# kindergarten

Pronunciation: US say "KIN-dur-gar-tuhn" /ˈkɪndəɹˌɡɑːɹt(ə)n/; UK say "KIN-duh-gar-tuhn" /ˈkɪndəˌɡɑːt(ə)n/

## Noun

1. The grade in elementary school that comes immediately before first grade. *(Australia, Canada, India, US)*
   - Simple: The school year that comes just before first grade, usually for five-year-olds.
   - _Most children in our district enter kindergarten the year they turn five._
   - _Her kindergarten class graduated to first grade in a small ceremony._
2. An educational institution for young children, generally between four and six years old; a nursery school. *(Australia, Canada, India, US)*
   - Simple: A school for young children, usually four to six years old, before they start elementary school.
   - _The town opened a new kindergarten to serve families with young children._
   - _Before enrolling her daughter, she toured three kindergartens in the area._
3. The two levels of preschool between nursery and the prep class; the second and third years of preschool. *(Philippines)*
   - Simple: In some countries, the two school years for young children after nursery and before regular classes begin.
   - _Most schools here admit children to kindergarten after a year of nursery._
   - _The kindergarten syllabus covers letters and numbers across its two levels._

## Origin

A direct borrowing from German Kindergarten, literally 'garden of children,' a term coined by the German educator Friedrich Fröbel in the early 19th century.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/kindergarten (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).