My point was also about expectations placed on children, and with Steiner, the focus is on different topics at that stage. However, there is no discouragement or “holding back” either.

Both my boys (age 4 and 8) are actively teaching themselves, out of interest rahter than mandate and its great to see (and help).

Not all school systems are like that. The Australian one certainly isn’t.

As for the not learning to read until 7, that may work for some kids, but it certainly won’t work for others. A number of kids self-teach themselves to read before school age (I did) simply by working out the association between pictures and words. You want to hold these kids back until 7? All this just goes to show that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to education.

Also, my kids go a Steiner School. They don’t actually start learning to read until age 7, and it doesn’t really ramp up until about 8. They are way ahead (of the average public school reading level) a few years later. Its part of a well thought out philosophy that seems to be working well for our kids.