Children in Sweden are to start school at six years old from 2028, a year earlier than at present – overhaul signals a switch from play-based teaching for younger children

Here in America, my preschooler started at 3. And while they're not exactly doing math drills and spelling bees, it is a transition from being raised at home in freeform play to a rote schedule 5 days a week.

It's sad, and I hope we can, as a society, choose to do better when the day teachers collectively strike together because they can't stand being hamstrung babysitters for the entitled parents.

We try to push our kid's friend's parents to drop more after school activities to make room for more play. We hope it takes.

AS an Early Childhood Education teacher, it saddens me to see a move away from play-based learning. I work with 4-5 year old children, and a majority of our day is focused around free play in some way. We do have active instruction, we practice phonics, math, and handwriting, we work on scientific concepts and a wide swath of other skills, but always under the canopy of "learning through play". I've been doing this for 15 years and more and more I see a push for "more readiness, more learning, less play, less fun" and it's sad.

It's culminated this year with one parent demanding their child write their full name (17 letters long! First middle and last!) for every assignment, that they complete every assignment, and if they don't that they complete it later before engaging in social play, art, or other crucial activities. I've been hamstrung into complying against best practice, my instincts, experience, and (I feel) the law.