Would anybody like to have a debate about the best age for starting school?

[emkana]

This is something I think about a lot. I am from Germany, where children start school at six/seven, though it's gradually being brought down with the aim of having most five year olds in school. School over there is certainly very different though - the children go from mostly free play at Kindergarten to very structured school, there is no "easing in" or gradual introduction to more structured work.
When I first came to the UK I thought it was terrible that children here start school so early, but then I didn't know a lot about it. Now my dd1 has just started, and I think it's great - they do so much play, but also activities that gradually introduce them to literacy/numeracy. Dd adores it all, and it's certainly a very good school. The teachers seem to be very aware of the fact that children this age still need to play mostly. It seems to me much better than going from one extreme to the other so suddenly as they do in Germany. But on here I have often read the view that school here starts too early... why do people say that? Would be v. interested in a debate!

That's just what I was going to say em

Just to give another slant on the discussion...I live in Spain and the new(-ish) socialist government has just pushed through a bill whereby there will be a place for any child that wants it from the age of 3. I don't know the details yet because my ds is only just coming up to 2 but I do know that at first it's only half days and the son of a friend of mine started at 3 and he loved it and still does. So many kids go to nursery nowadays that I do wonder if it makes all that much difference - the main difference being that the parents save a tonne of money! Of course it depends on the activities and attitude of the schools, but does every parent really know what their child's nursery does all day?

I personaly think that around 6 1/2 would be great! I sthink that if some children have to wait until they are 8/9 to be diagnosed with some learning difficulties that it would be benificial to only be in primary3 instead of primary 5 as some cases are! Though I also believe that the british teaching method should be scrapped and all schools should use the Emilio Regia approach.

Nobody seems to have mentioned the fact that if you hold your children back for a year, it may benefit them in the short-term, but it's deeply embarassing for an older child or teenager to be at least a year older than the rest of their academic year. My children would have been bored stiff if they'd stayed at school nursery and primary 1 was just an extension of nursery, but with slightly more challenging stuff. I also don't understand why reading or writing should be seen as stressful for younger children, surely they should be seen as fun. I loved reading at school; still love reading forty years on.

The fact remains that the younger children in the class are less likely to do well in their GCSE's.
It seems that the initial stress of starting school too young, and maybe struggling with things that older members of the class find easy can give them a negative sense of their own abilities that continues right the way through school, ultimately meaning that they lose interest in trying.

I intend to homeschool my little girl, because I don't believe that schools prepare you for life, only for life in school. I want her to enjoy learning, and learn because she's interested in something not because the government say she should learn this much about this subject at this age.
School sucked for me, I was far ahead of my class in ability and so sat bored through all my lessons, eventually stopping going to school most of the time because it felt like such a pointless place to be.

i am confused about what will be best for our dd. She's only 11 mth but I'm thinking about it already, it goes so quick. I hated school, but I went to a strict catholic school, where we were hit with rulers and told we were sinners, and where children that were not academic were ridiculed. I realise that school now is probably very different, and I have to try not to let my experience cloud my judgement.

Before I had my dd my ideal was to send my children to a waldorf steiner school, because i got the impression it was more nurturing to the individual, and I like steiner's ideas. However, now I have my dd, it seems we probably can't afford to send her to a steiner school (although i have heard some talk they might get state funding), also we would have to move house to send her to one. I am quite gutted, but on the other hand, it is possible she might be quite happy at an ordinary school, there is one with a good reputation near us.

I do feel anxious about sending her at a young age. She's never been left at a creche or childminder's or nursery, but we go to playgroups and she meets other people. She's quite extroverted and confident. Sometimes when i find it hard going I think I'll try and get her in a nursery half a day a week, but then I put it off. It doesn't seem natural to me to send young children away from their parents, but I think it is natural for them to socialise, knowing that you're nearby.

I would like the english system to be more flexible, and also think alternative types of schooling should be state funded. All children have the right to an education, but who says one size fits all?

I am very concerned about SATS. Testing at such a young age creates a lot of anxiety and pressure for children. Academic achievement is not the only thing in life. Are SATS compulsory or can you send your child to school and ask them to be exempted? What about if they go part-time and part home ed? I didn't know part time school was an option. Can anybody tell me more about this?

TartanT it concerns me too, children love to learn, how is it that school takes the fun out of learning?

Ghosty I like the NZ way of staggered starting and the limit on class size.

I like the idea of homeschooling, and I think I've got a lot to offer my dd, but I have a career, which I've put on hold, as I want to be there for her for at least the first couple of years. Also, I don't know if I've got the emotional capacity to have her at home all the time throughout her childhood. We don't have any family support, due to distance, illness etc.

I am happy with our system to be honest, but maybe I had my children in good months! Actually it was something I thought about at the time, although as dd was an accident it wouldn't have made much difference! ds is a May baby, and went in the January before he turned 5, whilst dd managed to have her 5th birthday the day before she started school this September. They both seem to have settled well. dd's class is only 11 this term, whilst ds went into a class of 24. It doesn't seem to have made much difference really. They both went to nursery from 2 1/2 (not full time, but for social stimulation really). Our school has a classroom assistant in each class up to yr 2, I think, and they seem to have more of the pastoral role. Reception does not seem vastly different from nursery to me, and ds has had no problem moving up to yrs 1 and 2. SATS have changed to a more teacher assessed approach, but ds does not appear to be working much harder - but then all he says is that school is "lovely"! He was very keen to go back after the summer holidays, so either we aren't very stimulating in the holidays, or school is just more fun.

For anyone who may be interested, there's a really good website I've just found that has LOADS of really useful activities and ideas for helping teach kids of all ages. You can print out pictures to colour, word-searches, calendars, dot-to-dots, word games, craft activities and tons more stuff, and so far it seems to be all free! I haven't tried to print anything out yet, so I might be wrong, but have a look and I'm sure you'll find something to do with the kids. Even if you do have to subscribe to actually print stuff off, there's loads of instructions for making things on there which you can access for nothing, which makes it worth a look. go to www.enchantedlearning.com