The Dangers of Over-Preparing for the 4+
Many parents have been working with us on the monthly 4+ check-ins with great success. We visit their houses, run through the elements of the 4+ assessment with their son or daughter, check the learning from the previous session and then identify what the next steps will be for the following month. We then give written feedback with activities to focus on at home before the next session.
These structured, play-based sessions are working well because I am an experienced teacher and former Head of Pre-Prep. I know how to support children at this age and what the schools are looking for in their 4+ assessments. We don’t need intense weekly sessions just yet, as we always say; slow and steady wins the race!
As we approach the end of the summer holidays, that’s when we start having conversations with families about moving to weekly or fortnightly sessions.
Threading beads is one of the fine motor skill activities we use in our sessions.
The caveat here would be that each child is an individual and they learn at different rates. Some children pick up things very quickly whilst others need a lot of repetition and consolidation for a concept to sink in. This means that a small number of children would benefit from weekly or fortnightly sessions at this point in the calendar (around Eastertime).
An additional factor to consider is the family situation. Some households have time in the week to work on these concepts, or have a nanny that can jump in and work on the activities we have set. The point is, each family is unique and what works for one family, may not work for another. This is why we tailor our sessions and preparation plan to each individual family.
When I read comments online of people prepping for the London 4+ assessments, many either go over old ground on a regular basis, or include things that will never come up in the assessments such as reading sentences, describing 3D shapes or teaching digraphs and tricky words!
This simply isn’t needed for 3 year olds when they sit for the assessments. It is indeed impressive that they have mastered these skills at this young age, but if no one is going to ask you about them in the assessment - what is the point?
If you over-prepare you run into the danger of the child burning out, or switching off because they are not engaged with the learning. Then you ending hindering their prep for the 4+ assessments. Especially if you are teaching concepts that wont be coming up in the assessments! By making it play-based, informal yet focussed, you can achieve more! There’s not point in tutoring for the sake of tutoring at this young age.
The take home message is: ensure you are clear on what is covered in the 4+ assessment and make sure you are working steadily through these and not going above and beyond just for the sake of it.
Research what can come up in each individual school’s assessment that you are applying for
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If you do want to use a tutor to support you, make sure they are early years teachers, experienced in 4+ assessment preparation and preferably have worked in independent schools so they are aware of the standards required.
We can support you and your family with your 4+ preparation, whether is with monthly 4+ check-ins, or weekly prep sessions when the time is right. If you would like advice or support on preparing your child for the 4+ assessments - then get in touch!
