the first year of compulsory education. In British English , Nursery or Playgroup is the usual term for pre-school education, and "kindergarten" is rarely used. Children usually attend kindergarten any time between the ages of three and seven depending on the local custom. HISTORY Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel opened the first kindergarten on 28 June 1840 to mark the four hundredth anniversary of Gutenberg 's discovery of movable type. Froebel created the name and the term ''Kindergarten'' for the ''Play and Activity Institute'', which he had founded in 1837 in the village of Bad Blankenburg , in the small Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt , Thuringia , Germany . The first kindergarten in the United States was founded in Watertown, Wisconsin by Margarethe (Margaretta) Meyer Schurz (wife of activist/statesman Carl Schurz ) in 1856. Margarethe Schurz initially taught five children in her home (including her own daughter Agatha) in Watertown, Wisconsin. Her success drove her to offer her education to other children as well. 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 followed Schurz's model. Schurz’s older sister Bertha Meyer Ronge opened Infant Gardens in London (1851), Manchester (1859) and Leeds (1860). The first publicly financed kindergarten in the United States was established in St. Louis in 1873 by Susan Blow . FUNCTION OF KINDERGARTEN Children attend kindergarten to learn to communicate, play, and interact with others appropriately. A teacher provides various manipulative materials and activities to motivate these children to learn the Language and Vocabulary of Reading , Mathematics , Science , and Computer s, as well as that of Music , Art , and social Behavior s. 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. They are usually exposed to their first idea of Friendship while they play and interact with other children on a regular basis. Kindergarten may also allow parents (especially mothers) to go back to part-time or full-time employment. AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND In the states of Tasmania and New South Wales , the first year of Primary School is called kindergarten. In Victoria , kindergarten is a form of Pre-school and is interchangeably referred to as such. The term Prep refers to first-year primary school students. In Queensland , kindergarten is usually an institution for children around the age of 4 and thus the precursor to preschool and primary education. Other states and territories may or may not follow either model. In South Australia , school for children age 3 to 5 is called Early Learning Centre or Preparatory School. In New Zealand , kindergarten consists of the first 2 years before Primary School, from age 3 to 5. BULGARIA In Bulgaria , the term ''detska gradina'' (деτска градина) refers to the schooling children attend from 3 to 6 years of age. It is followed by pre-school class, which is attended for a year before primary school. AFGHANISTAN In Afghanistan , the equivalent term to kindergarten is کودکستان, pronounced as ''kudakistan'' (''kudak'' – means child and ''stan'' – means land) and is not part of the actual school system. Children between the age of 3 and 6 attend kindergartens which are often run by government. According to the rule, every government offices must have kindergarten area, in case if the employee has child under the age of 7 years, and all expenses will be covered by government. CANADA In . Within the province of Québec , junior kindergarten is called ''prématernelle'' and senior kindergarten is called ''la maternelle''. Within the French school system in the province of Ontario , junior kindergarten is called ''la maternelle'' and senior kindergarten is called ''jardin d'enfants'', which is a direct translation of the German word ''kindergarten''. These terms are all unlike those used in France. In Western Canada there is only year of Kindergarten. After that year, the child begins the first grade. The province of Nova Scotia refers to Kindergarten as Grade Primary. CHINA In China , the equivalent term to kindergarten is 幼兒園, pronounced as ''you er yuan''. Before Kindergarten, children may go to nursery for two years. At the age of 4 children begin Kindergarten and attend until age 6. FRANCE In France , pre-school is known as ''école maternelle''. 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). It is not compulsory, yet almost 100% of children aged 3 to 5 attend. It is regulated by the French department of education. GERMANY The German pre-school is known as a ''Kindergarten'' (plural ''Kindergärten'') and is not part of the actual school system. The term ''Vorschule'', meaning 'before school', is used for educational efforts in ''Kindergartens'', which are handled differently in each German State . Children between the ages of 3 and 6 attend ''Kindergartens'', which are often run by city or town administrations, churches, or registered societies that pursue a certain educational goal, e.g. as represented by Montessori , or Reggio Emilia . ''Kita'' (short for ''Kinder'''ta'''gesstätte''), meaning children's daycare center, as they are frequently called, can be open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and may also house a ''Kinderkrippe'', meaning nursery school, for children between the ages of nine months and two years, and possibly an afternoon ''Hort'' (normally associated to a primary school) for school-age children aged 6 to 10 who spend the time after their lessons there. Alongside nurseries, there are day-care nurses working, independently from any pre-school institution, in individual homes and looking after only three to five children up to three years of age. These nurses are supported and supervised by local authorities. Attending a ''Kindergarten'' is neither mandatory nor free of charge, although it can be partly or wholly funded, depending on the guidelines of the local authority and the income of the parents. HONG KONG In Hong Kong , kindergartens provide three-year courses. Children aged eight months to two years attend the first year of pre-school. Names of the years vary depending on the pre-school. After finishing the third year of study, children attend Primary 1 of primary schools. Many pre-schools are named "Anglo-Chinese Kindergarten" or "English Kindergarten", emphasising their focus on English-language education. Some pre-schools are part of schools that offer primary, secondary and even matriculation courses. INDIA In India , pre-school is divided into two stages - lower kindergarten (LKG) and upper kindergarten (UKG). Typically, an LKG class would comprise children three to four years of age, and the UKG class would comprise children four to five 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, though sometimes they are independent units and are often part of a larger chain. In most cases the pre-school is run as a private school. Younger children may also be put into a special toddler/nursery group at the age of 2–2½. 