Early reading v continental custom - teachers’ thoughts sought

I am Polish born and brought up. Did not start school until 7 and a half. I have 2 undergraduate degrees and 2 post grad. I’ve had a very successful career and am trilingual. It’s barbaric to be sending 4 year olds to school and expect them to sit at their desks 9 - 3. Why? And to what purpose, other than getting them out from under your feet. Guess that was the original purpose. Can’t honestly think of any other.

I don't think the decision of when children start school was the decision of parents so nothing to do with "getting them out from under your feet".
If children are held back for a year they then miss out on Reception class which involves a significant amount play, albeit structured play. They are not sitting all day at desks in rows listening to the teacher.

Goldieoldie15

I am Polish born and brought up. Did not start school until 7 and a half. I have 2 undergraduate degrees and 2 post grad. I’ve had a very successful career and am trilingual. It’s barbaric to be sending 4 year olds to school and expect them to sit at their desks 9 - 3. Why? And to what purpose, other than getting them out from under your feet. Guess that was the original purpose. Can’t honestly think of any other.

You obviously have no idea of life in a reception class in the UK. Your comments about “getting them out from under your feet” are rude and uninformed, hopefully not due to your late start in school.
You are to be congratulated on your degrees, but there is no way of proving that your late start in schooling has any relationship to those.
My DB has degrees and a doctorate and is also trilingual. He started at almost 5. He might just as well argue that that early start is responsible for his achievements, though I doubt if he would be that silly.

Here they have a year, sometimes two, of kinder so school starts by the age of 6, depending on their birthdays. They are not taught to read at kinder, just social skills, a little basic counting perhaps and listening to reading, structured days etc. There is a move to start 3 year old kinder but it is still aged 4. Oh, and it’s not free !

Since the emphasise is on phonics in so many schools, which is just one of several strategies that can be used, then starting school at seven is desirable. That leaves time to enjoy stories, sing songs, enjoy rhymes and look at picture books.
Never underestimate story time cuddled up with parents or other members of the family. That is the time that love of books is more likely to be established without unnecessary pressure of formal learning. The latter can easily reduce enthusiasm for engaging with a book as it is so easy to teach a child that it is too difficult. At seven all the good experiences of stories of all kinds, songs, rhymes, play acting and maturity are so more easily able to extend to formal teaching with success rather than to learn that reading is difficult and best avoided. That way a love of books is more likely to be established which lasts a life time.

I taught for 50 years and have enabled many children from 4 to teenage to use books for enjoyment and information. Lately UK schools put a lot of (over) emphasis on phonics which are simply one part of learning to read, not the be all and end all.
After retiring I volunteered with Beanstalk. This organisation puts adults ( no teaching experience necessary) together with children in need of support with reading and a carefully selected range of books. This one to one attention has most encouraging results within a month or two. It is about sharing and enjoying books and it works.

Lovetopaint037 but when there is lots of cuddles and reading at home, children teach themselves to read. That is how I learned to read, well before reaching school age, and the same with DH, DC and DGC, in fact most children will be well on the way to reading, if not reading, by 5 and certainly well before 7 when they come from a home where there are books in the home, they are read to and they see their parents reading.

when they come from a home where there are books in the home, they are read to and they see their parents reading. and we are back to this problem of culture of decline in some sections of society that sees homes where children only see their parents reading their phones, of parents who are poor readers themselves or don’t see reading to their children as a key component of child rearing, and of homes where there are no actual books. The headteacher at the school I volunteer at told me that this deterioration in some children’s exposure to the written word outside the school setting is one of the main things that keeps him awake at night!

I think there is a lot to be said for giving young children time to develop the skills needed for formal learning before pushing reading. Being able to concentrate, listen, communicate and follow instructions provides a strong foundation for later reading. Children also develop at different rates, so starting later does not automatically mean falling behind. The important thing is what happens once formal teaching begins and whether children receive the support they need. Comparing one child with friends who learned earlier also risks making normal differences in development seem like a problem.

Some children are very keen to read early, and take to it very easily.
Others, perhaps most especially some boys, just aren’t properly ready. I don’t think it at all a bad idea to leave formal teaching until 7, when they’ll all be that much more ready for it.

My Gds started reception at not much over 4 - he was always extremely active - a human hurricane - so trying to get him to read early on was painful. Of course he did it eventually, but leaving it for at least a year or two would have been much better for him, and for everyone else who had to try to get him to do it!
I noticed that he really began to be interested in it at over 6 - when out and about he would want to read any signs he saw in the street etc.

Greyduster What you say is so true.

I had a long discussion with DS a senior academic about the Jason Aday case.

In a broader discussion about diversity he commented that the biggest problem was not necessarily a question of poverty, although that is a contributor, but of the lack of social capital of so many children. They haven't been read to, they have never visited a museum, or art gallery, do not go for walks in the park and talk about what they see. Schools are now so narrowly concentrated on functional education that music, drama, art school visits to farms and other places are no longer provided in many areas.

Our kids all loved to read ,the 6 year old has been reading since not long after her third birthday .
The school has her in a language and reading group 2 years older than her.
When she was sent back to her own age group for a different lesson she took the teacher aside and told her that these wee kids are very exuberant.
She’s a bright girl and it would be a shame if she was held back while children caught up with her .They will learn young if they are interested and nothing will stop them.
I was the same ,I had read books for much older children while I was still in primary school and in first year of high school had a nun who encouraged me while others lagged behind .