So are you a pushy parent ?
According to a leading Headmistress competitive parents are taking the joy out of childhood by subjecting their kids to regular tutoring at a young age.
As a former Deputy Head teacher and class teacher for over 22 years I’ve seen both sides to this argument – what do you make of it ?
What are you like?
What does success look like to you for your kids ?
“Mothers and fathers risk undermining their children’s natural development with evening and weekend lessons in the three-Rs – in addition to more than 40 hours of school work and extra curricular activities, it is claimed.
Alexia Bracewell, the head of fee-paying Longacre School in Guildford, Surrey, told how parents of three-year-olds regularly approached teachers to enquire what was needed to make sure children gain top Sats results or pass senior school entry exams.
She warned that many families were “setting their children up to fail” by pushing them too hard during the early years.
“The joy of childhood is fast disappearing with parents eagerly inflicting one activity after another in a desperate bid to ensure their child succeeds,” she said.
“Parents’ ambition and intervention in their child’s education is undoubtedly hampering a pupil’s enjoyment and ability to develop at an individual rate… Of course, you must be sympathetic to parents but the pressure needs to be controlled.”
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