How your child expresses themselves will be very important in their 4+ Assessment

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Language and communication is a key skill to get right when preparing for the 4+ Assessments.

At the age of 3 or 4, your child will be expected to express themselves very well in their 4+ Assessments.

Here are some examples of what this might look like in the actual Assessment.

  1. Answering questions with clarity and confidence

  2. Answering questions by going into more detail

  3. Talking to other children calmly and politely

  4. Talking to other adults with confidence

  5. Asking for something politely

Here are some examples where students have not been able to express themselves well and therefore were unsuccessful in their 4+ Assessments

  1. Giving short answers or no answers at all

  2. Not being kind and polite to other children - eg. snatching something or not giving the other child the possibility to have a turn.

  3. Not wanting to speak to the adults in the room.

  4. Asking for something and not saying please or thank you.

Here is one example that I heard from one of my current clients who is now preparing her son for the 7+.

A bright boy, her son went into these 4+ Assessments filled with confidence. I had no doubt that he would pass most of his 4+ Assessments. He went into his Assessment and was asked to go to the lego table. He looked at the Assessor and said ‘No, I don’t want to.’

Here is another example.

One of my students was a little timid and struggled to answer questions. She didn’t like to answer questions even when it was someone familiar to her asking her the questions. The Assessor asked her to describe the flower. She said ‘It is pink!’ She should have gone into a lot more detail in order to successfully answer this type of queation.

Here is another example.

A boy went into his Assessment and half way through he told the Assessor, ‘I’m bored!’

So if you are preparing your child for their 4+ Assessment, work on this part. Work with your child to support them to express themselves. To communicate with others well. Don’t take it for granted that your child will just know how to do it. They will need to be taught how to do it. To practise how to do it and to know the expectations in their 4+ Assessments.

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