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. There are 2 streams, private commercial and state funded. Attendance in kindergarten is compulsory from the age of 5 years. Private kindergartens are supervised by the Ministry of Education and cater for children from 3 months to 5 years. State kindergartens are run by qualified kindergarten teachers who undergo a 4 year training. They cater for children from 3 to 6 years in three age groups; ages 3-4 (Trom Trom Hova), 4-5 (Trom Hova), 5-6 (Hova). At the conclusion of the Hova year (5-6) the child will either begin primary school or will repeat the Hova year, if not deemed psychologically and cognitively ready for primary school. JAPAN See Also: Preschool and daycare in Japan KOREA In : 유치원). Korean kindergartens are private schools. Costs per month vary. Korean parents often send their children to English kindergartens to give them a head start in English. Such specialized kindergartens can be mostly taught in Korean with some English lessons, mostly taught in English with some Korean lessons, or completely taught in English. Almost all middle-class parents send their children to kindergarten. Poorer families wait until their children are much older, even 13-15 years old, before sending them to after-school academies. Kindergarten programs in South Korea successfully incorporate much academic instruction alongside more playful activities. Korean kindergarteners learn to read, write (often in English as well as Korean) and do simple arithmetic. Classes are conducted in a traditional classroom setting, with the children focused on the teacher and one lesson or activity at a time. The goal of the teacher is to overcome weak points in each child's knowledge or skills. Because the education system in Korea is very competitive, kindergartens are becoming more intensely academic nowadays. Children are pushed to read and write at a very young age. They also become accustomed to regular and considerable amounts of homework. These very young children may also attend other specialized afternoon schools, taking lessons in art, piano or Violin , Taekwondo , Ballet , Soccer or Math . In North Korea , children attend kindergarten between the ages of four and five. Kindergartens are divided among the upper (party) class and lower (worker) class, where upper-class kindergartens are completely educational, and lower class have little education. KUWAIT In Kuwait , children go to free kindergartens between the ages of four to six. MEXICO In Mexico , three years of pre-school education is mandatory before Elementary School . Previous nursery is 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. While the first grade is a Playgroup , the other two are of classroom education. The kindergarten system in Mexico was developed by Rosaura Zapata (1876-1963) who received the country's highest honor for that contribution. In 2002, the Congress Of The Union approved the ''Law of Obligatory Pre-schooling'', which already made pre-school education for three to six-year-olds obligatory, and placed it under the auspices of the federal and state ministries of education. {Link without Title} {Link without Title} SINGAPORE Kindergartens in Singapore provide up to three years of pre-school programs for children aged between three and six. The three-year program, known as ''nursery'', ''kindergarten 1 (K1)'' and ''kindergarten 2 (K2)'' prepares children for their first year in Primary School Education . Some kindergartens further divide nursery into N1 and N2. UNITED KINGDOM The term kindergarten is rarely used in the UK to describe pre-school education. Pre-schools are usually known as Nursery School s or Playgroups . The word kindergarten is however sometimes used in the naming of private nurseries which provide full-day child care for working mothers. In the UK children attend nursery between the ages of three and five. Some nurseries are attached to state Infant or Primary Schools , but the majority are provided by the private sector. In England and Wales the government provides funding so that all children aged between three and four can receive five two and a half hour sessions of free nursery education per week. Nursery forms part of the Foundation Stage of education. In England and Wales children start school either in the term or year in which they will become five depending on the policy of the Local Education Authority . In Scotland schooling is compulsory from the August after the child's fifth birthday. The first year of schooling is known as Reception in England, ''Dosbarth Derbyn'' in Welsh and Primary One in Scotland. UNITED STATES In the United States (and Canada ) kindergartens are usually administered in an Elementary School as part of the K-12 educational system. Children usually attend at ages 5–6 but in some states kids can start as young as 4. Kindergarten is considered the first year of formal education although the child may have gone to pre-school/nursery school. There are 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. They contend that this type of instruction is inappropriate for young children. " High/Scope Learning" is a style of learning that is used in many kindergartens in the United States. This learning style is very interactive and requires a lot of the children and the teacher. It employs a "plan, do, review" approach which enables children to take responsibility for their learning. First the children "plan" their activities. The teacher provides choices of activities for the children which are age-appropriate and initiate learning, whether through problem solving, reading, language, math, manipulatives, etc. This planning takes place, usually, when the children walk in the classroom. Then they "do" their activity. Some of these activities include such things as a water table, building blocks, a creative dance area, "dress up" area, a reading area, and a drawing table. The majority of the children's time is spent in this "do" activity. The last part of this approach is the review part. This is where the children and the teacher go over what they have done that day. This can be done in a large group, especially if there is a theme for the day that is used in all activities, or individually. The children discuss what they did and how they liked it and what they learned from it. This High/scope learning has grown in popularity and is accepted largely because it allows for the children to be responsible for their own learning. All-day kindergartens All-day kindergarten is becoming increasingly popular in the United States as a way of helping to close the achievement gap. United States school districts that have not yet moved to full-day kindergartens are looking for funds to extend the school day. The United States are offering incentives for school districts, especially in the poorer districts. Benefits of full-day kindergarten include an easier transition into First Grade . According to an ''Education Week'' article teachers feel that pupils are exposed to more than they would be in a two- to three-hour day. Children adjust well to the extended day. 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 fulfil obligations of the No Child Left Behind Act . They feel that full-day kindergarten is a contributing factor for the teacher shortage. The following is a list of articles which pertain to the subject.
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