I was just curious - is the Kindergarten year in the USA compulsory?

Until recently, here in South africa, a Grade 0 or K year was optional and many kids only started school at grade 1. (although in the private sector many many schools start with grade 000 (age 3 turning 4)

Now this Grade 0 year has just been made compulsory. So I was wondering if it's compulsory there in the US (and in other countries too)

Both of my DD skipped K (but they had to take the test) and I am sure many in this forum. OTOH, many deserving kids could not skip due to ignorance of the school administartors or the school district policy.

Depends on your state. I know in California K is not compulsory although it's uncommon to not send your kids for K. But each state makes their own rules about this and about the what age cutoff. And because of this there is a age cutoff for 1st grade as well. It's a bit confusing even for us in the states.

I think here in my state it's age 7. So no, K is not compulsory. A lot of districts offer half-day K, and others offer full-day K, and some give parents an option, charging them a fee to enroll full day rather than part day.

Kindergarten is not federally mandated. First grade is. However, each state or even each city/town may have regulations or requirements if you plan to homeschool or enroll your child in private/public school for first - depending on the cutoff age.

Okay...how's this for fun...

It isn't compulsory to attend at that age, but if you try to then enroll as a first grader the following year (as is fully in your right) they have the right to evaluate your child during the first nine weeks and put him or her in K if they don't pass muster. If they do fine in first, they are okay with it.

Last year I volunteered at my son's school in a first grade room a few times and really had to babysit this little girl she was EVERYWHERE! Hot mess. She needed individual attention for every single minute. Went back the next week and she was in K. They used the fact that she didn't go to K the year before (which is okay) and was unable to function in first grade without one on one help and they gave her about six weeks to settle in.

Yoh Cookie! That's harsh.

Thanks for the feedback So it's like it was here in the middle - upperclass (for lack of a more socially appropriate term - kinda expected and normal but not officially mandated.

thanks

Cookie: Another version of "fun" is when you enroll your 5yo in K, give them a few weeks to see what she's capable of, confer with the K teacher who agrees that your DD would do well to skip to first, start the policy-driven process to make that a reality, and see the school and district stonewall.

Education is within provincial jurisdiction, and there is significant variation within the Canadian federation. Mandatory enrollment ages range from age 5 to 7, with most provinces having a December 31st grade cut-off.

BC-- 5
Alberta--6
Saskatechewan--7
Manitoba--7
Ontario--6
Quebec--5
Nova Scotia--5
New Brunswick--5
PEI--6
Newfoundland--5

Quebec and Ontario offer a version of junior kindergarten, which begins at 4. Ontario recently implemented full-day kindergarten, after offering half-days to 4 year olds. This has been perceived as a substitute for subsidized public daycare, rather than a beginning of academic education.

It's interesting to see that the Prairie provinces--Saskwatchewan and Manitoba--have the highest enrollment ages. Perhaps this is reflective of the farming legacy of the region, where children were historically involved in family farming.

Overlaid over this are a pastiche of homeschooling regulations, ranging from almost unregulated (Ontario) to tacitly outlawed (Quebec). For full disclosure, we are leaning toward homeschooling DS when he turns 4, playing 5 by ear, and potentially enrolling him in a private gifted school at 6. Of course, we all know how much--and how quickly-- "optimal" can change for these children!

K is only compulsory in the states that have legislation to that effect. However, I know of a number of states that do not have compulsory K but still have very strong pressure to enroll all 5-year-olds in K out of concern that they would not be ready for 1st grade as 6-year-olds.

In California, K is not compulsory - BUT - enrollment in school during the year containing the sixth birthday is, and children must turn 5 before a cutoff that is moving to the first day of school to attend K. There's an equivalent cutoff of turning six for first grade. So realistically speaking, K during the year they are 5 is only optional for kids with summer birthdays, and those kids are not usually considered for placement in first grade afterward unless they have completed K already.

There is always the option of homeschooling for K and 1, I suppose. There is no age cutoff for second grade.

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).

Interestingly, the research on pre-K (and, somewhat by extension, K, depending on the age cutoffs) is that it is very useful (from the standpoint of long-term academic achievement) for children from families who are disadvantaged, but virtually useless for upper SES families. IOW, it is useful for those who cannot afford to pay for preschool, and not useful for those who can. Children from enriched homes do not need preschool to be prepared for school.

