Primary ed in holand ,feel much about about my dd now

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Had a friend over who lives in holland and he was astounded at the book my dd can read ,his dd is 7 in november and can read a 'few' words ,but isnt reading full books ,now as my dd is allegedly special needs ,this has greatly improved my moral

Well done your dd It's probably very good for her confidence to hear this (both that she is ahead of someone and that you're proud of her - I'm sure she already knows that though). I have often wondered if labelling children young can lead to self fulfilling prophecy. If she enjoys reading then I think you should be very happy.

Well, it's all about what you get out in the end. In Holland, formal instruction doesn't start until 6. They start school at 4, but first two years are purely building social skills. At 6 (year 3), they start learning letters and numbers so it's no surpries that his dd can hardly read.
A Finnish child wouldn't even be able to read a few words as they only start at 7.
can't compare across countries I am afraid.

Just shows how daft our education system is imo. So much evidence that leaving it until later and concentrating on social skills until 6 or 7 brings better long term results.

I wonder what the Dutch for Schadenfreude is

That's one of the reasons we home ed. Ds2 didn't read till he was 8. He reads fluently now at 9. He learned when he was ready, as do a lot of home ed kids. I think we put far too much pressure on kids in this country

one of many, many reasons I don't like the English education. Wish I could go back to the continent...

It's madness here..our school weighed in on the phonics on the first WEEK of reception.

Overheard one parent saying "isn't this good, they're not wasting time with half days and Settling In,just getting straight on with it"

Have an idea that that is why the govt insists on this early start with reading business, contrary to all the educational research which suggests the later the better...it's because the pushy parents love it