Good article. It should be noted that in Queensland at least preschool is supposedly optional but both state and private schools are informing parents that if their children are not enrolled in preschool , then they are not permitted to hold a Year 1 place for them.
There was far too little public discussion about this prior to it's introduction.

Compulsory Pre-School(or Prep)? No, there is no need for this. There is however, need to truly reform schools where the system is nationalised so that the education is uniform across the nation.

An area in need of reform in Queensland is fixing the system so that Year 1 becomes Kindergarten, Year 2 becomes Year 1 and so on until there is a full 13 years of education.

Also, the age entry requirements of Pre-School is ridiculous. We just had our daughter refused entry for next year as she is born after June(b. Aug). She is able to count to 10 to 15, learning to count to 20, keen to learn more.

She is hungry for knowledge yet the QLD governments wants to hold her back a year. This would put her behind and quite possibly bore her into low marks which is common.

Real reform is necessary. Not politicians known for their backyard mechanics.

"Preschool should remain optional so that parents are in control of the amount of time their children spend there."
I agree with the author- preschool should be free but not compulsory. It's a good article.

Making pre-school compulsory would mean some parents would have to take their children kicking and screaming when they are obviously not ready or do not want to go.

I don't agree with the whole idea about 'preparing' children for school.

Why do they need to be prepared and for what?
The school should adjust to the children's capabilities and cater for all levels- there should be no preparation needed.
Schools should adapt to whatever stage the children are up to; children should not be made to adjust to 'fit into' a school neither should they have to be 'prepared' for school.

SCHOOLS should prepare!

Spider,
I know what you mean. To be honest, my kids learnt next to nothing at preschool because they, like your daughter, were eager to learn naturally from an early age at home.
Going to preschool for some mature children is like repeating what they already know.
I do understand that there will have to be some cut-off age, but I also think that this schould be a guideline. In your daughter's case, if she is socially and emotionally ready and a mature child, I'd like to see preschools make exceptions and accept such children, at least for a trial period.

Preschool can have some social avantages, but many kids are not ready for socialising with a rather big group of children at this early age.
Mixing with kids in the street, at playgroup, or with siblings, other kids in the family or kids of friends of te parents will provide all they socially need for these early years of their lives.

My youngest son didn't want to go to pre-school at all. He hated it, said it was too loud, too many unruly kids, no doors on bathrooms, forced to rest when he had stopped his day nap years before. He complained that teachers were often too busy doing other things to supervise the kids. My son didn't feel safe and it made him sick in the stomach and made his bones ache, literally.

I don't think that it is a good idea to make pre-school compulsory. It doesn't suit all kids. My son tried it a few times, didn't like it so we gave up and he just stayed home where he felt protected and safe.

He is 9 years old now and for fun and pleasure he is reading Harry Potter. Not attending pre-school didn't do him too much harm and given that he would have become very unhappy if forced, I think it did him good. Not to mention the fun that we had together. To think of all the fun that I would have missed out on as his mum if he had gone to pre-school.

Good one - free but not compulsory, although with a certain degree of "encouragement" for those children in a pretty poor home situation.

Normally I have a set of alarm bells that go DINGDINGDINGDINGDING whenever I see or hear the word "homeschooling" (and normally they turn out to be right! Unfortunately homeschooling parents can be wackos at times) but Susan Wight has written a very well-balanced article. Nice.

Yes Sue! It's so good to hear some sense being spoken on this topic. Homes are very social places. Why should children learn more from time spent in structured institutions run by paid strangers than from the many activities in their own homes? Mums need to gain confidence in their own abilities to provide for their children's learning instead of believing the brainwash that tells them that home is no good for children. Thanks Sue.