As a parent, it is always a balance you need to maintain between how much you need to push your child and when you need to give them a breather for playtime and hobbies. IIT JEE being one of the most difficult exam to clear, the millions of students appearing every year, the world wide respect that IITs command, and life being “made” if your child cracks the IIT JEE – it is indeed a career defining exam and you are bang on in asking this very basic question.
So how early should your child start preparing for IIT JEE? It is very improbable but,
If the answer in your mind is “a crash course starting in 11th or 12th should do for my boy or girl” then either you do not know the complexity of IIT JEE, the huge pressure of 12th board exam, and the limited time at hand to prepare and perform well in both IIT JEE and 12th boards
OR
You are totally out of touch with what most other parents are opting for their children.
These days, some parents plan to send their child for IIT JEE coaching class as early as 6th Std. Some opt for summer courses starting in 8th Std. Most of the “studious” and “serious about IIT” children are already in some coaching class or the other by the time they are in 9th or before starting 10th Std.
Now don’t immediately start searching for IIT courses for your child mid-way while reading this blog. The purpose of listing what is going on and how early many children are starting to prepare for IIT JEE these days, is not to make you do what manyothers are doing.