2 things you should must NEVER do if you are preparing your child for their 4+ Assessments.
/So you are well on your way to preparing your child for their 4+ Assessments and you are eager and optimistic with the way it’s currently going. That’s a great place to be in.
However, if you are like most of the parents that I speak to every single day, you are most likely feeling worried and nervous. Perhaps you are not covering as much of the EYFS curriculum as you should be every single day. Perhaps your child isn’t interested in writing at the moment. Perhaps you have hundreds of other things going on in your life to be able to find the time to sit for 30 minutes every single day with your child and complete their learning tasks.
Whatever is going on for you, I’d like you to take a deep breath and grab a coffee (or a cup of tea if you prefer!)
What you MUST do is keep going. What you MUST do is trust in the process. What you MUST do is know that you are doing everything in your control to prepare your child to be very successful in their 4+ Assessments.
Here are 2 things you should NEVER do if you are preparing your child for their 4+ Assessments.
1.Have unrealistic expectations.
If you have the expectation that your child will sit with you for a full 30 minutes and engage fully in all of the learning tasks that you provide for them, you are wrong. Manage your expectations. Have realistic expectations. Your child is currently two or three. Most adults I know are unable to sit still and do some learning for a full 30 minutes, why do we think that we can have this expectation when it comes to our child?
Set your expectations from the start. Here is my expectation for my own son (currently 30 months). I expect that he will sit with me for at least 3 minutes at any given time that I have the intention to do some learning with him. This is the most he will sit with me before wanting to go an do something else. And that is absolutely perfect… for me and for him. Set your expectation for your child and commit to it every single day.
2. Leave your preparations to the last minute.
Most of these top, prestigious schools need 12 months of Assessment preparation so if you are looking to start now, you may already be starting later than you should be. The biggest error I see when parents prepare for the 4+ Assessments is leaving it to the last minute. It’s not their fault of course - they don’t fully understand the process…yet. 12 months is the sweet spot. Any less than this and you will struggle to get full curriculum coverage and for your child to master all of the skills that they need to master in order to pass their 4+ Assessment.
