Possible HUGE Mistake in the Molly books!

[sharlit]

I was going to not post off topic, but that restraint is too difficult! [img]tongue.gif[/img] Sometimes I think it would be nice if there were less posts on this board so I wouldn't spend as much time reading it. I am compulsive and have to read every post. (This is totally my own problem, so no one else worry about what you're posting! Ironically, I think people shouldn't really complain about what's being posted because they could just not read it if they don't like it.) But I have learned so much from this board! I was able to talk about foreign adoptions in psychology class. I knew nothing about them until they got talked about here. And by the time I have a kid, I think I'll know as much about parenting as if it were my second child. [img]tongue.gif[/img] So, on to the topic:

Originally posted by dianasmama:

And, he'll be legally of drinking age at age 18 when he enters his Senior year too.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">You can drink at 18 in Ohio? That is so cool, I know a lot of people who would love to move there. (I'm a college student.)

Personally I think all these arguments about age spans are better fit to impliment changes in legal ages for driving and such than for school ages. I think people mature at different levels and ideally we'd be put into school and everything else by that. But I'm not sure we even have the capabilities today to spot these differences and place children accordingly. I like to think someday we will.

As for ages, I started preschool at 2 because I really wanted to go. My mom gave in. [img]tongue.gif[/img] So I went to two years of preschool and started kindergarten at 4. But then I was held back in kindergarten so I ended up on track with my classmates, though I was one of the older kids in my class. Also, I never attended a public school until college, so I dunno how that would have influenced me.

Question: are children required to go to kindergarten? I was thinking only 1st grade is legally required, but I could be wrong. Are there certain schooling laws that are federal or are all schooling laws decided by states and districts? No need to know this besides I'm just curious.

[dornroeschen]

It's really interesting to learn about the school system in other countries. I only know how it's done in Austria, England and France - as in the latter two I worked as au pair/nanny for children aged between 9 months and 9 years.

Here in Austria you start Kindergarten when you're 3 years old at the earliest. It is not mandatory, and it's not like the Kindergarten you describe that you learn your letters or numbers already. It's more like a playgroup and you learn mostly nursery songs and rhymes.

Some children will attend "Vorschule" or pre-school, usually those born September - December of the year that they turn 6. Those who are 6 on 1 September of the new school year starting usually start primary/elementary school. All children who are already 6 by 1 September or the months thereafter will be introduced to the headmaster/mistress, who will have a talk with the child without the parents to see if s/he is mature enough to start school. In pre-school they will already start a little writing and reading. As of the first year in primary school they will start writing and reading and by the end of the school year in June will be able to read simple books.

My niece started Kindergarten when she was 3 as she's an only child and she always wanted to be with other children. Then when she was 6 (her birthday is 28 August - just shortly before the school year starts), she started primary school. She is now in third year and after the fourth, she will either move on to grammar school or secondary school, depending on her grades.

[courtneysunshine]

I'm not sure if this is a federal thing or a state thing, but in Florida you do not have to go to kindergarten. However, if your child does not attend kindergarten, they could be asked to take a test to determine they are ready for first grade. For homeschooling, we didn't need to inform the school system until she turned six. If a child is 6 on or before February 1st, they can start first grade. If not, they have to wait. I agree that children develop at different rates. Right now, my daughter is way ahead of children who go to public school in our area. Last year when we had her tested in what would have been her first grade year, she was reading at a fifth grade level and had basically just finished third grade. You usually see this with homeschooling. Sometimes homeschool child remain ahead of the rest and sometimes things even out as the children get older. It all depends on the child [img]smile.gif[/img] We sat in front of a public school group today at the Ballet and the diferences in maturity level in their second grade class was amazing. Some children were so well behaved and others were acting like monkeys. I asked one of the little boys what his favorite part was and he responded by telling me a particular dance that I thought might have been a little to advanced for a child to udnerstand. I was very impressed with him.

Kim