To not understand why children start school so young in the UK

[Alisvolatpropiis]

Just that really. In lots of countries children don't start school properly until 6 or 7 whereas in the UK it is 4 or 5, depending on where in the school year their birthday falls. I know some in the SW Valleys area who have started school (not nursery) at 3.

Britain doesn't appear to be topping education charts from what I can tell so what is the benefit?

My thre have all been ready for school at 4.5. To be honest, they all spent a lot of time counting plastic dinosaurs in the sandpit and having a good time whilst not realising they were learning stuff.

One of my dc's loved it and thrived at school when he started at 4yrs 1month but he was a bit immature socially.

We are now in Europe and it's very, very difficult to relax and get used to no formal education/teaching till the kids are 7. The school are only bothered about my kids, no mention of knowledge of letters or numbers or reading levels.

I don't get it either. My 4.5 yo ds is most put out that they don't have enough toys to play with. Instead, he's coming home for two half days to play instead. A few short years ago he would still be in nursery this term and that's where I think he still needs to be. Certainly not as emotionally ready as my 4.9yo dd when she started school. He is not in the slightest bit interested in sitting down for more than two minutes with a pencil in his hand. She would have sat there for an hour drawing at that age.

I'd never really thought about it before but a Danish friend mentioned it and it made me curious

I think it's outrageous how young the children are when they start in the UK. I feel pretty lucky that mine were both nearly 5 when they started, but some are 4 years 1 month. I very often saw them sucking their thumbs, falling asleep on their mother's arms at pickup.

YANBU it's bloody AWFUL. My DDs are in year 6 and year 2 so I'm past the horror but I saw a little boy the other day and he was crying as he was brought in...he was doing that awful crying which is silent...my heart went out to him so much. He was just too YOUNG.

Boots exactly. Some are practically toddlers still...mine were both ok ish but plenty just cannot cope.

Also I think they sit down FAR too much. They should be much freeer for longer. Even ten year olds like to get dirty and play physically and do art...

In France kids can go to maternelle from 2.5. It's essentially baby school and is much more formal/structured than nursery. Seems to work though!

I thought in most countries there was an element of pre-school/kindergarten type thing?

A good foundation stage classroom should be about learning through play an exploration anyway not formalised learning

England, I think it is definitely too young. If I had lived in Scotland my children would have started a year older and that is still young compared to other countries. Probably just a form of childcare though children elsewhere will possibly be in some kind of day care, nursery setting. Not that much different. I doubt they are all at home with family till they are seven.

YANBU.

I don't get it either. I'm not in the UK anymore and DS (17 months) goes to 'first school' which he adores. He won't start formal education until he's 7 but he's already learning so much. He will stay in this 'school' until he's 12. So although he's not being formally educated, he is getting to know the staff, children and routines. I love how all the different age groups interact. EG the other day the older children caught crayfish in the river which runs through the school grounds which they brought into DS's class so the little ones could see them and feed them. I thought it was very sweet.

Depends what they do at school...
IIRC a lot of these countries that the children don't start 'school' until 7 actually are in another form of childcare before...to quote Wiki
Finland has had access to free universal daycare for children age eight months to five years in place since 1990, and a year of "preschool/kindergarten" at age six, since 1996. "Daycare" includes both full-day childcare centers and municipal playgrounds with adult supervision where parents can accompany the child. The municipality will also pay mothers to stay home and provide "home daycare" for the first three years, if she desires, with occasional visits from a careworker to see that the environment is appropriate.

Also very interesting
According to Finnish child development specialist Eeva Hujala, "Early education is the first and most critical stage of lifelong learning. Neurological research has shown that 90% of brain growth occurs during the first five years of life, and 85% of the nerve paths develop before starting school at the age of seven in Finland.

Because childcare is so expensive here.

I think it is used as a form of childcare tbh.
They can't gain that much educationally otherwise We would be the top for education.
The socialisation aspect is good for the children too as now there are more two parent working there are fewer opportunities for parent/ pre school groups to socialise and play dates during working hours only exist for sahp usually.

Some people do make a stand against it if it isn't what they want for their children. It is so good we have the option of school pre school and schooled education and it isn't compulsory like some other countries.

So is it just symptomatic of the general attitude the UK has towards families?

Family life seems much more a main part of the culture in many other European countries. As does children being a part of "adult" life eg not in bed at 7, in restaurants with their parents and families in the evening etc

In the Netherlands they start on their 4th birthday or the day after. The difference we saw was that by staggering the start through the year the teacher always had a couple of new ones but not a whole class full at the same time.

They start formal reading/writing at around 7 or 8 rather than straightaway. The first couple of years are about learning to go to school and learning things like fine motor skills.

I dont think that it is a case of starting school at different ages but what is done when they first start.

I don't think reception is that much different to nursery, ds made the transition easily. The work only seems to begin in year one.

In some parts of the United States, there is K4, which is for children who will turn 4 by the end of the calendar year. This means that it is quite possible they are starting into formal schooling at 3y7 (as the school year begins in August).

They will continue until the end of 12th grade - another 14 years.

Funny, the US isn't known for academic excellence, either

The major distinction is that school is mandatory, nursery is not! When mine were in reception I often let them stay home if they were tired - this seems fine to me. Their school was lukewarm about it.

Yanbu at all. The expectation seems to be higher for young chikdren as well. Dd paedritrician said that a lot of development takes place between 3-5 years. So why are they talking about being able to concentrate at 2 years and talking sentences at 20 months, and getting them school ready when they are still at pre school and still really little.

School isn't mandatory, you can choose to home school if you disagree with the current system.

I think it is used as a form of childcare tbh.

Not sure I necessarily agree with this. Almost everyone I know who went out to work and therefore had used paid child care for their pre-school children, found their lives more logistically difficult when the children started school.

Private day nurseries are open all year round and for longer hours than school so you are not having to worry about holiday cover or wrap around cover. Then the children start school and suddenly there is this child care gap you have to fill. In fact I know at least two women who were able to work until their child started school and then gave up because the child care got so much more difficult to arrange.

So, no, I disagree that children start school early because school is a good alternative to other child care solutions.

YANBU. I'm a teacher and I think about this every day. You can see the effects of starting formal education too early right up to Y6/p7 and into secondary.