Where I live, a child who enters first grade without knowing how to read is an abnormality. In fact, the school system assumes that any child who enters first

Where I live, a child who enters first grade without knowing how to read is an abnormality. In fact, the school system assumes that any child who enters first grade already has the basics of literacy and numeracy -- a child who doesn't know how to read will probably be channeled to a special class for slow/disadvantaged kids. This seems like a cultural quirk and doesn't appear to make people smarter in the long run, however.