In the U.S. the norm is that children are placed in pre-school around age three or four, kindergarten at five or six. It's almost an automatic process, with little thought going into it. Frankly I have never understood the concept of getting children out of the home as young as possible. It's certainly not necessary to place children in school to get them started in learning. I've watched my children from birth on.
Young children learn naturally, continually and freely.
Their entire existence is dedicated to investigating the world around them. This desire to learn seems to want only when they are forced to learn. As a young mother I wondered if a very structured environment, surrounded only by children the same age, was truly the most conducive, healthy way for children to learn. So I began reading everything I could find on the subject of learning and education. He became convinced that children are born with a natural ability to learn, and given the right atmosphere will learn easily and without coercion.