Easier second time round?

[Pumpkin Pie]

Okanagan, surely reading any type of book is going to help improve vocabulary, spellings, punctuation etc., which will be beneficial for the 11+ exam.

[Okanagan]

It helps - but ask yourself which word you're more likely to get in an exam and where they're likely to come across them. Take magnanimous and torque for example? ds would know the second, but probably not the first. It's not a poor vocabulary that can be a problem with technically minded boys - just that even if they do read they get exposed to the wrong set of vocabulary!

[Bromleymum1]

For vocab (and other subjects) you could try freerice.com. My DS has tried this (after 11+) and found it rather addictive. I suppose there are worse things to be addicted to!

[mike1880]

I have to disagree there Okanagan, our son read almost exclusively non-fiction and his vocabulary was unquestionably superior to his sister, who read exclusively fiction (and very good fiction).

my only concern is that, since my DS is a summer child, he seems a lot more immature than what my dd was at the same age (7). I believe maturity counts for quite a lot in a CEM test so I hope it doesn't count against us.

I don't think you need to worry about that. Our son was, and still is, extremely immature (prob one of, if not the most immature in his year) and the CEM test obviously suited him perfectly. Reading age is the biggest single factor imo.

[muminbrum]

I agree with Mike1880. At that age DS1 wasn't really reading at home but suddenly discovered it in the summer between Y4 and Y5 and now always has his head in a book. DS2 at 8 (Y4) is still not very keen. I think finding the right book to get them started is key. With DS1 it was Harry Potter as he liked the films. We then had a deal going where I bought him the DVDs as he read the books! I thought I had cracked it with DS2 and Michael Morpurgo but after a couple he's lost interest. Will keep trying. I also enforce 20 mins reading/quiet time after lunch during school hols and weekends if we're home. I'm included too! We all lie on my bed together

[DIY Mum]

It seems that my dd has safely achieved her first choice school with a respectable score - but my question is: as it was such a stressful journey first time round, does the road seem less tumultuous second time round? We have a ds to go through the fun & games in a few years' time.
Any suggestions welcome - especially the usual punters, UmSusu, Mike, um, DIYMum et al (as they've had , at least, twice the fun).

I don’t feel that it’s easier fifth time round...well technically, it’s my 4th time round as ds2 and dd1 happen to be in the same academic year. It really depends on your dc.

1st time was hard with ds1 in that it was new and at times you felt that you were barking up the wrong tree when it came to prep. But it was also very easy as he was eager to learn, compliant and an able student.

I certainly felt more relaxed second time round with ds2 and dd1 because of my previous experience. Wouldn’t say they were that far off from ds1 in terms of academic ability but it was clear that they didn’t share his insatiable love for reading non-fiction and fiction (and this had an effect on their vr and my teaching strategies).

Reading goes a long way for dc especially if opportunity for language skills are lacking. I must admit, with 5 children approximately a year apart, it’s not as easy to have quality ‘talk time’ like you can have when you engage with just two children - or more, if they’re several years apart. And I do feel that when CEM test VR– they’re not testing dc’s knowledge of tier 2 or tier 3 level words but really, their language skills as a whole.

[um]

I'm on no.3 child in the family in Yr 5 right now, and I find that, personally speaking, each one actually gets harder.
Mainly because there is actually more pressure the further down the siblings you go.

Dd has 2 older brothers in CH and I am afraid I find it hard to accept or conceive that she could go to our local comp now. It is admittedly a very different world to that which her brothers are so fortunate to enjoy.

I think ds2 actually felt a lot more pressure than ds1, not because I put more pressure on him myself, but because he really didn't want to be 'outdone' by his brother who he is very close to, and end up in a different school. I actually think this pressure negatively affected his behaviour and performance during the 11 plus time - happily he was very pleased to make CH and is content now.

As for reading, my dc1 read because he loved reading (how lovely), ds2 read because I threatened him with local comp and no internet games if he didn't (nice too) and dd reads because I promise her a pair of earrings for every 5 books. We are now regulars at Claire's accessories I guess it is whatever floats their boat as long as they actually do read!

[reeyah]

Love the bribing Um!

DS1 loves Anthony Horowitz, and DS2 I'm afraid loves COMICS

However, what surprised me recently is how much my DS's have picked up from
Playstation games ! Believe it or not, they have learnt a lot of words from them! I am in no way advocating games, but I'm pleasantly surprised!

[Looking for help]

Yes, um the further down the family you go the pressure is greater to emulate the successful sibling(s).

Sooo glad I'm finished now, really did not understand the bandwagon we started on at the beginning.

[nervousmom]

We have a DD currently in year 3, so we will be doing all this again in 3 years time.

Having been through it with DS we know what to do and when.

She will be starting a basic on line tutoring at the start of year 4, which will become more involved in year 5.

She is aware of wha her brother has achieved and that we want her to tr for FW, which is hopefully where DS will be going.

She came to the open days with us, so has already seen the schools.

Her year 3 teacher is the same as the one my son had and the teacher says she is just as capable as her brother.

So she already knows what is expected of her. Which I suppose is a lot of pressure for her, but we will do things the same for her.

One thing we will do differently is to try and improve her vocab, something we didn't really do with DS, so we will get her reading suitable books which will challenge her, the rest will be the same.