What is the ideal age for a child to start school?

Oh! I wouldn't suggest your friend to do that. Once a child start school, then it would go on until he goes working. I mean, a child must first enjoy his life as a child. I personally wouldn't agree with that. Me myself, I have started school one year ahead but it doesn't seem to cause problems with me. However a 3 year old starting to school is just a different situation. I hope your friend changes his mind. Please convince your friend. :)

Hi king4aday! I really think it depends on the young child behavior toward learning. If a child is already found (and enjoying) things that usually being done in school (for this matter, nursery) such as singing, dancing, drawing and coloring, and interacting with other children, then I think he or she might enjoy school activities. What I see that would put young child with school phobia, is when parents force them to go to school even if they don't like or let's say beyond their desire. I have did this to my young girl and enroll her in school (nursery) as "saling-pusa". But I make sure to observed her behavior inside the school, whether she will like it or not, with the intention of pulling her out once she complained about school. After a few months, I have make her stay in school because I could see her intellectual development and good interaction with other children (her shyness was greatly improved).

My daughter started schooling at age of 21/2 wile my son started 3 on toddlers.Schools are offering kids friendly methods.This approach they are giving are very interesting to this young kids.

hi king4aday actually i enrolled my child at 3 years and 4 months age. i was thinking twice to enroll him, because he is so young. but when i ask him, he wants to go to school he says yes always. i guess its ok since he is in nursery and school time is just two hours a day. at least he gets to know other children and play with them sometimes. he learns alot and yet i do not force him to study all the time. take care

Now adays, parents are so busy with family and work and extra activities that children who knows how to talk and walk as young as 2 years old are enrolled in school. It's okay when you enroll kids in school as long as it's a play school or toddler school where every kid gets to play, eat, take a nap, do stories and nothing else. When children are forced to do something when not yet interested, the tendency is that they rebel at an early age and it's really a problem getting them to be interested to really go to a real school. Some preparatory schools now are into teaching kids to read and write early, it's not a problem as long as the kids are really interested and some of the kids are advanced in this area. And parents should not scold the kids when they don't know how to spell cat or dog at an early age because other kids can already spell. My nephew went to nursery school as a visitor when he was 3 because there was no babysitter, it was a play school for most but those who showed interest like him were already taught some lessons which should be in kindergarten. Tough!!

You meant the real school? Wow, that is too young. If its kindergarden then ok, but the real school?! No way, children need to live their childhood, they'll have to be serious way too soon anyway, so let them have a few normal years of childhood.

In my country children start to go to school at the age of 3. So it is the same with your country. My niece started to go to school when she was only 2. Just imagine that. This is because her mother is working at the Kuala Lumpur City Centre and I understand she is competing with other co-workers there. Everybody in her office is boasting about their children's capability, so no wonder my niece had to attend school at the early age of 2. But I think going to school at an early age has many advantages too. In this way the child will be exposed to the outer world earlier and she or he will get matured quicker. His or her learning capabilities is at the maximum peak at this age and it is the best time to teach them all about life and education.

i dont know if there is an ideal age for a child to start schooling, but i started going to school when i was four years old. i think when i will have a baby, i will send him or her to school at that age too.. at least she or he will have at least four years to enjoy and prepare for school life. maybe i will send him to school when he or she is four but at the age 3, i will be home teaching my baby about colors and letters. those things that he or she will eventually learn in school.:)

Well, my daughter will turn 3 next year... but i won't enroll her to school just yet... i plan to do it when she turns 4 or 5... depending on her attitude... she is a very shy kid... and i would like to develop her people skills... but it won't help if i enroll her early... Just like what you said... she might easily lose interest in studying so it is best to just wait when kids are ready to go to school...

I guess, as long as the kid has this certain kind of need to socialize with other kids and the kid's intellectual needs are quite increasing, then sending the kid regardless of the age is one of the best options to consider.

Well, I think if a child is already ready to go to school and if the parents can already afford to send their child to school.. Well, I stated going to school at the age of 6 years old.. I started already in Kinder II.. Then my first niece start going to school at the age of 5 years old, while my cousins started to go to school at the age of 3 for toddlers.. I went to school very late because my father that time was very busy taking good care of my grandfather (his father) who undergo operation since he has diabetic.. I think it really depends to the parents whether they want to let their child enrolled in school in a very young age.. It also depends to the ability of the child whether he/she can already handle the social situations.. Well, if the kids will like school maybe he/she wouldn't get bored or loss interest studying when he/she grows up already.. But if the child has no good experience in the school or there's nothing that motivate him/her to go to school then maybe there is really a big chance that she/he will get bored or loss interest going to school.. What is the best thing to do is to let the parents motivate their child, I think that will really help for them to be active in school..

i thought that's not a good to send your child on school at very young age. children at that very young age are more playful.

Lolz. So young but if she wants to then its fine. A parent should decide whats best for his/her child and thats what she's doing right now.

I think it is at age 4 when a child must go to school. That will be at nursery level where the class is not too formal and the kid won't be pressured for school. It sets him or makes him ready for Kindergarten on the following year.

If my child reached 3 years old I will just let him enter kindergarten. I just cannot leave my son alone in the house. I remember when I was in 4th year high school. My teacher told us that to know if a child is ready to enter preschool. Check if your child can touch his left ear by his right hand, or right ear touch by the left hand. If he can touch it then he is ready to enter preschool.

I think 4 years old is good for schooling already . Age under that may bore them in the long run since they have been studying for the longest time. FOur years old for nursery, 5 for kinder and 6 years old for grade 1 just right ,

I agree with you on sending kids to school at an early age. It would be good for a child to be exposed to the outside environment and explore at a young age. The ages 3-6 are crucial stages of a child's developing brain. The more a child experiences and learns at this stage, the better would be his stature when he/she grows up. It's also a good way of giving your child an idea of independence and social interaction. I for one started my first elementary year when I was barely 6 yrs old and skipped prep school and kindergarten (",).

Well, schools I'm familiar with often require 2/3 years of schooling before officially entering the first grade, so I think 4/5 is the ideal age to start school (though this is with the notion that Grade 1 students are often 7 years old where I am). My brother and I started school late, though, at the age of 6. My brother only studied one year of pre-school before going to the first grade, and while the school I went to required at least 2 years of preschool to advance, I was accelerated due to a high level of performance (which, I think, has more to do with the fact that I know more due to my age rather than any excellent mental capacity on my part, if that makes sense at all) and started Grade 1 on the "correct" age. I think a child's "ideal" age would really depend on the child, though. There are a lot of factors to consider when a child starts school, and it's not just whether or not they're intelligent enough to catch up to their schoolmates in terms of mental intelligence. School, from my experience, is 4-5 hours long even in preschool and a child has to be emotionally developed enough to be able to socially handle themselves with people who are essentially strangers, be left alone by their parents in a foreign place, deal with what happens to them in an environment that is unfamiliar to them, and so forth. (I remember how my first day of preschool was memorable because one classmate cried for the whole duration of it, crying out for his mother who he didn't know was watching through the window anyway; I don't remember seeing him again, though I think he rejoined the school a year later)

Hey there! That is too young. The child's juvenile mind cannot respond fast and well to it, unless the kid is gifted. Even if that's kindergarten three years old is too young. Your friend should have waited till the child reaches five.