Monday, 24 March 2014

Are our children starting formal schooling too early?

There is a debate in the UK about whether the age that children start school or the kind of education they are getting is too young. At the moment children need to be in school by the term following their fifth birthday which usually means they are 4 when they start school. Arguments suggest that 7 might be a more appropriate age and that play-based activities similar to pre-school would be a better option for 4-6 year olds.

To be honest, this hasn't yet affected me much. My daughter is in reception class and is one of the older children. Like many of the girls she really enjoys reading and writing and is making good progress. From what I understand the boys are slightly less interested in academic stuff at this point, and most of them are younger than the girls. As I have 2 boys yet to start school I expect I'll find more challenges later on.

There is a group called 'Flexible School Admissions for Summer Born Children' which is working to tackle the challenges commonly faced by children who find themselves starting school aged just 4 and spending all of their fourth year attending school. (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25726538 for more info)

The 'too much, too soon' campaign began in September 2013 with an open letter in the Daily Telegraph signed by 130 early years experts who provided a range of evidence from different disciplines to demonstrate that 7 is the optimum age to begin formal schooling. This is in line with other European countries. (see http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/discussion/school-starting-age-the-evidence)

It seems that the recommendation is not necessarily that children are kept at home longer, which would have huge economic and social consequences, but rather that education is shifted to be more play-centred. It's all a bit scary for us parents who have children already in the system, but one has to hope that progress will be made in the best interests of future generations.

Let me know your experiences with your children starting school...




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2 comments:

  1. kate ind24 March 2014 at 12:19

    Hi!
    This really links in with a post I wrote recently about my son who is due to start school this September (he will be 4y3m when he is due to start.) We're moving abroad in October/November and I am toying with the idea of keeping him in nursery instead of school. Also, we're moving to France - which means he will stay in a pre-school/nursery environment until he is 6. To be honest, whilst I'm sure he'd cope with the transition, it's always troubled me that he'd be starting school so young. Academically, he'd be fine, but emotionally - he's still too young for the formality of classes (in my opinion, at least)
    Kate x
    www.familytofamille.com

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  2. Unknown24 March 2014 at 12:24

    Thanks for your comment. Good luck with the move, and I'll check your blog to see how you get on :-)

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