I thought it was weird too, until I had kids in school. Then I saw the the kids were writing stories in Kindergarten, a good three years earlier than before.

I thought it was weird too, until I had kids in school. Then I saw the the kids were writing stories in Kindergarten, a good three years earlier than before. It seems that the part of the brain that can handle stories and cause/effect develops earlier than the part that handles details (like spelling). Instead of waiting until they were old enough to spell correctly, they started letting them do what they could do earlier. They do the same thing with physical fitness. To achieve the presidential award, you don't have to be as strong or as fast in third grade as you do in sixth.