Why don't they allow kids to start school at 4 years of age instead of five (no one ever counts the several months in the womb-I guess we all are 1yr older). Wouldn't this by default accelerate learning & decrease drop-outs and thereby increase retention?
by 
BlackScholar
ANSWERS: 4
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Most school systems don't consider four-year olds mature enough to attend school, though some will allow children born late in the year to start at the earlier age. That's how I was able to start school at four years old.
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I started in the New York school system at four. When I transferred to Florida in fourth grade (8 years old) they offered to put me back "with my age group"... and two weeks later offered to push me up to the sixth grade to be with kids at my education level. Obviously, starting 6 months earlier didn't hurt me. I personally don't understand why they don't allow younger children to start school when they are ready.
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I think all states in the U.S. now have a voluntary pre k program that is free. But no I don't think that just because you start school younger that will lessen teenagers dropping out. Especially if the child is not ready for full time school yet.
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No. Four year old kids are simply too young. The early years, before school are incredibly important - kids learn by playing. If you try to teach academic subjects too early on (such as reading, counting and so on), it has a detrimental effect. To begin with, toddlers are ahead of classmates in reading/writing and maths when they have been taught early on. However, studies have shown that this is only temporary - the academic group falls behind other children by the age of ten (as in those who spent their formative years playing in a less structured environment). In fact, by the age of 10 there was a marked difference between the two groups with regard to both ability and IQ.
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