I can live with this.

https://www.wokingham.gov.uk/children-families-and-young-people/children-and-families/childcare-pre-schools-and-nurseries/starting-nursery-or-preschool
"Day nurseries can care for children normally from around 3 months up until compulsory school age. "
"Preschools are often run by a voluntary committee. Normally they care for children from 3 years old, up until compulsory school age although some now care for children from 2 years old. "

https://directories.merton.gov.uk/kb5/merton/directory/advice.page;jsessionid=693DA256A03E72D7586A764F23E04D56?id=Rl5dFEqueTw
Day nurseries offer full-time or part-time childcare for children, often from 6 weeks old. Day nurseries are usually open from 8am to 6pm.
Preschools offer childcare in sessions which range from 2 ½ to 4 hours, either mornings or afternoons, and cater for children from the age of 2. They are usually only open during school term time and not for the whole day. Preschools are sometimes called playgroups or kindergartens and also include Montessori schools.

https://familyserviceshub.havering.gov.uk/kb5/havering/directory/advice.page?id=Ghwqqw8JUYI
Up to 2 years old: If you need childcare before your child is 2 years then either a registered childminder or day nursery would suit your needs.  ...
2 years old: When your child reaches 2 you may want to consider an early years childcare place available at preschools, Day Nurseries, Childminders and at some schools with nurseries.


The Oxford Learner's dictionary is vague and unclear about this distinction, but it becomes very apparent when looking through the google results. Seems like kindergarten is not commonly used in the UK and while actual usage seems to align with how it's used in the US, the OEL suggests that in British use, it's a synonym to nursery school. Which it actually defines as "school for children between the ages of about two and five" which. again, doesn't mesh at all with what I'm actually seeing on site:gov.uk /site:uk sites.

I think precisely because there is a lot of confusion and different terms in use in the Anglosphere (and beyond), we really ought to explain exactly what this refers to in Japanese.

@@ -18 +18 @@
-<gloss>kindergarten</gloss>
+<gloss>kindergarten (in Japan, non-compulsory education from age 3 until primary school)</gloss>
@@ -20 +19,0 @@
-<gloss>nursery school</gloss>

https://www.emmasdiary.co.uk/baby/childcare/preschool-guide
There are a number of differences between pre-school and nursery, and it is down to personal preference as to where you choose to send your child. Your choice will depend on your child’s age, what you are looking for from a setting and how you child is developmentally. Difference include:

Nurseries will take children from ages one – three where as pre-schools generally take children from three – five.
Pre-schools have a formal curriculum and trained teachers. Conversely, nursery schools have a more relaxed environment and have a wider variety of programs.
Nurseries tend to cost more than pre-schools do but this is not a hard and fast rule.
Pre-schools emphasis preparing the children for future education, while nurseries give a lighter learning experience and act more like a childcare provider.

https://www.daynurseries.co.uk/advice/what-is-a-pre-school
Difference between nursery and pre-school

Are you really sure about that, Robin? Because that's not at all what I'm seeing (at a glance).

If we're going to throw in "nursery school" in here, which again, I really don't think we should, I think we do need to explain the difference between a 幼稚園 and 保育園, because there are several specific differences that are very relevant to foreigners with young kids in Japan. (I'm not being argumentative just for the sake of it)

Let's put "nursery school" back and leave it. The terminology varies a lot - what Americans call kindergarten we call "prep", etc., etc. In general "nursery school" seems to fit 保育園/保育所. After all, the 保育 indicates rather young kids. (My 5yo granddaughter is in prep, and my 3yo grandson is in kindergarten.)

@@ -19,0 +20 @@
+<gloss>nursery school</gloss>

幼稚園 corresponds to what we call "nursery (school)" in the UK. It's synonymous with "preschool". I think "nursery school" is a better fit for 幼稚園 than 保育園/保育所.