Knowing academics at 3?!

[IRFS23]

My friends kid is 3.5 year old and is pre school of a local primary school. Her parents have decided they want to move her before she starts reception as this school has great ofsted rating and puts a lot of emphasis on academic achievement and they don’t think she is very academic. Can you know if your kid is or is not academic this young?? She seems perfectly bright to me although I’m not her parent I know. Am I missing something

In many cases, no, you can't tell how academic they'll be. On the other hand, if they're seeing a lot of pressure on academics, maybe an early transition to more formal learning, less learning through play, quite a bit of homework early on at this school – I think you absolutely can say, no, that's not what I think would suit my very young child, especially when those methods aren't supported by what we now know about how children learn best.

Agree with the previous post. I don't really know what your friend might mean by 'not very academic': No small child is academic! And I'm guessing that they just don't want a school that pushes children into formal learning too hard or too early.

Can only go by my limited experience.
Huge changes occur in the primary years.
Looking at my own family DD never seemed to do better than her friend and we had plenty of grumps about “N” who always did a little bit better !
However at secondary DD seemed to streak away found her stride and now in their 20s she has academically excelled .
You couldn’t have predicted it at age 7/8 never mind pre school !
But perhaps certain teaching methods may suit one child better . Hard to know.

I’ve heard of parents asking pre schoolteachers if they think their child is Oxbridge material! Absolutely ridiculous.

An experienced teacher can sometimes know when they see a very gifted child. It won’t be very often. I knew who the very bright dc were in YR. Yes, 3 did go to Oxbridge!

I dont think you can tell at that age. I worked in a pre school and some of the children seemed to be extremely bright, but by the end of primary school they seemed to level out. One of my dc is very clever, there was no indication of it at all until she was about 12.

@Deadringer They absolutely do not level out. Some clearly would not get near a university and are below expectations. Around 1/3 are in this category at the end of primary. Others are exceeding expected and some of these might well be high flyers. Dc who are quick at maths can certainly be spotted. Language use, reading, writing and music ability can be used to spot who is bright too. Dc don’t even out but some dc plateau and others improve but I’ve only seen very bright ones forge ahead. Often lower ability dc stay lower ability.

OP, if your friend thinks her DC struggles with things in particular have they had any of this looked into? When my goddaughter was small she struggled with things like phonics and with concentration, following instructions, and with social interaction with her peers. It turned out that she is hearing impaired. It’s difficult to be able to tell from a three-year-old whether they’ll be academic or not, but if they are struggling with age-appropriate learning and functional skills which parents and teachers have noticed, it’s best to start trying to identify if there are any distinct reasons as early as possible - and additionally, to particularly not label them “not academic.”

I didn't mean that all children ended up the same. I meant that some children appear to be very bright because perhaps they have a very good vocabulary, or because they are confident or quick thinking or whatever, while children who are shy, or have speech issues or are not interested in books or puzzles or whatever are overlooked. My brightest child never stood out at all, she hated maths, still does, had no musical ability but she has a very high iq and was way above her peers by the end of school and into her uni years.

Thanks for all you insights. I should have said my friend is a primary school teacher so does know her stuff and I do think that maybe she thinks the school is too intense maybe now. But she seemed so keen for her kid to go there because of the good track record of the school so I wonder if there is more to the story. I see the kid fairly regularly as they live up the road but when they say things like she not the brightest. I am just surprised as far as I can see she is a perfectly ‘normal’ well adjusted kid for her age.

Is also said she never has specified in what ways she thinks she is not bright or academic it’s very vague. I panicked as I have a 2 year old and thought Christ am I supposed to know my child’s academic ability in a year it seemed impossible!

@OhDear111 That’s lovely that you kept in touch with them all the way to year 13.

I wouldn’t have sent my dc to a pre school with an emphasis on academics. I chose one with a great outdoor curriculum, an emphasis on play, encouragement to spend time on the floor, and lots of sensory exploration.

@Deadringer When dc specialise, they can shine. The very academic all rounder will shine too, but much earlier. I find the difference in adults is being able to spot who has had a broad education and who is a specialist but wasn’t good at everything. I notice extremely bright people and it’s because I don’t meet many of them. I meet people who are very good at what they do but they aren’t necessarily well read or great at MFLs! They have a narrower skill set. And that’s fine.