How old were you when you started school?

[Epona]

I started when I was 4. Normal starting age is 5 in the UK, but for some reason the school in the area I lived took kids at 4. I could already read and write when I started school. Then at age 9 I went to middle school - this was a system peculiar to the county I lived in at the time and has now been abolished (due to central govt taking more control over education policy to set up a national system). Then from 13-16 I went to secondary school, and 16-18 to sixth form college (which is not compulsory).

[RoSs_bg2_rox]

Originally posted by andrewas: I started at 4, but that was cos my birthday is before march. Normal age over here is 5.

im the same as Andrewas, started at 4 but that was because i had an early bday

[HammerHead]

7, but that was many, many years ago. I'm not sure at what age thay start today.

C

[The Hierophant]

Originally posted by cazzie: i started when i was a whole 5 y/o [img]smile.gif[/img] um have u tried looking up the ministry of educations website? cuz it should have a whol lotta info on it n stuf that could b useful, hope it helps [img]smile.gif[/img]

Oh yeah, I've looked up the ministry's site. I also have a huge pile of textbooks beside me which I'm trying to put off reading until the last minute

I just logged on to Ironworks and figured making this thread would be a good way to get a general impression on what the worldwide view of starting school is. And it's worked great. Some awwesome answers guys. Thanks, you've helped me alot [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[Azred]

I started school when I was 5, but not in kindergarten. Because I was reading by the age of 4, they bumped me into first grade a year early. TJ, on the other hand, began kindergarten at 5, which is normal.

Don't you just love the word "kindergarten"? "child garden"...appropriate, I suppose....

[BaRoN NiGhT]

if your asking me when did i join the elementary school, then i was at the age of 6 that time.thats the normal one.but some parents put their children to school at the age of 5.

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[Aelia Jusa]

I started preschool the year I turned 5, so I was 4 when the school year started. I think preschool is a compulsory year in Queensland (it may not have been then actually, but it is now). So then I started grade 1 when I was 5 going on 6. The year before I started you could start a year earlier than that, but my year they changed it so you had to turn (at least) 6 in grade 1. I know quite a lot of children (my cousins for example) who have birthdays in December who did not start grade 1 until they were 6 going on 7 however, because in actual months they'd been alive they were a lot younger than kids who had birthdays in April or May or such. I think the law is you have to start school before you turn 7.

I'm sure how it is enforced! I'm sure the ideal it that it would be; perhaps when parents register the birth of their kids the date of birth is put on a database and they get sent a letter or something when the time comes for them to go to school! (LOL I just made that up off the top of my head so don't take that as gospel ).

[True_Moose]

Preschool I started when I was 3, kindergarten when I was 5.

[img]graemlins/offtopic.gif[/img] Why do they call it kindergarten? I always wondered.

[Jorath Calar]

I started when I was 6... figure I'll be in school til I'm 80...

[Reeka]

Well, I went to kindergarten when I was 5, but it was only for a half-day and we didn't really learn anything. It was to mainly get you used to being away from your mom or whoever was your primary care-giver. I started first grade at age 6. They didn't required kindergarten when I was little, but they do require kindergarten now and they actually learn academic things in kindergarten.