jedamum:i think some parents have the misconception that primary school teachers will really teach A for Apple like our time. Yes... we are of the same era. I remember only learning ABC when I was in P1. I struggled as I am hearing english for the 1st time....BTW, they used to teach multiplication very much later on as well but kids nowadays are required to know by P2.But I do agree that some parents think that they should not \"deprive\" their kids of childhood and do not want to \"stress\" them. They fail to understand that by not preparing the child for primary school, they are stressing the child not now but later. In fact, it's going to be more stressful and I hate to say, will affect the child's self-esteem and confidence on his/ her ability as they need to go to \"special\" classes and are \"isolated\" from rest of their friends. They will think they are not good enough.