Really boring thread about stuff that doesn't matter to anybody else.

When does school start over here?  What do you do for afterschool care?  Ah!  I know nothing about care for children in the UK!  My entire experience is US-based.

Edit: "When" means "At what age".

School is compulsory from age 5, so primary school starts in the school year the child will turn 5. (i.e. they must be 4 years old by August 31st in order to start school in September).

- I was born at the end of May, so I was 4 years and 3 months old when I started school
- My middle brother was born in early August, so he was 4 years and 1 month old when he started school
- My youngest brother was born in early October, so he was 4 years and 11 months when he started school.

Alice will start reception this September - at FOUR.  I think it's WAY too young but she's already sounding out words to read them and write stuff, as she thinks it's fun.  So I'm not worried that it's too early for her.

I've generally found that kids start to read and write younger in the UK than in the US. I was reading at about age 4 (before I started school), whereas my cousin in the US didn't learn to read until she was 7.

My sister started kindergarten (reception) the year I was turning 3 (my birthday is near the end of September).  After a couple of days home alone with me and my incessant talking, my mother put down her charcoal (she was sitting on the floor making a charcoal drawing at the time), and asked "How would you like to go to school?"  I may not have been 3 yet, but I knew to be offended by the question.  But I said yes because clearly I wasn't wanted at home!

After two years of preschool, at the age of 4 years and 11 months, I started kindergarten.  I had to go to a different classroom for reading.  My teacher did a make-work activity at the start of the day while waiting for all the kids to show up in the morning... we had a bucket of crayons and some paper, and we had to practice writing the alphabet or our numbers.  I always chose the alphabet because there are only 26 letters and I understood the concept of infinity.  Other kids at that table were not very clever.  My teacher did get exasperated with me, though!  I apparently argued with her too much.  But only when she was wrong!

Anyway, if Alice is ready, don't let her age trouble you.  Let her thrive.

Back in the '90's, my oldest turned 4 in early January but Wokingham and Woodley Local Education Authority (Berkshire) schools had three school intakes for Reception: September 1, January 1 and April 1. He was accompanying me on a fiancée visa and we didn't change to a spousal one until late February so he went to Reception on April 1st. He did really well because he liked the social interaction with the other kids.

My middle son was born at the end of September and we moved to Bolton LEA and they only had one intake where he had to be 4 on September 1. His sister was born in late January so she had to wait until September too.

The middle child drove me crazy being at home so I ended up paying good money to put him in nursery from 9 to 4, M-F. When he was finally able to attend reception, he was actually pissed off after his first day. He said that they do "baby work that I have been doing at home FOR YEARS". He also asked his teacher why she was not teaching him to read and she said they didn't really do that until Year 1. He refused to go back to school unless he started in Year 1. He got tested and was put into Year 1 the following week. But the days before this happened made me wonder why I thought having a second child was a good idea. 🤦🏻‍♀️

When we moved to the US at the end of his Year 1, he started school in the third grade because of his ability to read and write well and do sums due to the schooling he received in England. He graduated from his US high school the June before his 17th birthday.

My daughter started school in the US and she didn't really read or write well until she was about seven. I found the education a bit slow in comparison to what my boys had done in England by her age. But she is a self-motivated person so she's done a lot of independent learning and when she turned eight, we moved to a more structured and academically challenging public school district.

She finally graduates May 2019 but not before doing two SAT's, EIGHT more AP's (she's already doing three this May) and then decided that she wants to play another instrument in her final year in band and she's decided to enter clubs and Lord knows what else. She's mistaken me for a rich person. The money never seems to stop flowing from my account to her educational fund.

And in 2019, we can save up for our spousal visa. Yay!

One day I'll buy jewelry again...




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I've heard time and time again that primary school education is head and shoulders above the USA here.  And I have definitely seen that.

While I hate that they start so young, *at least* it's learning through play the first year or two.  I think having waited to have kids until my late 30's has made me appreciate the opportunity to "just be a kid".   

