Should you let your school child participate in competitive exams?

7 out of every 10 parents will probably vote it out saying there will be pressure created on the child if exposed to competitive exams from the young age.?Exams and mark-sheets are also not welcome by many parents of young kids. Let us dive deep into both the sides and the psychology that makes such decisions. It is a wide open matter for debate.?

A parent who has kids with sharp brain, highly active in nature and with good grasping power will need constant feeding of information, physical activities and evaluation. Wherein on the other hand, a parent with a child with moderate creativity, concentration and lesser grasping power will need their children to learn at their own pace.?

We must not mix them together, compare with one set with another and definitely not put them in same competition when they are very young. However, the second set of parents have a bigger task in hand of making their children 'world-ready'. After-all, in the real world, these two sets of people will meet and compete.?

When you send your child to a physical school, you aspire that your child will be social, become interactive and the biggest thing you want is that they learn that there is 'competition'. Be it sports, education or any extra-curricular activities like painting, drawing, chess etc.

Now, all these things require evaluation. When there is an evaluation process set by the school, then the students are made to study and practice at home within a deadline and deliver during a precise period of time set by the school. Competitive exam is exactly the same thing. It is just that the parents have the choice to register for such exams or not.

3 Worries about competitive exams:

A. It often makes kids anxious- Children can not learn or perform when they are anxious. They become resistant to the idea and over time, the interest deteriorates.

B. The lower scorers do not get recognition(positive motivation)-?The fear of not getting noticed and considered not worthy demotivates children.

C. Feeling pressure to perform-?The pressure that they are going to be judged and compared with students who do better may be uncomfortable.

6 Benefits of participating in a competitive exam:

1. Gain Deeper Subject Knowledge-?A competitive exam is not about just Q&A like classroom tests; they are more about intense evaluation of concept clearance. A child has to understand the basics very clearly to tackle the twisted questions, that too at a fast pace. This means an in-depth understanding and clarity is a must.

2. Talents get encouraged and scholarships-?Better a student fairs in one competitive exam, the flair increases. They receive recognition from school too and receive scholarships because of their merit and grit.

3. Motivates students to achieve higher goals-?An award, a certificate and a scholarship boosts kids' confidence to go for the next and the next with confidence.

4. Increases aptitude, logical reasoning and thinking skills-?The questions in competitive exams are tricky. It has to be understood quickly and responded perfectly in the shortest possible time. Hence, competitive exams training involves not only accuracy but a speed training. An SOF olympiad exam is scheduled for 60 minutes, but children winning gold medals finish it in 9-10 minutes with a perfect score. Now that requires more than just studying and learning. It definitely not about memorising. It is way beyond.

5. Intellectual skills get enhanced-?Preparing for a competitive exams is extra hours of studies, extra paper solving, extra learning from various publications, making notes, taking frequent mock tests to get assessed prior to the main examination. To be able to follow a routine and remain focussed is the thing.

6. Helps in adjusting to the ever-increasing competitive world-?All the above 5 points are true for a real world. Everyone has to compete. In order to do that, they need the orientation and practice of developing skills continuously, analysing positions, evaluating strategies, think critically, pushing oneself through the challenges, get exposed to the judging world and establish one's merit.

If you can orient your child that?learning is more important than winning, you can start these coaching classes, even if you do not wish your child to compete and get evaluated.?The discipline of sitting one hour each day after school will give them the practice of studying and they will learn something new in each class.?

The mock tests are taken frequently in which the scores are published immediately upon submission which helps the student and parents to understand the progress.?

This private assessment of your child's progress will guide you better to decide whether to participate in the actual competition next year. Even if you decide not to, the learning and the discipline of practicing will leave an everlasting benefit.

First publishes here:?https://homeclass.in/olympiad