What are children expected to know before nursery?

[weeblueberry]

My DD1 is due to start nursery after the summer assuming she's got a place since the nursery haven't bothered to tell me and I'm not sure what she 'should' know in advance of this?

Most of my friends children have been in private nurseries for a while and so know most letters and numbers and one can write a few letters. DD knows 'important' letters to her like the ones that start her, her sisters and mine and my partners names. She counts to fifteen when she feels like it but often gets wrong. But considering she does it correctly most of the time I assume she's messing around or not interested the times she gets it wrong. She's also got a weird thing about the number 13 and virtually always misses it out...

I'm keen to play games that encourage knowledge of all this but don't want to push. But similarly I don't want her to go and for the rest of them to all know all their letters etc.

Just FYI Patricia that isn't when Scottish children start school. For instance for them to start this August their 5th birthday must fall between start of march 2016 and end of Feb 2017.

Purple's post above is spot on, IMO.

(And its made a little lump in my throat, for some reason - totally illogical, because my youngest has already been at nursery for a year and has another year to go from September.)

But yeah OP there shouldn't really be any expectation on your child.

Thank you all. I really appreciate the support and your advice about what she should know has put it all in perspective for me a bit. She's very excited so I hope she gets the bloody place now!!