LONDON, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Until age 5, children need a play-based curriculum and should not begin formal education until age 6, a British review of primary schools said.
The Cambridge Primary Review runs counter to existing government policy in Britain, which suggests all children start school in September after their fourth birthday.
Delaying formal education by a year, however, gives children more time to develop, said Dame Gillian Pugh, who oversaw the review, which was six years in the making.
"There is no research evidence that shows that early access to formal learning does children any good and quite a lot of good evidence to show that it actually can do some harm," Pugh told The Daily Telegraph Friday.
Countries, such as Finland, where children start more formal learning at age 6 or 7 actually overtake Britain in education scores as the children get older, she said. Forcing a 4-year-old to sit quietly for math, reading and language lessons often backfires, she said.