But Alice is bright (okay, I'm a bit biased).  And I know she'll do pretty well in school.

I was reading in kindergarten (didn't get a nap because I had reading group), but yes, most kids didn't do reading until 6/7.  And you know what?  That's okay.  So long as they aren't bored.   

I do wish after school activities were bigger here.  And we do still think we'll move to the USA before secondary school.  We'll see though.  One never quite knows what the future holds.

While I hate that they start so young, *at least* it's learning through play the first year or two.  I think having waited to have kids until my late 30's has made me appreciate the opportunity to "just be a kid".   

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see the issue with starting school at age 4. I did and I never felt like I missed out on 'just being a child'... if anything, I feel like it made my childhood better.

It's not like you do 'proper' work for the first year or so anyway, and it gives you a chance to meet and interact with other kids and make potentially life-long friends. I'm actually Facebook friends with almost everyone in my primary school class and I still bump into a few of them now and then, even though it's been nearly 24 years since we left the school (and some of them live halfway around the world now).

My vague memories of Reception class (it was 30 years ago!) involve playing with sand and water, playing outside, having afternoon rest time, being read stories and doing arts and crafts. Then again, I think times have changed a bit since the 80s. I didn't get any homework at all until I started secondary school, whereas, my brother, who is 7 years younger than me, got homework during primary school.

Having seen the mountains of homework my US cousins used to get in elementary school, it makes my primary schooling seem like a breeze .

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see the issue with starting school at age 4. I did and I never felt like I missed out on 'just being a child'... if anything, I feel like it made my childhood better.

It's not like you do 'proper' work for the first year or so anyway, and it gives you a chance to meet and interact with other kids and make potentially life-long friends. I'm actually Facebook friends with almost everyone in my primary school class and I still bump into a few of them now and then, even though it's been nearly 24 years since we left the school (and some of them live halfway around the world now).

My vague memories of Reception class (it was 30 years ago!) involve playing with sand and water, playing outside, having afternoon rest time, being read stories and doing arts and crafts. Then again, I think times have changed a bit since the 80s. I didn't get any homework at all until I started secondary school, whereas, my brother, who is 7 years younger than me, got homework during primary school.

Having seen the mountains of homework my US cousins used to get in elementary school, it makes my primary schooling seem like a breeze .

Thank you for that!  It's awesome to hear you have such great memories of school!

What a lovely hubby jfkimberly!

But then -- and this is the part that really got me -- my husband added, "We made this awesome moment. I always wanted to do something with my life.  Since I met you, I feel like I have."

I love your husband!

I love your husband!

Me too!   

Back in the '90's, my oldest turned 4 in early January but Wokingham and Woodley Local Education Authority (Berkshire) schools had three school intakes for Reception: September 1, January 1 and April 1. He was accompanying me on a fiancée visa and we didn't change to a spousal one until late February so he went to Reception on April 1st. He did really well because he liked the social interaction with the other kids.

My middle son was born at the end of September and we moved to Bolton LEA and they only had one intake where he had to be 4 on September 1. His sister was born in late January so she had to wait until September too.

The middle child drove me crazy being at home so I ended up paying good money to put him in nursery from 9 to 4, M-F. When he was finally able to attend reception, he was actually pissed off after his first day. He said that they do "baby work that I have been doing at home FOR YEARS". He also asked his teacher why she was not teaching him to read and she said they didn't really do that until Year 1. He refused to go back to school unless he started in Year 1. He got tested and was put into Year 1 the following week. But the days before this happened made me wonder why I thought having a second child was a good idea. 🤦🏻‍♀️

When we moved to the US at the end of his Year 1, he started school in the third grade because of his ability to read and write well and do sums due to the schooling he received in England. He graduated from his US high school the June before his 17th birthday.

