DAY NURSERY

also called Day-care Centre, Nursery School, or Crche (French: crib), institution for the daytime care of infants and young children. Such institutions appeared in France about 1840, and the Socit des Crches was recognized by the French government in 1869. Day nurseries were established in most European cities and industrial centres during the second half of the 19th century; the first in Great Britain, for example, was established in 1860. In the United States, the terms day nursery, day- or child-care centre, and nursery school are often used interchangeably to identify various types of day care for children and for preschool educational programs. Services to young children and their families have a longer history in European and Asian countries than in the United States, where day-care centres are generally private and of uneven quality. In many countries day-care facilities are associated with the mother's place of work. Infant care and preschool education are a normal provision in most socialist countries, and in some countries, such as France and Italy, they are included in the regular public-school system.