Page 18 - IFV Issue 3_2024

Today’s Child

A PARENT’S GUIDE TO

SURVIVING GRADE FOUR

BY NICOLA KILLOPS, EDUCATION AND MEDIA SPECIALIST (AND MOM)

s each school year begins, you can be sure of one thing: Grade four is possibly the most significant adjustment your
Your social media feed will fill up with proud parent child will need to make in their school career. The Foundation
Aposts, showing excited, smiling children who don their Phase focuses on Literacy, Numeracy, and Life Skills, but suddenly,
uniforms for the first time and start their grade one year. kids are thrust into a more formal academic world, complete with
There is also a fair share of grade eight parents sharing the start a string of subjects, cycle tests, a wider variety of teachers, and the
of their child’s high school journey. And, of course, there are those need to work quickly in order to keep within the school timetable.
nearing the finish line and beginning their matric year. These years Then, there is the added peer pressure and hectic extra-mural
are considered important milestones that mark the educational commitments with minimal downtime.
road. They bring new challenges and exciting changes and are a Like most things, some will take to it like a duck to water. But
rite of passage. some really struggle, especially those who have already found
But there is a critical year in a child’s school life that usually starts the academic world more challenging than expected. Some have
without as much fanfare – grade four – a rollercoaster ride if there already been referred for assessments by this stage due to their
ever was one. distractibility, inattention, poor work ethic, and poor performance.
I taught grade four for many years, and it has a rather strange The assessments usually pursue a diagnosis of ADHD or a similar
reputation among parents (which ultimately trickles down to learning challenge.
the kids.) For instance, one of the first things parents bring up However, very often, these assessments end up revealing
is exams, usually written for the first time in grade four. And the something else. Intelligent and capable kids are stifled by a
little ones walking through the door on their first day are already system that tries to squish them into an ill-fitting box, leaving
terrified of them. them crippled with anxiety and low self-esteem. And when the
I always played them down and gave plenty of pep talks anxiety is tackled, the children often thrive.
(mainly to the parents) on approaching the subject without This often sits just under the surface during the earlier years,
fearmongering. I reminded them that no one is expected to run and when grade four starts, the wheels come off.
before they can walk, and as the year progressed, they would
mature and be ready. But it’s also not THAT big of a deal. So, how can we help?
This may sound strange coming from a teacher, but the truth is The most important thing we can do for our kids is to be
that many parents put so much emphasis on a few tests at the end present enough to recognise the signs, communicate with them,
of the year that they lose focus of the rest. As a result, they could and make them feel safe to communicate with us. Awareness of
miss out on something far more critical, such as how their child is your children’s mental health is just as essential as physical health.
coping day to day. I am not a doctor or a psychologist. I am just a teacher and a

16 • Issue 3 2024 • The Villager