Where the preschool years happen
Whatever they are called at home, the years between the pram and the school gate are arranged
in Copenhagen like this:
-
6 months to
2 years 10 months
vuggestue - or a dagpleje, a childminder at home
What most families call daycare, nursery, crèche, playschool or early preschool.
This is us.
-
2 years 10 months
to school
børnehave
What most families call preschool, kindergarten, nursery school, pre-K or kindy.
-
The August of the
year they turn six
0. klasse
Reception, kindergarten in the American sense - the first school year.
Ages as Københavns Kommune states them, checked
September 2026. If you came here with the word kindergarten in mind, the
kindergarten page untangles that one word on its own.
The first half is us
We are a small, English-speaking vuggestue in Valby, for children from 6 months to 3 years -
the first half of the preschool years, with a room for playing, a room for sleeping and
the same three adults all day.
A place costs kr 3.791 a month after the Copenhagen subsidy - see fees and subsidies. It is the kommune's own subsidy for private childcare;
the subsidy page explains how it is claimed, step by step. Families come to us from Valby,
Vesterbro, Sydhavn, Vanløse and Frederiksberg.
What these years are for
Nobody is preparing a two-year-old for an exam. What the preschool years are for, here as
anywhere, is the things that come before reading: being understood in two languages, finding the
same door every morning, eating at a table with other people, sleeping in a room that is not home
and waking up fine, and having somebody notice. They arrive in your arms and leave on their own
feet - with opinions.
English at the front and Danish in the room is a good arrangement for that: the children hear
both every day, and the move to a Danish børnehave at three is the normal next step rather
than a leap.
The second half: a børnehave from three
We take children up to three. From 2 years 10 months a child in Copenhagen goes to a
børnehave - a kommune one, applied for through Københavns Kommune's Pladsanvisning, a private one
applied to directly, or an early-years class at one of the international schools. The
kindergarten page sets out the three routes, and we are glad to point a
family in the right direction; every child who leaves us makes this move.
Before you ask
The questions families ask
Is Kidz R Os a preschool?
For a child under three, yes in everything but the name: Kidz R Os is an English-speaking vuggestue in Valby for children aged 6 months to 3 years, which is the first half of what most countries call the preschool years. Denmark has no institution called a preschool; from 2 years 10 months a child moves to a børnehave, which we are not.
What age is preschool in Denmark?
There is no separate preschool stage. Children are in a vuggestue or with a dagpleje from 6 months to 2 years 10 months, in a børnehave from 2 years 10 months until school, and start school (0. klasse) in the August of the year they turn six.
Is an English-speaking preschool a problem for learning Danish?
Our working language is English and our staff also speak Danish, so the children hear both every day. Children who leave us at three go on to a børnehave, Danish or international, and the move is the normal next step, not a special one.
How much does it cost, and is there a subsidy?
A place costs kr 3.791 a month after the Copenhagen subsidy - see fees and subsidies. Parents with a Danish CPR number claim the subsidy themselves; the fees page explains how.
Searching for a preschool near Valby? For a child under three, half an hour in
our room will tell you more than any page. Book a visit,
or write to us with your child's birthday and we will say honestly whether it
is us or a børnehave you need.
