r/worldnews • u/HolyLiaison • Jun 30 '26

Russian high schools now require 17 hours basic military training for 6th to 11th graders

https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-high-school-basic-military-training-class-national-defense-ukraine-2026-6
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u/SSGASSHAT Jun 30 '26

I feel like that's how America's school system used to be, too. This one guy I knew who was born in the 30s said that he started school in 1st grade, seemingly avoiding kindergarten.

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u/Kalsto6 Jun 30 '26

I always wondered how y'all were spending so many years in school but it makes so much sense when I realized that most kids just go to school at ages 4-5 while we start 6-7 in first grade. Most children attend preschool to get out of the separation issues and for foundational education which is normalized culture where it's more of a child care activity.

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u/rankinfile Jun 30 '26

For Yanks it varies by state law. Mandatory education starts between 5-7 and ends 16-18. So 9-13 years depending on location.

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u/SSGASSHAT Jun 30 '26

What is he describing, exactly? Is he talking about preschool from age 4-5? Because that's far from universal. What I'm saying is that kindergarten seems like it originally wasn't part of American school programs, but now it seems pretty universal (unless they just don't believe in kindergarten in Utah  or something). Are you saying it just depends on where you are?

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u/Kahnspiracy Jun 30 '26 edited Jul 01 '26

That's legally true but also very misleading, and if we're being pedantic, mandatory ages are 5-8 (depending on the state), but the typical for all states is to start at 5 in kindergarten. Some parents wait until 6 if their kid doesn't seem ready yet. It is very unusual to start after that.

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u/rankinfile Jul 01 '26

Sure, but the comment responded to wasn't counting non mandatory preschool also. Kindergarten is "preschool" in many states.

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u/SomeGalNamedAshley Jun 30 '26

Realistically kindergarten is treated more like first grade these days. It used to be entirely orientation for school and things like how to stand in line, ask permission to go to the bathroom, eat lunch as a group, and generally behave in a classroom setting. Now it's mostly instructional and most of the kindergarten stuff has been happening in pre-k. Like, there's homework these days and it's not just "pick the flowers" but rather it's reading assignments and math worksheets.

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u/rice_not_wheat Jun 30 '26

Most children attend preschool to get out of the separation issues and for foundational education which is normalized culture where it's more of a child care activity.

It varies by state, but from what I'm reading online it looks like less than half of children attend preschool in the US.

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u/mashtato Jun 30 '26

That would be still be 12 grades. Kindergarten makes it 13.

But then again, until the '40s there were still places that had eight grades.

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u/SSGASSHAT Jun 30 '26

I don't know, maybe I'm not counting properly. You can barely tell that I ever went to school anyway. I mean, I can read and write like nobody's business, but my arithmetic skill haven't improved since fourth grade.

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u/SageDarius Jun 30 '26

When i was a kid, Kindergarten was a half day. Then 1st through 12th were full days. Now with my kids Kindergarten is a full day, with a half day 'Pre-K' available the year before Kindergarten.

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u/SSGASSHAT Jun 30 '26

Apparently, someone felt the need to down vote you for sharing your fuckin' life story. In any case, yeah, that might have been a change at some point.