How do you prepare for the peer interaction part of the 4+ Assessment?

This is a great question, one that I was asked yesterday.

A parent asked me how I could support their child with interacting with other children at their 4+ Assessment.

Although I do support children with knowing how to behave in their 4+ Assessments and how I expect them to interact with their peers in their 4+ Assessments, this is not something that is prepared for in just a few months. And it is not something that anyone can simulate. Not me and not any group practise Assessment that you send your child to. This is about your child’s nature. How they are naturally in group situations. It is prepared for carefully during your 4+ Assessment preparation process and it is not something that can be rushed.

This is something that is prepared for consistently over the course of your child’s time at their nursery, pre-school or in whatever situation you put them in that they have to interact socially with children.

This is why I always say that 4+ Assessment success cannot be achieved within a short timeframe and that it takes at least 12 months of focused and consistent lesson preparation.

So how do you prepare for the peer interaction part of the 4+ Assessment?

It really is very simple.

You expose them to as many activities as possible in which you can observe them interacting socially with other children. Then you put in place the steps to support them with their social interaction.

Let me use my son as an example for you. for context, I’ve not yet decided if he will be going to 4+ Assessments. I am 50/50 as of right now.

From a very young age, I have left my son in creche’s (6 weeks old!), he has been going to nursery since he was 9 months old, he went to drama club from the age of 2 and he currently goes to football club. He plays with children in our play area downstairs and he has been on a few play dates. He has always been an introvert and he loves to play independently. He won’t choose to join big groups of children who are playing together and he has never been one to initiate play with another child. He currently struggles with sharing and he thinks that everything other children have belong to him. Currently, this is causing issues for him. When I observe him at his football club, he is very gentle with others but he won’t actively go up to another child and talk to them.

You can see how the 4+ Assessments would currently be a problem for him.

I am supporting him currently by talking to him every day about sharing, about how to speak to others and feel more confident about it. I am investing in books and video courses to help me to learn more about how to support him with this and I am actively taking the time to speak to his teachers and learn from their expertise.

If you truly want to prepare for the peer interaction part of the 4+ Assessment, you have to expose your child to hundreds (if not thousands) of opportunities to socially interact with other children. That way, it won’t be an shock when they enter their 4+ Assessments and are expected to interact with children that they’ve never met before in their lives.

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