Are there more details as to precisely by what mechanism(s) children from disadvantaged families are benefitted?

Kindergarten is not compulsory in Colorado. I didn't go to Kindergarten myself, because my mother said I already knew all that stuff. My DS skipped it and started first grade that year instead. (He already knew all that stuff, too.) DD is the first one in my family to go to Kindergarten.

DS was not allowed to skip *into* K, but he was allowed to skip *over* it.

Hart & Risley, positive family interaction with infants to age 4: long-term positive impact

compare and contrast with

Head Start, pre-school for 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds: gains even out by third grade.
This is the longitudinal study by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children & Families (ACF), Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE). One of the report links on this webpage is the Executive Summary for the "Third Grade Follow-up to Head Start Impact Study", and states, in part:

Archived Links:
1) Head Start impact summary, follow-up - https://web.archive.org/web/20160309043339/http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/research/project/head-start-impact-study-and-follow-up
2) 32-page PDF, executive summary - https://web.archive.org/web/20170201141546/http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/head_start_executive_summary.pdf

In NZ you start any time between your 5th and 6th days (literally any day school is open). You are placed according to your birth date though so a kid starting on their 6th birthday would probably not be placed with the just turned 5's - at least not long term.

You wanted other countries, too...

In Germany, mandatory b&m schooling starts in first grade only, enrolment age 6, cutoff between Jul 1 and Dec 31, varying by state.

The equivalent to k, as in a preparatory program for 5yo is a pull-out program mandatorily offered in preschools, enrolment in which is not mandatory, but pretty much universal since every child is entitled to a half day place in preschool/daycare from age one and up. It is usually a bit of a joke, like two hours weekly pull-out with a bit of mild academics for the 5yo kids in what is usually a mixed age play-based classroom, and sometimes a daily 10 minutes phonics program, but this is considered sufficient since all the "separating from the parents and functioning in an institutional setting" stuff is taken care of by the preschool environment. (although we did manage to have DS7, who narrowly missed the cutoff, included a year early, it was barely a bandaid for him, and we were glad to be able to swing early entrance into first grade as well.)

The debate about making the last year of preschool mandatory for 5yo waxes and wanes, with some insisting that with non-enrolment being into e low single digits by that age a mandate would be regulatory overkill, with others pointing out that the non-enrolled kids, usually from poor non educated recent immigrant families, tend to be precisely the ones who'd need it most.

Re the question how the benefits for low SES kids accrue and whether they last:
The benefit can be summarized as: lots of interactive exposure to high level language in the dominant language of instruction lead to great academic gains for kids who, unlike peers from higher SES families, do not get this at home from practically before birth.
The research on the long term results of preschool benefit for low SES kids is uneven because unless you take program quality and intake into account, you cannot really tell how much of this exposure is actually taking place, as in are there lots of low SES immigrant kids being watched by overworked staff with minimal qualifications, or are low SES kids, integrated with high SES kids, being actively engaged by well trained child care workers and teachers with a low student staff ratio - and most crucially, does this continue in primary and secondary education in SES-integrated schools. Google the research on the peer benefits of SES integration and the evils of SES segregation by Richard Kahlenberg, it's fascinating!

For European countries you might find this link useful:
http://www.nfer.ac.uk/nfer/index.cfm?9B1C0068-C29E-AD4D-0AEC-8B4F43F54A28

In Scotland and England, compulsory education (which can be homeschooling) begins at age 5. In practice, children in Scotland typically start school between the age of 4.5 and 5.5, and children in England start between the age of 4 and 5. In England, if you insist on your right to have them not start until they are 5, you practically always miss out on the first year "reception" of school. In Scotland, there is more flexibility, and children who are in the youngest few months of the year group often have entry deferred till the next year, e.g. might start in August in the first year ("P1" in Scotland) age 5y6m instead of 4y6m.

School is always full days, though some schools have a settling in period which is half days.

K is not required in our state (US). My DDs skipped K and started 1st at 5- turned 6 that Fall.

States are funny-- varied requirements and ages of requirement. Even homeschooling regulations vary.

PreK is free in some areas/states and not in others....even cut-off vary by states, though many are moving toward a Sept 1st cut-off.

Thank you to everyone to responded. I found it fascinating to read all the responses.