When to start school?

[MamaToTheBabyBears]

My eldest is due to start Reception in September and I can't decide what to do! I'm tempted to home educate until 6/7 by which time we'd be able to afford a private school. I've done a lot of research and confident I can do a good job. I don't know if she's emotionally ready to go to school, 4 is still so little, in a lot of countries children don't start school until 6 or 7. What would you do/what have you done?

OP I strongly recommend you join some home ed Facebook groups or ask on the home ed board here because all you’ll get on here is nonsense about not socialising and incorrect information about teaching.

I'm also in Europe in a country where they start at 6 or 7. They've been in state nursery though for 3 years and if you look at the syllabus/curriculum you'll see what kids do here at 4 is the same as what kids in the UK do at 4. Just that we do it at nursery and in the UK it's part of primary school.
Any child not going to nursery for those 3 years would be pretty unique and would be expected to know how to read and write basics when they start school at 6-7. That's also done at nursery, when the kids are 5-6. So exactly like in the UK.

Private school for reception and year 1 is very affordable as most schools will take your 15 or even 30 free hours as part of the payment until term after 5th birthday, so maybe you could start her in the school you want her to continue? I think the right foundations are really important and if you are not a trained teacher you might or might not get the optimal success.

I think if you don’t have any idea how education works in different countries there is little point trying to emulate them just because “they don’t start until 7”

Reception is all about gaining independence and social emotional intelligence, things you won’t teach at home- for that reason I’m school all the way.

Agree with TheCanterburyWhales. In my country, children start school at age 6. But they start nursery at 3. The settings are much more formal in the nursery than in receiption here. And they are expected to be able to read and write before starting school. We just don't call it school.

We did this with DC1. Home ed until 7 at which point said child went to school. We did literacy and numeracy at home every day, hung out at home ed groups and were child led with other learning. Said child was very not ready and afraid of school at 4 but keen and excited to start at 7. DC2 had no such fears and started school at the usual time.

Words of caution: People in general don't like you going against the grain and will question you about home ed a lot. Home ed groups can be very cliquey. It gets exhausting to never have a break.

It is a bit of a red herring to say other countries start later. Often there is a kindergarten/preschool which goes up to 6 but that is similar to eyfs, in some areas this is compulsory and start before 4. Formal school starting at 6/7 may then be on a different site. So it is more about the environment than there being non compulsory education before 6/7.