LAMDA young children

[Retrodad12]

Hoping for some advice regarding LAMDA. I have a 6 year old step niece. She is incredibly advance with reading and memorising and I think would be very well suited to LAMDA exams. She has no idea how good she is, and feel this would be great for her self confidence. The question I have is that I know there aren't age limits per se and it's not really the done thing to start LAMDA very young however she has always been very advanced in this sort of thing compared to her peers. I wonder if anybody thinks it is possible to study children for LAMDA at home without a teacher as we are finding that many LAMDA teachers are hesitant to provide lessons to somebody young, before even meeting them because they have ideas on age entries. Does anybody have recommendations in the London area for any tutors that might be progressive and embrace this sort of idea with openness? Are there any test centres equally that wouldn't frown upon a child entering young and possibly progressing quite quickly through the first two or three grades? I'm finding that there are preconceived ideas and would love to know of any information on exam centres which haven't made up their mind before even assessing the child, simply based on age? Also, please do keep comments constructive- I'm not looking for opinions or a debate on whether there should be a minimum age, but specific information please? Thanks in advance.

Find out of you have a Helen O Grady class near you

My dd started at 4 and has progressed through her Lamda stages within group there.

My son did LAMDA from a very young age. It is very good for confidence as long as the child enjoys it. He did quite well.

You might have more luck with teachers if you are happy to start with the poetry and prose exams as opposed to acting or musical theatre, for example (sorry, you didn’t specify which stream).

Year One children are regularly entered for these. They memorise a poem and then have to answer questions around e.g. their favourite toy.

My children have been doing LAMDA at school since they were that sort of age, and really enjoy it. As above, their exams have been poems so far.

Yes go for it! The syllabus is available online & you can enter her at a public centre when she’s ready for the exam. Look out for local Speech & Drama festivals as these provide good performance opportunities too. As above Verse & Prose more appealing for younger ones.

There are entry level exams. Lots of schools start students at this age. Just don’t try and whizz ahead with the grades but take your time.

My ds did LAMDA from age 5, that was at private school though.

My DD did Lamda as part of her weekly after school drama group from when she was in y2 at school. She did three exams before the group ended due to the teacher retiring.

My daughter was and still is a slow reader, always academically behind and has some processing problems but she loved drama and just practiced and practiced so that she passed the exams. It was really good for her confidence.

I used to run a drama class where the children could opt to do lamda. We offered them from age 9 onwards then I successfully used my daughter as a Guinea pig before offering them from age 5.

Lamda used to issue age guidelines. The Introductory exams are designed for age 5 onwards. There are 3 Introductory exams Stage 1, Stage 2 & Stage 3. Children have to prepare a short set poem then talk to the examiner about something.

Entry Level (pre grade 1) exams are designed for children aged 8 and above. You can choose Verse or Acting (I don’t know much about the reading for performance etc exams).

Yes, you can do the introductory grades from Age 4. Lots do.

There's no disadvantage to not doing them and starting with Entry Grade in a Year or two instead. But, if she enjoys it, those initial levels are great for very little ones.

Thank you all.
Yes it would be for the communication rather than acting
I wasn't clear what the reading for performance one actually entails to be honest. It seems everyone does the memorising but she would absolutely take to the reading one as that could only be described as an obsession (not even a hobby). She does do acting work so could bring that to a recital on some level I suppose.

My DD did Lamda exams from that age with Little Voices. Look them up, as they have branches in London.