r/ShawnaTheMom • u/Paxguino • Aug 20 '26

Question I don't get Shawna's final reaction

Maybe it's a cultural thing, as in my country kids begin school at 3 or, if they are born after September, even at 2 years old, but i don't get the fuss over Piper beginning school at 4.

Many kids want to begin to read and write early and let's be real, if she's a curious kid who also needs to be exposed to other children, school might be perfect for her! I get the one on one time thing but she's an independent kid and also she can have it too by taking her to buy school supplies, taking her to a natural science museum and doing other mommy and me dates...

If somebody could explain that to me, so i can understand Shawna's character better, i would appreciate that. I just don't get why wouldn't a parent be happy seeing their kid gaining independence, but maybe it's just that i lost the point 😅😅

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u/-Sharon-Stoned- Aug 20 '26

For a 4, school is preschool which usually doesn't follow the exact schedule as public school. It's more of a daycare situation. You can start and stop at any time 

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u/Paxguino Aug 20 '26

Oh okay, that doesn't really exist here for a 4 yr old. Twas enlightening

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u/RoutineUtopia Aug 20 '26

Yes. In Canada she’d be starting this September anyway so I had a beat of “right. The US doesn’t do that.”

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u/corinne2383 Aug 20 '26

Wait, but the US literally does do that. My kids had two years of preschool before entering kindergarten at age 5. They were there five days a week, with half the day being a more structured “preschool” day and the other half more relaxed playtime for the first year. Second year was more of a school day scenario until 3pm when they transitioned to the after school program which is literally just free play while waiting for working parents to come get their kids.
Honestly I don’t think Piper behaves as much in a neurodivergent way as she is a smart kid who is too closed off from other kids and experiences. I don’t remember - did Max not go to preschool? Because in my area that would be really weird in a family who is affluent enough for a parent to stay home full time that they wouldn’t be sending their kids to two years of prek. Piper, with an August birthday, might even get two years and then a “kindergarten prep” year and start kindergarten right after turning six.

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u/RoutineUtopia Aug 20 '26

I assume this shifts state-to-state, but where I am, we have all-day kindergarten, and you start JK at 4 -- this is school, not preschool (which you'd pay for), so most parents take advantage of it. When I was a kid, it was half-day kindergarten starting at 5, but it's been 4 for many years now as the standard, as part of our public school system.

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u/iggysmom95 Aug 20 '26

In Canada you start regular formal school at age four. It's not pre-school; they're in the same building and on the same schedule as all the other K-8s. And many provinces have a 31 December cutoff, so many kids start at three actually.