What is a cheder?
חדרYiddishalso spelled heder, kheyderPronunciation: Jewish English Lexicon (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The traditional Jewish elementary school. Boys learned to read Hebrew and the prayers there, often in one room, and many communities still use the name for the school young children attend.
A cheder is the traditional elementary school of Ashkenazi communities. The word is Yiddish חדר, from Hebrew חדר, “room.” In Eastern Europe a teacher taught boys, starting at about age three, to read Hebrew and the prayer book, and then the Torah, usually in a single room.
After immigration the same word often meant the afternoon or Sunday classes children took beside public school. (חסידיש) (חסידי) and other traditional communities still call the school for young children a cheder. Nigunim (ניגון) and holiday songs are part of what they learn by singing them there.