Thanks Disney, that sounds like something out of a comedy sketch!
I do shudder when I think of an extremely precocious 3 year old, with an all singing, all dancing 'tiger mom' smiling proudly as dd reads aloud/counts to 100/orders lunch (in French) or whatever else!
Speaking of 'tiger moms', I tried to get dd to start writing her name yesterday. Tantrum followed, so we went to the park instead. I was thinking as I was driving home, how much she actually learnt by just going to the park. Feeding the ducks, asking what they eat/drink and why they are going under the water, picking up sticks etc and playing with other children.
She learnt more in a couple of hours there, than she would do with me at home, trying to bribe her to sit still nicely and concentrate.
I suppose the schools have to measure and test in some way, but you could just train an obedient monkey to do the tasks they require, no? If you sat with your child (presuming they follow instructions!) and did pencil control, writing names, shapes, every day for say 6 months/a year, then of course they would be able to do it if they practiced long enough. I wonder how much weight is put on the ability to 'complete tasks' and how much they actually look at the child and assess them in other ways. I suppose it comes down to time and also the dc are are only in there for a short amount of time. It's just so subjective though and determined by factors out of our control too - i.e whether dd slept well, is hungry, in a bad mood, I could go on and on....
I don't know anything specific about the assessments, apart from what I've read on here. First time through this and as baffled as everyone else! Do think though, N and H ask too much and expect candidates to do evidently a lot more, compared to other (more relaxed) private schools. A friend's son who is now 8, just turned up to his assessment played with dinosaurs, did a puzzle and listened to a story. It was for a fairly selective prep school, but seemed rather laid back and no tutoring was involved.