In PA, K is not compulsory and districts do not have to offer it. Most districts do offer it, and our district just went to full day K. They claim that there are larger reading and math achievement gains of full day kids vs half day kids, they can ID learning issues earlier, more time for teacher to get to know kids, etc. I guess I don't really care since mine are older and always attended full day daycare or school from 2-3 months on. Also interesting to note that our district was just rated #1 in the state by the new PA rating system - don't know why they need the "benefits" of full day.
Even more surprising in PA, a kid does not need to attend school until the year in which they turn 8. If the kid turns 8 more than two weeks into the school year, they can wait another year to start school. Of course, I don't know anyone who waited until their kid was 8 (or almost 9) to start school. There aren't too many homeschoolers around here, but I understand that you don't need to notify anyone of the intent to homeschool until the kid is 8.
The thing is, most kids start school at 5. Definitely by age 6. I think others would think it was kind of weird to wait until 8, and if you didn't homeschool, you would have a bunch of 8 year olds who could not read entering school (and placed in with the 1st graders).
