4+ Frustration Overload

Preparing for the 4+ is not an easy process. It’s not for everybody.

Many of the parents I speak to would never become our clients. You see, many parents want it to be easy. Well — it isn’t. And those parents who want it to be easy, do you know what they will most likely do? They will probably choose to send their children to overpriced nurseries or pre-preps and hand over the job of 4+ assessment preparation to the teachers at those schools.

Do you know how that usually works out? Not well. Many parents tell us that they do not want online support and insist they need in-person support. They give all kinds of reasons why in-person is supposedly superior to what we offer at CMT. It’s not, by the way. Ultimately, the reason they want in-person support is so that they can drop their child off and go — or so someone can come into their home and they can just leave their child with them. Of course, you can choose to do whatever you want — but success requires more than convenience.

Like anything in life, if you want success, you have to be willing to put in the work yourself. Not someone else. If you’ve ever achieved anything meaningful, you already know this.

I like to think of the 4+ assessment preparation process as a 50/50 journey. Myself and my clients will feel great 50% of the time, and 50% of the time it will feel hard — and we will, of course, experience negative emotions.

The key is to allow those negative emotions and frustrations to exist — and continue anyway. Invite frustration to move in with you for the duration of the 4+ assessment process.

There will be times when your child doesn’t want to do the learning, is sick, is not in the mood, would prefer to do anything else, or will make excuses. There will be times when you have to work more than usual, do more housework than usual, host guests, go on holiday, or get sick yourself. During these times, it’s easy to get frustrated, throw your hands up, and quit. Many of my clients have done this in the past, and some will continue to do this.

It’s about embracing the frustration and doing it anyway. Showing up every single day for your child and learning with them — even if it is just for five minutes a day.

My recommendation is 3.5 hours per week, split up however you wish. Don’t get frustrated and quit. Get frustrated, and use it as motivation to carry on.

Book your sample lesson and sample week today.