If it was up to you..what age would you want your child(ren) to start school?

[emkana]

Following on from my other thread here
I would be interested to hear opinions when children should ideally start school.
I would say five would be a good age. I think four is still too young, but six or even seven, which it often is in Germany, seems quite old, looking at my dd1 who is nearly four and already seems so keen to learn about letters and numbers.
What does everybody here think?

About the age they do now (rising 5) - but then it depends on the type of school they go to. My DS is in reception and it's very play-based, he responds really well. But he has friends in reception at other schools and it's all sitting at desks and 'proper learning', which tbh I don't think is appropriate, for boys at least, until about 6 or 7.

Some Reception Classes do put a lot of emphasis on learning through play. A gentler introduction into school would be preferable. At the age of 4/5, some children are just so exhausted from following a school routine for 5 full days.

7 I was brough up in Italy and I started at 6 I was one of the younger I was definatly more confident when I came to Britain and was put in the same class though I was 1 year older than the others

5 or 5.5 for half-days formal school education.
7 for full days

3-3.5 for preschool. 5 for 1/2 days (reception). Probably 6 for full days. That's just based on how my children are.

I went to pre school in Holland ... started when I was 4 and wasn't due to start school until I was 7. I didn't learn any letters or numbers, but did lots of activities that prepared me for learning (as someone said below) ...
When I was 6 and a half my family moved to the UK and I had to start school. The teachers were horrified at the fact that I had not learned to read yet ... all my classmates had been 'reading' for 2 years. So I had all these extra lessons to learn to read. And I learned in less than a term ... By the time I was 7 I was one of the better readers and spellers in the class. I feel that waiting until I was 'ripe' was the best thing that happened for me.
In NZ the system is great. Pre-school at 3.5 starting with 3 afternoons a week and moving on to 5 mornings a week at just over 4. No reading or maths but lots of free play, stories, imaginative stuff, etc etc. The BANG full time school starts the DAY the child turns 5.
DS started school ON his 5th birthday ... 3 weeks before the end of the school year. He had a taster, then a 6 week holiday ... then into Year 1 and he has taken to it like a duck to water.
I think 5 is the perfect age. DS has been interested in letters and numbers since he was 2 but personally I think an easy settlement into school life has nothing to do with ability and everything to do with maturity ....

DD2 (3) wants to go now. She isn't due to start until September 2006. November birthday so she will be one of the eldest in her year. Her big sister is in year 1 and she wants to be like her. She does two and a half days at pre-school at the moment and is fine going there.
She even told her pre-school teacher the other day that she was going to big school and was leaving them.
I would send her in September if I had the choice.