I am surprised to see toddler with their schoolbags and water bottle. They are attending classes. I know there are nursery schools and there are a lot in our village but my idea was 4 years old as the youngest. One neighbor's grandson is only 3 years old and couldn't even speak straight yet but he is attending nursery classes already. The parents said that it is better than staying at home because the child may be bored.
Our kids always loved going back to school, which is how it should be. Of course it was always more geared towards seeing their friends and all the fun things, but as a parent you just have to make sure they stay focused on the school work as well.
It is a common scene in any household with kids collecting any bag that they can get hold of telling everyone around that they are going to school. That excitement however diminishes when the real school life begins until that lifestyle gets into their skin. Well. Everyone has gone to school. Have we not? (lol)
One of the ways to getting a toddler to accept and love the concept of going to school early is by getting a some kids video of where their fellow toddlers are in school learning and playing. This way, the idea of getting their school bags and snack box ready before you are any aware would amaze you as they would a lot more eager to attend schools than being at home.
It's the same here in India but luckily my extended family lives in Australia where the schooling begins at 5 (They do not admit younger then 5 even in KG). In KG also they do not take any books or copies to the school but only their fruits, lunches and toys which they carry to show to their classmates. However, the schooling begins from year one and even then they do not carry many books or copies but a few papers.
Nowadays children start attending nursery classes at age 3 and kinder at 4, preparatory classes starts at 5-5 years old, a year younger than the minimum age in my time. I didn't attend any nursery nor kindergarten class then, I went straight to preparatory school. I started my schooling at age of 6, before that I was home schooled. I do really think that the younger, kids start attending classes the better, because they would start learning how to communicate and play with their classmates as well as their teachers. Also kids won't be bored at home and parents should do their best in giving their kids a good education.
In the UK children can attend nursery at the age of 2 1/2 now but when my granddaughter attended the children had to be 3 and out of nappies. They were ok with the odd accident and kept many spare pairs of knickers but they did not like having to change nappies. My granddaughter always loved it and couldn't wait to go. They did such creative things which is good for a child's development and I think nursery is good for their social development through the interaction with other children.
Yes I have already heard about very early sending of kids to school, it supposedly makes the child's learning more "advanced" than if you were to send him at 4 years old.