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Editing my response, I read the question wrong.

DS will be 5.5 when he starts compulsory school, CP, the equivalent of US kindergarten.

I'm fine with it.

My kids will likely go to a half-day preschool (8:30-12:00) starting when they are 3. My first will be 4yrs 9mo when the "pre-k" year begins, so I may put him in full day depending on what it seems he needs. #2 will be an August baby, so he will have just turned 4 the year before kindergarten, so we'll have to see then too.

I teach pre-k (public, state-funded for at-risk kids) and I absolutely agree with you. There's a ton of difference (usually) between a kid who just turned 4 and one who is going to be 5 in less than a month. However, my program is "play based" so even though it's a full day, they are supposed to have free play/centers for 1/3 of the day, so when you factor in meals/naps, they're definitely not doing a ton of "academic" traditional-like lessons each day.

I think it's crazy that even though it's not "mandatory," you basically have to send your kid to get a spot! Education must be really competitive there.

My son will begin at 5 years, 9 months in full time, public school kindergarten. The day runs from 9-3, with lunch.

I had a discussion with his teacher and for us, the issue is not the length of the program, it's the transitions to activites that tend to stress my son out. So for now, he will remain in a play based program. This is the last year that they will have morning and afternoon sessions separated, next year they move to "full day" which is around 9-1.

H will be 5 years, 10 months when she starts kindergarten and it upsets me. She misses the age cutoff by 6 days.

@Ree723: from what I understand, no school here is compulsory before the kindergarten-equivalent level.

K is only half a day
So FT will be 1st grade and he will be a few weeks away from turning 7.

DD will be 6

She'll be 3 years, 9 months starting JK, which is full-day here.

@Ree723: School in the U.K. really confuses me! When I lived in England I wasn't 100% sure when DD needed to start, but I think it was the year after she turned 5, so she would be 5yrs 11 months...but since moving to Wales I've heard they start a year earlier. Maybe it's compulsory to start at 4, whereas in England it's just an option? If so, she will be 4yrs 11 months as she has a September birthday and just missed the cut off.

The cutoff for Kindergarten is September 1 and she has an early August birthday (and school starts in late August), so she'll be newly 5 when she starts.

L will attend daycare/pre-k at the same daycare she's at now through 5 1/2, so I didn't count that since it's more of a daycare/play format, less of a formal educational. Our cut-off for starting elementary school is pretty early here: August 1. With a January birthday, L isn't even close! So she'll be 5 and 7 months when she starts formal kindergarten--and not all the public kindergartens here are full-day; though they probably will be by the time she's in kindergarten.

Full day will be when DS starts kindergarten. He's an early August baby and the school cut off is 8/31, so we haven';t decided if we will send him at 5 or hold him a year until age 6. The norm where we live seems to be to hold young 5's, (especially boys) until they are 6.

He'll start full day kindergarten at 4y 10 months, unless we decide to push it back one year depending on his readiness.

He'll be 2.5 when he starts part-time preschool this spring, we'll move to five half-days probably in the fall until kindergarten!

It sounds like the issue the format of the school. If there is a preponderance of free and outdoor time, I think a 4 year-old could handle a full day. If it's mostly classroom-based activities (planned centers and workshops, for example), my opinion changes. I think transitions between subjects/areas of focus are really tough for 4 year olds, but I have a sample size of one.

ETA: Actually, it sounds like the issue isn't the format so much as the time away from family. In that respect, I agree with you 100%. Four year olds absolutely enjoy hanging out with their family and I think it's better for them than formal school.

L will start at 4 years 8 months.
C will start at 3 years 8 months.
They're two years apart, but their births fell across the school cutoff.

My town has free public preschool starting at age 3. His birthday is in March, so he'll be exactly 3.5 when the school year starts. It's full time and a 6-hour day. I assume we will use it since it's FREE. If we have a second child, then it'll probably be good for him to get a break from his sibling. And if we don't, then we can save significantly on the cost of a nanny by only hiring someone for the afternoon.

DD will be 4 next month and is in preschool 3 days a week for 3.5 hours/day.
She'll do pre-k 5 days a week starting this fall-- 4 hours/day.
And will do kindergarden "full time" when she's 5.5.

My DD1 will be 5 years, 4 months (May birthday) when she starts school full time.

DD2 will be 5 years, 10 months when she starts full time (November birthday).

Until then, they will be in private pre-k 3x a week (2.5 hourange a day).

@Rainbow Sprinkles: the private school near us takes kids at 4 years and 10 months. They said LO might qualify at 4 years and 8 months if she passes several tests on top of their entrance interview and test.... I think we will just go the public route!

For us, it totally depends on the lottery. In our city, there are lotteries for preschool (age 3) as well as junior K (age 4). However, it is likely we won't get in and she will probably start regular K closer to age 6 (she is an early October baby, so we missed the cutoff by about a month).

@Rainbow Sprinkles: @autumnlove: @mrsjyw: my sister is a November baby too, and she was tested by the public system to start school early. She passed every test with flying colors, except she couldn't skip rope, so they didn't let her. So ridiculous! She was so much older than most of her class. I hope since then, they've changed some of the rules and let kids start when it's a best fit for them.