The Education Act of the United Kingdom, for instance, makes it a law that all children must start full time education at the age of five. However, although there's no law that children of younger age should attend school, it's felt by many educationists and parents that time spent in a nursery school is of great value to the younger child.

It's for this reason that there is nursery school - that is school for children of up to the age of five.

Some of these nursery schools are maintained by the local authority, and are either day or residential. Others are part of a large school, particularly private schools, that is, there are may be a nursery department for children of three to five, from which pupils enter the school proper. In some cases, a residential home for children has a nursery school within its walls for the residents who are not yet old enough for primary school.

These are not schools in the sense that the children receive formal lessons. What they gain from attendance is the opportunity to "socialize". It is recognized that small children need to spend time in the company of their peers in age; to learn how to be one of as group; to take part in active group play, singing, acting, painting, sand and water play, story-telling, and so on; to share available adult attention, and to learn to accept the discipline of a group. However, very small children are still very much individuals - although they can be members of a group and gain value from such membership they still need the opportunity to behave in a highly individual way.

Older children, too, need this opportunity to behave individually, of course, but it is especially vital for the under-fives. They are unable to behave "unselfishly", to accept rules that go against their inclinations, as easily as the older child can.

A good nursery teacher is able to care for a group of such children, providing group discipline and activity while at the same time satisfying the individual needs of the children who make up the group. A potential nursery teacher, then needs to be a person with an adventurous spirit, an open mind, and an acceptable disposition.

She needs to be able to organize the work she does for the group of children she teaches in such a way that she can give a great deal of this all important individual attention to each child.

It will be seen that, because this work is so demanding of the person who does it, it is also very satisfying, both intellectually and emotionally, and of course it covers a wide and varied area or field of interest. The nursery school teacher is an educationist of a very specialized kind and should have a very secure and balanced personality. There is an increasing demand for trained teachers - especially trained to work with very young children, that is - both for the nursery schools already described and also for the reception classes in infant schools.

The training courses offered do train a girl, or a young man, to teach children up to age of seven. It will thus be seen that there's a wide scope for the trained nursery teacher, for he or she can work in the infants department of primary school with children aged from five to seven.

Although this work generally does attract girls more than boys there's no reason why a boy should not do this work very successfully. The work offers considerable financial security, because there is a continuing demand for teachers (and it is hoped by many educationists that in the future all children across the globe will be able to enjoy all the benefits of nursery schooling; to this end, efforts are being made to provide more nursery schools, for which of course, teachers will be needed).