Kindergarten

German

Alternative forms

Etymology

Kind (child) +‎ -er- +‎ Garten (garden). Coined in 1840 by Friedrich Fröbel in the metaphorical sense of “place where children can grow in a natural way”, not in the literal sense of “garden”.[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈkɪndərˌɡartən/, [ˈkɪndɐˌɡaʁtn̩], [-ˌɡaɐ̯tn̩]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: Kin‧der‧gar‧ten

Noun

Kindergarten m (strong, genitive Kindergartens, plural Kindergärten)

  1. nursery school; kindergarten; day care center (institution where children below school age play and are looked after during the day)
    Synonyms: (regional) Kindertagesstätte, (informal) Kiga

Usage notes

  • The German institution is not regarded as a school, but as a form of day care. There is an element of Erziehung (upbringing, character formation), but none of Bildung (learning, school education). The actual German equivalent of a kindergarten in the American sense is Vorschule (literally preschool).
  • Kindergarten generally refers to facilities for children between 2 or 3 and 6 or 7. It may be distinguished from Krippe, for children from birth until 2 or 3, and from Hort, which provides afterschool care for older children. In some states, it is a synonym of Kindertagesstätte while in others this is a broader term encompassing Krippe, Kindergarten and Hort.

Declension

Derived terms

  • Arbeiter-Kindergarten
  • Arbeiterkindergarten
  • Betriebskindergarten
  • Christus-Kindergarten
  • Christuskindergarten
  • Das ist hier wie im Kindergarten
  • Fröbel-Kindergarten
  • Fröbelkindergarten
  • Fröbelkindergärtner
  • Fröbelkindergärtnerin
  • Ganztagskindergarten
  • Gemeindekindergarten
  • Gratiskindergarten
  • Kindergarten-
  • Kindergarten-Feind
  • Kindergarten-Freund
  • Kindergarten-Oma
  • Kindergarten-Omi
  • Kindergarten-Opa
  • Kindergarten-Opi
  • Kindergarten-Studie
  • Kindergarten-Tag
  • Kindergartenalter
  • Kindergartenausschluss
  • Kindergartenausschluß
  • Kindergartenbedarf
  • Kindergartenbefürworter
  • Kindergartenbesuch
  • Kindergartenbetrieb
  • Kindergartenbewegung
  • Kindergartendidaktik
  • Kindergarteneinrichtung
  • Kindergartenerzieher
  • Kindergartenerziehung
  • Kindergartenfeind
  • kindergartenfeindlich
  • Kindergartenfeindlichkeit
  • Kindergartenfreund
  • kindergartenfreundlich
  • Kindergartenfreundlichkeit
  • Kindergartengebäude
  • Kindergartengebühr
  • Kindergartengegner
  • Kindergartengruppe
  • Kindergartenhelfer
  • Kindergartenidee
  • Kindergartenjahr
  • Kindergartenkind
  • Kindergartenleben
  • Kindergartenleiter
  • Kindergartenoma
  • Kindergartenomi
  • Kindergartenopa
  • Kindergartenopi
  • Kindergartenpädagoge
  • Kindergartenpädagogik
  • kindergartenpädagogisch
  • Kindergartenpflicht
  • Kindergartenplatz
  • Kindergartenschule
  • Kindergartenschüler
  • Kindergartenstandort
  • Kindergartenstudie
  • Kindergartentag
  • Kindergartenverbot
  • Kindergartenverein
  • Kindergartenverfechter
  • Kindergartenzeit
  • Kindergärtler
  • Kindergärtner
  • Kirchenkindergarten
  • Konfessionskindergarten
  • Marienkindergarten
  • Montessori-Kindergarten
  • Montessorikindergarten
  • Musterkindergarten
  • Naturkindergarten
  • Patenkindergarten
  • Pfarrkindergarten
  • Privatkindergarten
  • Rudolf Steiner Kindergarten
  • Rudolf-Steiner-Kindergarten
  • Schulkindergarten
  • Sonderkindergarten
  • Vereinskindergarten
  • Volkskindergarten
  • Vormittags-Kindergarten
  • Wald- und Naturkindergarten
  • Waldkindergarten
  • Waldkindergartenbewegung
  • Waldorfkindergarten
  • Werkkindergarten
  • Werkskindergarten

Descendants

References

  1. ^ Horace Mann, Elizabeth P. Peabody (1863) Moral Culture of Infancy and Kindergarten Guide[1], page 10:
    Kindergarten means a garden of children, and Froebel, the inventor of it, or rather, as he would prefer to express it, the discoverer of the method of Nature, meant to symbolize by the name the spirit and plan of treatment. How does the gardener treat his plants? He studies their individual natures, and puts them into such circumstances of soil and atmosphere as enable them to grow, flower, and bring forth fruit, also to renew their manifestation year after year.

Further reading