At a glance
| Country | Preschool classes | Formal school starts |
|---|---|---|
| 🇮🇳 India | Nursery / Balvatika 1, LKG / Balvatika 2, UKG / Balvatika 3 | 6 |
| 🇺🇸 United States | Preschool, Pre-K, Kindergarten | 6 |
| 🇬🇧 England | Nursery, Reception, Year 1 | 6 |
| 🇪🇺 Europe | Kindergarten / maternelle petite section, Moyenne section, Pre-primary / grande section / Vorschule | 6 |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | Nenshō (youngest class), Nenchū (middle class), Nenchō (oldest class) | 6 |
| 🇨🇳 China | Xiǎo bān (junior class), Zhōng bān (middle class), Dà bān (senior class) | 6 |
| 🇰🇷 South Korea | Age 3 class, Age 4 class, Age 5 class | 6 |
More alike than different
Put the seven frameworks next to each other and the surprise is how closely they agree. Every one of them has an area for the body, an area for feelings and other people, an area for language, an area for thinking about number and the natural world, and an area for art and music. Every one says that play is how young children learn. And every one puts spoken language ahead of reading. The names differ — prime areas, domains, kosha, ryōiki — but a child moving from Pune to Portland to Osaka would recognise the day.
Where they really differ
When reading starts. England begins systematic phonics at four; the United States expects simple reading by six; India's framework aims for simple words by the end of UKG; most of Europe, Japan, China and Korea leave formal reading to primary school at six or seven. International comparisons at age ten show no lasting advantage for the early starters.
The individual and the group. English-speaking systems describe goals for each child. Japan and Korea describe a child who lives well in a group; Finnish and German kindergartens put independence and outdoor life first.
Official policy and real life. In India, China and Korea the national curriculum is more play-based than many schools and families are. In those countries the framework is a useful ally for a parent who wants to slow things down.
Why the starting age matters less than it seems
Parents who move between systems often panic in one direction or the other: "my five-year-old is already reading and they are making her play", or "his new classmates can all write and he cannot". Both worries fade within a year. Reading is a skill with a ceiling that every child reaches; starting at four or at seven changes when you arrive, not where. What does not catch up so easily is spoken language, curiosity and the ability to get on with others — which is exactly why every one of these seven frameworks puts them first.
Mind the cut-off date
Each country sorts children into classes by a different birthday cut-off — 1 April in Japan, 1 September in England and much of the United States, dates that vary from state to state in India, the calendar year of birth in Korea, 1 September in China. A child can be the oldest in the class in one country and the youngest in the next. Younger children in a year group are more often, and wrongly, judged as behind; if that is your child, remind the teacher of their age.
The language question
Almost every framework here now says the same thing about language: build the home language first. India's NEP asks for teaching in the mother tongue where possible; England's EYFS tells settings to value children's home languages; Korea, Japan and China assume the national language at home and school. For a family between languages this means the home language is not a problem to be solved before school, but the base everything else is built on.
What to take from this
If the world's education ministries agree on anything, it is this list: talk with children a great deal, read to them daily, let them play — outdoors and with other children — build independence in dressing, eating and tidying, and do not hurry reading and writing. That is also the design of this site: short daily sessions, everything spoken aloud in the child's own language, and every page ending with something to do away from the screen.
Children growing up between countries
Keep the home language strong; it is the foundation the school language is built on, not a rival to it. Keep familiar songs, books and routines going through the move; they are the thread that holds a small child's world together while everything else changes. Expect a quiet period of several months in a new school language — children listen for a long time before they speak. And compare your child with their age, never with the class label: a "kindergartener" is three in one country and five in another.
Now do it for real
When the screen goes off, do something with your hands. Try 🧲 Magnet hunt — an easy science experiment for ages 4-6, with every step read aloud in your language. You will need a fridge magnet, ten safe things from around the house; nothing that needs a trip to a shop.
There are 56 more on the things to do at home page, and free printable worksheets if you would rather have something on paper. Ten minutes on a screen and twenty minutes off it is a good shape for a day at this age.