Maybe, just maybe, the issue is that they start school reading, then spend the next several years being held back while others catch up... setting up negative patterns for the rest of their lives? Making them feel badly about themselves or, in some situations, superior? Neither of which would lead to good longer-term outcomes.
Or, perhaps there's something to the point of not trying to turn all four and five year olds into mini-academics, sitting in neat rows for hours each day. I can see that, and it doesn't seem the way we're heading.
Maybe I'm just cynical.
