Kindergarten

I home-schooled my child for preschool along with her cousins. When they did go to school, they were ahead. We had a structured day but with only about two hours of "learning" however, they were learning all day. They knew and could write the alphabet, could read and write quite a few words and could do simple adding and subtracting. This was a great experience for them and me!

I'm not a fan of the public schooling system in general. So I would prefer to self teach at 5 years old rather than send them to public school. I do believe a parent must know the curriculum though then to have them stay home.

This is why many people home school. Where I live you can keep kids out of school until they are seven and even then start them in kindergarten. People like to do that with boys so they are physically bigger for sports. My children at four years old knew much more than the average kindergartener. I do agree though that a four year old needs to be playing and outdoors.

It's better to have pre-education so that the kid won't be left behind. They can learn the basics in kindergarten. I have been tutoring kids for several years now and here kids should already know how to read the basics before the first grade. But 8 hours a day is too long. Their attention span is limited at that age so you cannot really force them to sit at that long hours. 2-3 hours a day is already fine.

My boys went to a pre school nursery from 3-5

I would seriously recommend you look into homeschooling for the first few years. Based on what you're saying about the school environment, you might find it eases your mind about the transition to school. If you do decide to do school, ask about whether you can opt to do half days for kindergarten. I know my kids' school had a full-day program for pre-K, but some parents opted to just do the first part of the morning, until about 10:30 or so. It was a good introduction for some kids, as they got to experience the school environment daily and start making friendships with their peers. But they didn't have the pressure of staying all day, or completely shifting their routine in one fell swoop. Some schools also offer for kids to go part-time, just 2-3 days a week. That might suit your family, as well.

A four year old having an eight hour class is too much. My son started going to school when he was 2, It was his personal choice to be with other kids, learning and playing at the same time. I allowed him because he was always alone at home and it was better that he interact with other kids. But his class was only for two hours. When he was three he went to a regular pre-school but only for 4 hours and that continued until he was 5. he was already 6 years old when he went too first grade for an 8 hour class.

Of course not. A 4-5 year old can only sit in class for maybe just a couple of hours or so. Maximum 3 hours.