My daughter started school in the US and she didn't really read or write well until she was about seven. I found the education a bit slow in comparison to what my boys had done in England by her age. But she is a self-motivated person so she's done a lot of independent learning and when she turned eight, we moved to a more structured and academically challenging public school district.

She finally graduates May 2019 but not before doing two SAT's, EIGHT more AP's (she's already doing three this May) and then decided that she wants to play another instrument in her final year in band and she's decided to enter clubs and Lord knows what else. She's mistaken me for a rich person. The money never seems to stop flowing from my account to her educational fund.

And in 2019, we can save up for our spousal visa. Yay!

One day I'll buy jewelry again...




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You know. It really depends what school district you're in.

I may not have started full on reading until I was 6 (in first grade) when I lived in MN. We only did half day kindergarten at the kindergarten only school I went too. But when I moved to Colorado I was at least 1 full year (if not two) ahead of my classmates in math and reading. It wasn't until we got to multiplication tables in the second half of 4th grade (at my second CO school that divided  us up into 4 or 5 different ability levels, I was in the top)that I even had to try. The Minneapolis School system was WAY ahead of the Colorado schools I attended. I wish we'd stayed there. Colorado schools just kind of sucked.

I also love this post!

You guys totally made his day and that's amazing.

The sign isn't too shabby either! 😉

Fantastic sign!
You made the sign, which made your husband happy.
He gave it to  Glyn, which made Glyn happy.
Glyn loved it, which made everybody happy.
That's a whole lot of happiness coming from a simple act of kindness. Sometimes life just makes you smile.

You know. It really depends what school district you're in.

What she said. I spent my first several school years in a private Catholic school on the East Coast (NYC area) because the local public school was both awful academically and safety-wise. Moved to Texas and was a couple of years ahead of grade level there. Daughter started school in Texas, moved to California, and was a couple of years ahead of grade level there. Calif public schools were pretty bad... economics class teacher had them watching "The Apprentice" in class, gave them a handout on how to fill out a 1040EZ: copy this number into this blank, etc.  She was bored to tears. Both of us were reading at age 3, and the Daughter was at grade 3 level reading when she started kindergarten, where there was no mechanism to deal with her. They also stopped calling on her in class because she knew all the answers to all the questions. Had to sit on her hands in her chair while the other kids got lessons on shapes and colors. She was not allowed to read a book because "that wasn't fair to the other kids"... Not a good time.

In speaking to parents of school age children here in the UK, it does seem that they are better launched here. Daughter says, though, that when she was in classes with undergraduates at the Uni they were well behind the undergrads in her U.S. uni. Some had never written papers of any variety before and a lot of time was wasted in class with teaching them how to use the library, etc.

Daughter says, though, that when she was in classes with undergraduates at the Uni they were well behind the undergrads in her U.S. uni. Some had never written papers of any variety before and a lot of time was wasted in class with teaching them how to use the library, etc.

The US is much more paper-focused than the UK, and we don't really get taught how to write them in secondary school, because we don't really need to write any structured papers.

Whether you are taught how to write a paper may also depend on what subjects you've studied at A level, because some subjects are essay-heavy and others have no essays at all. I was never taught how to write a paper because I took nothing but physics, maths and geography from age 16 and I didn't have to write a single paper for any of those subjects. Maths and Geography were 100% exam-graded (6 exams over 2 years) and Physics was mostly exam-based, but it did involved a couple of small coursework projects that you had to write up in a lab book, and you couldn't even take it home with you.

Then I studied nothing but physics for all 4 years of university... and during undergrad, I only had to write 3 papers: a paper on a chosen scientist in first year, my background research report for my thesis in third year, and my final 10,000-word thesis in fourth year. I was so unprepared for the thesis, because although I knew about referencing etc., I'd never actually had to do it properly before. It wasn't until I got to my masters degree that I learned how to write a paper properly.

I'm not one for much romance, but this is adorable Thank you for sharing this! As usual, your creation is excellent too!