Nursery
Children from four months (the usual maternity leave) until they are three years old may frequent a nursery (Infantário or Creche). The large majority of nurseries are private. Other nurseries are run by the Portuguese Social Security and are partly financed by the state. In these nurseries parents pay according to their income.
Kindergarten
Pre-primary education is optional from the ages of three to five, and is provided in both state-run and private kindergartens schools. State-run kindergartens provision is free of charge. The schools are known as Jardins de Infância (Kindergartens). Most international schools offer an international approach to pre-primary learning and follow a curriculum such as the International Baccalaureate.