> I went to public school in Canada, and my wife did the same in the US. Neither of us had a kindergarten experience with desks and assignments - it was much li

> I went to public school in Canada, and my wife did the same in the US. Neither of us had a kindergarten experience with desks and assignments - it was much like what you describe your experience as. > Perhaps your fancy kindergarten wasn’t as different from public school as you thought? I went to US public school for kindergarten and first grade, then a Montessori school for grades 2-5. I don't recall desks in kindergarten, but they were definitely out in full force for first grade. The Montessori school didn't have desks for every student, and it sounds similar in some of the other ways: no assignments, more hands-on learning, more play (think we got something like an hour of recess), etc. There's also likely regional variation. I have a friend who moved to SV, but moved to Redwood City because he thought the public schools closer to San Jose were too cut throat and competitive, and some parents sent their kids to cram schools. I wouldn't be surprised of that kind of attitude rubbed off on the kindergartens and made their curriculums too aggressively academic.