ABSTRACT
Preschool children are integrated into educational structures more and more frequently on a larger scale and at younger ages. Although statistics vary by country, attending a preschool class is the norm for a 5-year-old and ever-increasingly common for the average 4-year-old. This phenomenon has trickled down to 3-year-olds, but varies greatly according to country (OECD, 2001), especially with children younger than 3 years. No matter what the term-kindergarten, école enfantine, preschool, école maternellethese structures, at least with respect to developed nations, represent essential social environments outside the family circle. They involve dual socialization, which occurs in a public situation not bound by the same sociocultural values found in the family structure.
