5 ways to know if your child is ready for their 4+
/Please note that I am talking about ‘ready to go into their 4+’ and not ‘ready right now’. Your child may absolutely not be ready right now but may be ready in a few months time with the right preparation and support.
1. Your child is happy to be left alone somewhere new and unfamiliar to them.
As in when you take them somewhere new that you’ve never taken them before, they happily leave your side and go in. Remember that you do not want your child to be upset when you leave them at their 4+ Assessment. Obviously, this is not really fully in your control. We don’t know how your child will react. However, you can 100% prepare your child to go in happily and calmly. We have many strategies available which we share with our clients to work on with their children in the lead up to their 4+ Assessments.
2. Your child is an excellent listener.
I am fully aware that children can behave differently with their parents compared to other people. I see it every day with my own son. The way he listens to me is certainly different to the way that he listens to his teachers. But for the most part, when I do learning with him, he is aware of my expectations and that when we are doing structured learning that I do expect him to listen to me. It works both ways doesn’t it? I listen to him so he also listens to me. He really doesn’t like it when I don’t listen to him! Your child will need to listen perfectly to the assessors and also to the other children in the 4+ Assessment. They might be expected to listen to a story in its entirety. They might be expected to listen to questions being asked. They might be expected to listen and respond to the opinions of other children being assessed with them.
3. Your child demonstrates excellent focus and concentration skills.
Some of these assessments are as long as 90 minutes but most are between 40 and 60 minutes and the expectation will be that you child is able to focus for the whole time. That is up to you to prepare them so that they are able to do this. We have many strategies that we use with our students to support them to have the best focus and concentration skills.
4. Your child works well independently and demonstrates resilience.
Can you leave your child to sit and study independently for at least 10 minutes? Your child will be observed completing their learning independently. You child will need to demonstrate resilience and not ask for help immediately if they get stuck on a task.
5. Your child works well as part of a group and demonstrates excellent team working skills.
How does your child work as part of a group? Your child will need to demonstrate excellent team working skills. They will need to be able to share well, show kindness and patience towards others and be able to listen well to the opinions of others. This is a big expectation at this age but certainly one that can be practised either at home or at their nursery setting. If your child goes to nursery, ask their key worker for regular feedback and updates about how your child does when faced with a group task. Never just assume that your child does this well. Also, ask them to support your child in preparation for this aspect of the 4+ Assessment.
Please don’t worry if your child doesn’t fulfil all 5… yet. That’s up to you to ensure that they are. With the right support and guidance, this will be easy to achieve.
