Kindergarten
Every child from the first year of life until school age has a legal entitlement to a kindergarten place. But it is only the decision of the parents, whether the child should attend a daycare or not. There is no duty in Germany to send your child to the kindergarten.
School
When a child can or must attend school at the earliest, varies from federal state to federal state. According to the legal regulations of the federal states, all children who are six years old by a certain deadline will be required to attend school. The regulations for the deadlines that determine when a child has to start school are different in the individual federal states.
In Berlin, all children who have reached the age of six years by the 30th of September will be required to attend school at the beginning of the school year on August 1st.
Children who turn six after the specified deadline for school enrollment can be admitted to school prematurely at the request of their parents. To clarify whether the child is ready for schooling (physical and intellectual development as well as its mental resilience and social competence) there will be the so called “Schulreifetest”.
If the child is not ready for schooling at the age of six, it is also possible to delay the school entry.