Learn Hardcore German: Die Erzieherin im Kindergarten singt mit den Kindern und bleibt auch in stressigen Momenten gelassen. - The preschool teacher in kindergarten sings with the children and stays relaxed even in stressful moments.

Erzieherin: someone trained to look after and support the development of young children (socially, emotionally, educationally) in pre-school settings.
Lehrerin: a (female) teacher, usually in a school (Grundschule, Gymnasium, etc.), with a more formal teaching role and school subjects.

The -in ending marks the feminine form:

der Erzieher = male educator
die Erzieherin = female educator
die Erzieherinnen = plural, female educators (or a group of educators, if they’re all women)

Why is it die Erzieherin and not der Erzieherin at the beginning?

Because die Erzieherin is the subject of the sentence and therefore in the nominative case.

die is the nominative singular article for feminine nouns.
Erzieherin is a feminine noun (because of the -in ending).

Compare:

Nominative (subject): die Erzieherin singt.
Dative (to/for whom): Sie hilft der Erzieherin.
Accusative (direct object): Ich sehe die Erzieherin.

What is im Kindergarten exactly, and why not in dem Kindergarten?

im is a standard contraction of in dem:

in (preposition) + dem (dative, masculine/neuter) → im

Kindergarten is masculine:

Nominative: der Kindergarten
Dative: dem Kindergarten → contracted to im Kindergarten

So im Kindergarten literally means in the kindergarten, with in indicating location, which requires the dative case here.

Why is Kindergarten capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized.

Kindergarten is a noun (a place), so it must start with a capital letter. This is a general rule:

das Haus, die Frau, der Hund, die Freiheit, das Lernen, der Kindergarten, etc.

Why is it mit den Kindern and not mit die Kinder?

The preposition mit always takes the dative case.

Kinder is plural of Kind.
The dative plural article for all genders is den.
In the dative plural, most nouns add -n if they don’t already end in -n or -s.

So:

Nominative plural: die Kinder
Dative plural: den Kindern

Therefore: mit den Kindern (with the children), not mit die Kinder.

Why do we say Kindern and not just Kinder after mit?

Because in the dative plural, most nouns add an -n ending.

Pattern:

Nominative plural: die Kinder
Dative plural: den Kindern

mit → dative → den Kindern.

This -n ending is a regular feature of many dative plurals:

die Freunde → mit den Freunden
die Eltern → mit den Eltern (already ends in -n, so no change)

What does gelassen mean here, and is it related to lassen?

In this sentence, gelassen is an adjective meaning calm, composed, unflustered.

It is historically related to the verb lassen (to let, to leave), and gelassen is also the past participle of lassen. But here it is being used as an adjective:

Sie bleibt gelassen. = She remains calm.

So:

bleiben (to remain, to stay) + gelassen (calm) → bleibt gelassen = stays calm.

It does not mean “left” here (as in “she left something”). It describes her emotional state.

Why is gelassen at the end of the sentence?

In German, in a main clause with a simple verb phrase, the conjugated verb comes in second position, and other elements (objects, adverbs, predicate adjectives) usually go after it.

The second verb phrase in the sentence is:

bleibt auch in stressigen Momenten gelassen

Word order:

bleibt = conjugated verb (must be in position 2 of the clause)
auch in stressigen Momenten = adverb and prepositional phrase (time/condition)
gelassen = predicate adjective, often placed towards the end

So gelassen naturally comes at the end of that clause as part of the predicate: bleibt … gelassen.

Why is it in stressigen Momenten and not in stressige Momente?

Because in with a location/situation meaning often triggers the dative case. Here it expresses a state/situation (“in stressful moments” = during such moments), not movement into something.

Moment is masculine.
Plural: Momente
Dative plural: den Momenten → with an adjective: in stressigen Momenten

Grammar points:

in
- “where?” / situation → dative
plural dative → -n ending on the noun: Momenten
adjective before a dative plural noun takes -en: stressigen

So it’s in stressigen Momenten, not in stressige Momente (which would be accusative, more like “into stressful moments” and doesn’t fit the meaning).

How does the adjective ending in stressigen Momenten work?

You have:

Preposition: in → here requiring dative
Case/number: dative plural
Article: (no article, but plural noun)

For dative plural, the adjective ending is -en:

in stressigen Momenten
mit alten Freunden
von wichtigen Terminen

So:

stressig (base form)
- dative plural ending -en → stressigen

What is the role of auch in bleibt auch in stressigen Momenten gelassen, and where else could it go?

auch means also / even / too. Here it emphasizes that she stays calm even in stressful moments.

Current position:

bleibt auch in stressigen Momenten gelassen

Other possible (and natural) positions:

Sie bleibt in stressigen Momenten auch gelassen.
Sie bleibt auch gelassen in stressigen Momenten. (less common, but possible for emphasis)

What you normally avoid is splitting too awkwardly, e.g.:

?Sie auch bleibt in stressigen Momenten gelassen. (incorrect: verb must be in position 2)
Sie bleibt in stressigen Momenten gelassen auch. (sounds odd in standard usage)

The version in the sentence is very natural: bleibt auch in stressigen Momenten gelassen.

How are the verbs singt and bleibt conjugated here, and why only one verb per clause is conjugated?

Both singen and bleiben are conjugated for 3rd person singular (sie = die Erzieherin):

singen → sie singt
bleiben → sie bleibt

The sentence has two main verbs joined by und:

Die Erzieherin … singt mit den Kindern
(und) bleibt … gelassen

Each clause has its own finite (conjugated) verb in second position:

Clause 1: Die Erzieherin im Kindergarten singt mit den Kindern
Clause 2: (sie) bleibt auch in stressigen Momenten gelassen

They share the same subject Die Erzieherin im Kindergarten, so it is not repeated in the second clause.

Could the word order mit den Kindern singt die Erzieherin im Kindergarten also be correct?

Yes, that is grammatically correct, but it changes the emphasis.

Original:

Die Erzieherin im Kindergarten singt mit den Kindern …
→ neutral focus on who is doing the action (the educator).

Alternative:

Mit den Kindern singt die Erzieherin im Kindergarten …
→ puts more emphasis on with whom she sings (with the children), for example when contrasting:
- Mit den Kindern singt die Erzieherin, nicht mit den Eltern.

German word order is relatively flexible, as long as:

the finite verb remains in second position of the clause, and
the meaning and emphasis stay clear.