Am I shooting my foot by refusing to get a tutor for 7+?
Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 1:55 pm
My son is currently in year 1 at an academic pre-prep and I am trying to decide if he should sit the 7+ exam next year (i.e, in 2 terms!).
He is a bright but an "underachiever" in the sense that his teacher complains that he often seems bored in class and daydreams. He loses interest in the simple tasks (cutting words and matching them to pictures). He has a reading level of 11 years and I do understand that simple tasks seem pointless and am afraid that if I don't move him to a more demanding school, he will coast even further downward.
The only problem is that the 3 schools which are options are insanely competitive to get into (Westminster Under, Colet Court, Kings Wimbledon), and I know that almost all the other parents who are planning for their son to take the 7+ have already started tutoring. I will not tutor my son because 1) I feel that if he needs to be tutored to get in, he will have problems when he gets there, 2) I refuse to nibble up the little amount of free time he has as I feel this will be mentally detrimental to him and 3) I was advised to not get him tutored by the teachers at his school.
However, I am starting to doubt myself as it seems like all the other parents are Kumoning and tutoring their sons. My resolve is starting to weaken as fear is starting to set in that my son will not get a place because of my silly ideals because perhaps my attitude is appropriate for a brilliant candidate, but perhaps not for my more uncertain one. My gut tells me that the best preparation my son could have is to continue to plan and build his amazing Lego models, read his encyclopaedias (which he loves to do), and just do a Bond paper here and there. Am I wrong? What are these schools looking for and how do they choose amongst their candidates?
Any advice would be welcome.
He is a bright but an "underachiever" in the sense that his teacher complains that he often seems bored in class and daydreams. He loses interest in the simple tasks (cutting words and matching them to pictures). He has a reading level of 11 years and I do understand that simple tasks seem pointless and am afraid that if I don't move him to a more demanding school, he will coast even further downward.
The only problem is that the 3 schools which are options are insanely competitive to get into (Westminster Under, Colet Court, Kings Wimbledon), and I know that almost all the other parents who are planning for their son to take the 7+ have already started tutoring. I will not tutor my son because 1) I feel that if he needs to be tutored to get in, he will have problems when he gets there, 2) I refuse to nibble up the little amount of free time he has as I feel this will be mentally detrimental to him and 3) I was advised to not get him tutored by the teachers at his school.
However, I am starting to doubt myself as it seems like all the other parents are Kumoning and tutoring their sons. My resolve is starting to weaken as fear is starting to set in that my son will not get a place because of my silly ideals because perhaps my attitude is appropriate for a brilliant candidate, but perhaps not for my more uncertain one. My gut tells me that the best preparation my son could have is to continue to plan and build his amazing Lego models, read his encyclopaedias (which he loves to do), and just do a Bond paper here and there. Am I wrong? What are these schools looking for and how do they choose amongst their candidates?
Any advice would be welcome.
