IELTS Writing Tasks 1 and 2: Selling Furniture and Starting School Young

Dear Jan, As you know, we'll be moving to a new house soon and there are a few things that I won't be able to take with me. The new house is a bit smaller so I have to sell some furniture and I was wondering if you might be interested? In particular I want to sell my big dining table. Do you remember it - the one in the living room? It has wooden legs and a grey glass top and it's big enough for six people. There are six matching chairs to go with it. I know you've always liked this furniture so I could let you have it at a good price. I'd rather sell it to you than to a stranger! Why don't you come around and take another look at them on Saturday? We'll be here all day, so maybe we could have some lunch together? Give me a ring and let me know, Love, Shanda.

In many places today, children start primary school at around the age of six or seven. However, because it is more likely now that both parents work, there is little opportunity for children to stay in their own home up to that age. Instead, they will probably go to a nursery school when they are much younger. While some people think this may be damaging to a child's development, or to a child's relationship with his or her parents, in fact there are many advantages to having school experience at a young age. Firstly, a child will learn to interact with a lot of different people and some children learn to communicate very early because of this. They are generally more confident and independent than children who stay at home with their parents and who are not used to strangers or new situations. Such children find their first day at school at the age of six very frightening and this may have a negative effect on how they learn. Another advantage of going to school at an early age is that children develop faster socially. They make friends and learn how to get on with other children of a similar age. This is often not possible at home because they are the only child, or because their brothers or sisters are older or younger. So overall, I believe that attending school from a young age is good for most children. They still spend plenty of time at home with their parents, so they can benefit from both environments.