Pre-school education embraces all formal and informal education before compulsory schooling starts. It includes tots and toddler programmes, play school, nursery school (collectively known as pre-kindergarten) and kindergarten.
Attendance at school for children under five or six isn’t compulsory (the exact age depends on the state), and the provision of schools for children under six varies according to the finances and circumstances of local communities. Most public elementary schools provide a pre-school kindergarten (K) year for five-year-olds, which is usually the first year of elementary school.
