Learn Hardcore German: Meine Frau ist noch in Elternzeit, deshalb bringt sie unser Kind jeden Morgen in den Kindergarten. - My wife is still on parental leave, therefore she brings our child to kindergarten every morning.

die Frau on its own would just be the woman, not clear that it’s the speaker’s partner.
meine Ehefrau is also correct and means my (lawful) wife, but it sounds more formal/official (e.g. in documents).
So meine Frau is the normal, neutral way to say my wife in spoken German.

What does noch add to the meaning in Meine Frau ist noch in Elternzeit?

Noch here means still.
Sie ist noch in Elternzeit = She is still on parental leave (it hasn’t ended yet).
Without noch, Sie ist in Elternzeit is just a neutral statement; noch emphasizes that this situation continues up to now and will presumably change later.

What exactly is Elternzeit?

Elternzeit is a legal term in Germany. It means a period of parental leave during which a parent stops or reduces work to care for a young child.
Important points:

It’s protected by law: the employer must allow it and keep the job reserved.
Both mothers and fathers can take Elternzeit.
It’s not just “time with your parents”; it’s a specific legal status.

Why is it in Elternzeit without an article, and which case is used?

The phrase in Elternzeit sein is a fixed expression, usually without an article. It’s like saying to be on parental leave in English.
Grammatically, Elternzeit is feminine (die Elternzeit), and here the case is dative, because it describes a state/location (no movement):

in der Elternzeit would be the full form (dative feminine),
but in this idiom the article is dropped: in Elternzeit.
German does this with some “status” nouns: in Haft sein (to be in prison), in Rente sein (to be retired), etc.

Why is there a comma before deshalb, and why does the verb come after deshalb?

There are two main clauses:

Meine Frau ist noch in Elternzeit,
deshalb bringt sie unser Kind …

The comma separates these two main clauses.
Deshalb is not a subordinating conjunction; it’s a sentence adverb (meaning therefore / for that reason). In German main clauses the finite verb must be in second position, so the order is:

1st position: deshalb
2nd position: bringt
…then the rest.

That’s why it’s deshalb bringt sie …, not deshalb sie bringt ….

Could I use weil instead of deshalb? How would the sentence change?

Yes, you can use weil (because), but the structure changes because weil introduces a subordinate clause with the verb at the end:

With deshalb (two main clauses):
Meine Frau ist noch in Elternzeit, deshalb bringt sie unser Kind jeden Morgen in den Kindergarten.
With weil (subordinate clause):
Weil meine Frau noch in Elternzeit ist, bringt sie unser Kind jeden Morgen in den Kindergarten.
or
Meine Frau bringt unser Kind jeden Morgen in den Kindergarten, weil sie noch in Elternzeit ist.

Notice in the weil-clause the verb goes to the end: … noch in Elternzeit ist.

Why is the verb bringt used here? Could I say nimmt or fährt instead?

Bringen means to take someone/something somewhere and leave them there, usually accompanying them to a destination. That’s exactly what happens with a child being taken to kindergarten.

Alternatives:

nimmt … mit (take along) would focus on the child accompanying the mother, not being dropped off.
fährt … in den Kindergarten would emphasize travelling by vehicle and sounds odd if she just walks.

So bringt sie unser Kind … in den Kindergarten is the natural, neutral phrase for taking a child to kindergarten.

Why is sie lowercase here? Could it mean “you”?

Here sie is lowercase and refers to meine Frau (third person singular feminine: she).
The formal you is written with a capital letter: Sie.

So:

sie (lowercase, at normal positions) = she / they
Sie (capitalized in the middle of a sentence) = formal you

Because we already have Meine Frau as the subject in the first clause, it’s clear that sie in the second clause refers back to meine Frau → she.

Why is it unser Kind and not unsere Kind or unseren Kind?

Kind is a neuter noun: das Kind.
In the sentence, unser Kind is a direct object (what is being brought), so it’s in the accusative case.

For the possessive unser-, the forms are:

Neuter nominative/accusative singular: unser Kind
Feminine nominative/accusative singular: unsere Frau
Masculine accusative singular: unseren Mann

So here: neuter + accusative → unser Kind is the correct form.

Why is it jeden Morgen and not jeder Morgen?

Morgen (the time of day, “morning”) is masculine: der Morgen.
With jeder/jede/jedes, the ending changes according to case and gender.

In time expressions like jeden Morgen, German uses the accusative case to mean every X (repeatedly):

jeden Morgen – every morning
jeden Tag – every day
jedes Jahr – every year

Masculine accusative of jeder is jeden, so we get jeden Morgen, not jeder Morgen.

Could jeden Morgen go somewhere else in the sentence? What’s the usual position?

Yes, it’s flexible. Some common possibilities:

Deshalb bringt sie unser Kind jeden Morgen in den Kindergarten. (original)
Deshalb bringt sie jeden Morgen unser Kind in den Kindergarten.
Deshalb bringt sie unser Kind in den Kindergarten jeden Morgen. (possible but less natural)

General guideline: time information usually comes early in the clause (often before place), so … jeden Morgen in den Kindergarten sounds the most natural.

Why is it in den Kindergarten (accusative) and not im Kindergarten or in dem Kindergarten (dative)?

The preposition in can take dative or accusative:

dative = location (where?)
accusative = direction / movement (to where?)

Here the child is being moved to the kindergarten, so we ask wohin? (to where?) → accusative: in den Kindergarten.

Compare:

Sie arbeitet im Kindergarten. (in + dem → im, dative: she works in the kindergarten, location)
Sie bringt das Kind in den Kindergarten. (accusative: she brings the child to the kindergarten).

What does Kindergarten mean in German? Is it the same as English “kindergarten”?

Not exactly. In Germany, der Kindergarten is typically:

for children roughly 3 to 6 years old,
before they start school,
more like preschool / nursery school than the U.S. concept of “kindergarten as the first year of school”.

You’ll also often hear die Kita (Kindertagesstätte) as a more general term for daycare facilities for young children.

Why are words like Frau, Elternzeit, Kind, Morgen, and Kindergarten capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, no matter where they are in the sentence.
In this sentence:

Frau (woman, wife)
Elternzeit (parental leave)
Kind (child)
Morgen (morning, when used as the noun, not the adverb “tomorrow”)
Kindergarten (kindergarten)

are all nouns, so they must be written with a capital first letter. This capitalization is a key feature of German spelling.