To think 4 year olds just shouldn't be in school

[Belleende]

I will start by saying I know very little about educational theory, I just sent my DD off to school the term after she turned 4 as most parents do.
As the year has gone on she has begun to struggle. She hates the noise. She struggles with concentration. She is definitely taking her time tuning into the more social side of things.

We had been wondering if there was some kind of special need there. Now Covid has hit and we are the teachers. I have come to the conclusion there is nowt wrong with her, she is just too young to be in school.

She is a young 4 and summer born. She has the attention span of a gnat, and we have to fight to get her to do reading and writing . But she has a huge passion for knowledge and love of the outside, and her memory is amazing.

Not sure what to do when this is all over. Can't help thinking she would be better off home schooled until she is 6 or 7.

Anyone else rethinking the education of their kids?

'There are so many things that you have to be "ready" for to start formal education.
Being academically ready is quite a small part of it, I think. But usually when people say their child is "ready for school" or "bored in nursery", that's what they are really referring to.'

Yes, this. I also note several people on this thread saying their children could read at 4/before starting school - this is great and entirely plausible, obviously, but it does suggest that the child was taught (at home or nursery or both) - not many children genuinely learn completely alone, not even very bright ones. This is the cultural sense of early academics being important and desirable that I talked about in my post above. In Germany, there's a strong cultural dislike of formal learning taking place before school starts and a sense of needing to protect 'childhood' from schooling starting too early - I personally think a lot of the German rhetoric takes things too far the other way, but the longer I am here the more critical I feel about the British (educational and cultural) focus on early academics.

Yes I taught my 4 year old to read before school as her sister could read and she was desperate to learn. I didn’t see much sense in saying ‘no I won’t teach you, you’ll have to wait’. We did it very gently and as soon as she knew her sounds she figured out blending by herself.

My kid just wasn’t interested in reading at 4, in fact it took til 6. he learned within about two months then though. It’s weird to think starting earlier will automatically help. Some will struggle no matter how early you start.

Oh, I don't have a problem, at all, with parents teaching dc to read before school starts, for whatever reason (I was reading long before I started, apparently) - just highlighting the cultural attitude and difference. A German parent in your position might have been inclined instead to say 'well, that's something you'll learn at school' - not actively put the child off, let them carry on absorbing what they could from their older sibling, but not actually sit down and teach them.

This very much depends on the school. Our school has a very play based reception year. Much more like nursery. But another local school has much more formal approach and daily reading books etc

I definitely agree 4 is too young. I wish my children could start later but I have the next best thing, all 3 of them will be some of the oldest in their school year and the school my DD is starting at in September has a lovely reception with free flow and outdoor play so it's very similar to her pre school.

I get the childcare/economic issue but I do think they could have a couple of years of kindergarten style education and then start formla education around 6-7. Would be much more sensible IMO, especially since I have read articles saying their are four year olds starting school without even being able to recognise their own name, let alone anything else.

I'm Irish but living in the UK and have a 4 year old. He was 4 in late March, and is a bit immature for his age and has had a lot of upheaval in his life so far. I'd love to keep him back a year and start him in reception at 5 years 5 months. If we were back in Ireland I'd be able to do that but unfortunately moving back isn't an option right now.

Yanbu . Our ds has a summer birthday and the difference was clear. He was over tired and overwhelmed in reception. I would have loved the chance to defer for a year