kindergartens (institutions) en

Educational institutions serving pupils in the year prior to their entering the first grade, typically at age five. In many educational systems, kindergarten is part of a public school program, typically lasting half-days and serving as a transition from home to full days of formal schooling; children are taught to develop basic skills through creative play, social interaction, and rudimentary classroom education is begun. In the past, and today in some places, kindergarten includes very little or no classroom instruction, serving instead as a preschool or daycare program. The term comes from the German for "garden for children."