Confused and worried about my daughter`s chances :(
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Hi everyone, this is my first post on this forum.
I am a very, very stressed out mum at the moment, my dd did a practice maths test at school on Monday, basically she made a complete hash of it, scoring about 22 out of 50!! Which as you can imagine has completely destroyed her confidence and mine!!
I'm trying to remain calm, but basically now don't know what to do, don't know whether to do more practice tests or not, I think I probably shouldn't but can't stop myself!!
Again my dd is one that everybody expects to pass, everybody says oh she'll be fine, she's so bright!! Yes she is but she's not going at being put under test conditions.
Really, really don't know what to do!!
Any ideas please
I am a very, very stressed out mum at the moment, my dd did a practice maths test at school on Monday, basically she made a complete hash of it, scoring about 22 out of 50!! Which as you can imagine has completely destroyed her confidence and mine!!
I'm trying to remain calm, but basically now don't know what to do, don't know whether to do more practice tests or not, I think I probably shouldn't but can't stop myself!!
Again my dd is one that everybody expects to pass, everybody says oh she'll be fine, she's so bright!! Yes she is but she's not going at being put under test conditions.
Really, really don't know what to do!!
Any ideas please
Are you sure it was last years actual 11+ they used. The papers are not normally released. It may have been last years practice paper which, if I recall correctly, was NFER 11D. If so get hold of the paper and work through it to instil some confidence. Otherwise, see above.jnadams2 wrote:Hi everyone, this is my first post on this forum.
I am a very, very stressed out mum at the moment, my dd did a practice maths test at school on Monday (which turned to be last years 11+), basically she made a complete hash of it, scoring about 22 out of 50!! Which as you can imagine has completely destroyed her confidence and mine!!
I'm trying to remain calm, but basically now don't know what to do, don't know whether to do more practice tests or not, I think I probably shouldn't but can't stop myself!!
Again my dd is one that everybody expects to pass, everybody says oh she'll be fine, she's so bright!! Yes she is but she's not going at being put under test conditions.
Really, really don't know what to do!!
Any ideas please
Julia
I can't help you specifically but it is reassuring to know that I am not the only one sitting here biting my nails and feeling sick. DD1 is doing her maths practice today (she did VR and NVR yesterday) and she was complaining of a back ache this morning. Not sure if it is psychosomatic so am worried that I have stressed her out although have been very laid back abuot and in fact DH has banned us talking about the 11+ unless DD1 actually wants to talk about it.
We are just going to pick one particular type of question that she found hard in teh VR or NVR and run through how to do them for about 10-15 minutes on teh last few days, and maybe a bit of mental maths when walking the dog but I think the best thing now is to concentrate on them getting a good night's sleep, good food and lots of cuddles.
There's not much you can change now, Kelly, so I don't think lots of extra work at this stage will do much other than to wind her up and maybe make her worse in teh actual exam. Fingers crossed for her and everyone else!
We are just going to pick one particular type of question that she found hard in teh VR or NVR and run through how to do them for about 10-15 minutes on teh last few days, and maybe a bit of mental maths when walking the dog but I think the best thing now is to concentrate on them getting a good night's sleep, good food and lots of cuddles.
There's not much you can change now, Kelly, so I don't think lots of extra work at this stage will do much other than to wind her up and maybe make her worse in teh actual exam. Fingers crossed for her and everyone else!
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laid back son worried mum
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- Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2007 1:18 am
Dear jnadams2/Julia,
Have you been tutoring her yourself or has she been seeing a tutor?
Has she worked during the summer or has she just come back to practice when the term started?
Has she tried timed tests before?
How has she been since Monday after her test?
A bit of a list but then, can't rea11y offer any other ideas until you fi11 us in..
then maybe we can see why her practise test was as it was.
Have you been tutoring her yourself or has she been seeing a tutor?
Has she worked during the summer or has she just come back to practice when the term started?
Has she tried timed tests before?
How has she been since Monday after her test?
A bit of a list but then, can't rea11y offer any other ideas until you fi11 us in..
then maybe we can see why her practise test was as it was.
Hi
Yes she has had a tutor for the past year to help with her confidence, which has always been a problem in maths! Her tutor teaches Year1 so although great for confidence, not always able to help her!!
We were in our house in France for 5 weeks of the summer, I took loads of practice papers with us and she did most of them and was achieving between 68 and 90 on Maths, 70 to 95 on NVR and 80+ on VR. They were timed tests and she was finishing them all, no problems there.
She did a Maths test on Monday and scored 22 out of 50 approx, she wasn't sure!! VR on Tuesday (scored 70%) and NVR on Wednesday (scored 68%). The NVR was from the Nfer Nelson practice tests 11A, which on her 1st attempt she only scored 48%, so we've improved!!
Since Monday she has been up and down, fine all the time she's getting things right but bursting into tears over anything and everything!! (even over the wrong colour skinny jeans) My over half says I shouldn't do anything for a couple of days, let her chill out, but I'm not sure if that's the right thing to do. Wondering whether to leave tests alone for a couple of days and just go through some areas on the Maths, like percentages, fractions and decimals??
What do you all think??
Thanks
Julia
Yes she has had a tutor for the past year to help with her confidence, which has always been a problem in maths! Her tutor teaches Year1 so although great for confidence, not always able to help her!!
We were in our house in France for 5 weeks of the summer, I took loads of practice papers with us and she did most of them and was achieving between 68 and 90 on Maths, 70 to 95 on NVR and 80+ on VR. They were timed tests and she was finishing them all, no problems there.
She did a Maths test on Monday and scored 22 out of 50 approx, she wasn't sure!! VR on Tuesday (scored 70%) and NVR on Wednesday (scored 68%). The NVR was from the Nfer Nelson practice tests 11A, which on her 1st attempt she only scored 48%, so we've improved!!
Since Monday she has been up and down, fine all the time she's getting things right but bursting into tears over anything and everything!! (even over the wrong colour skinny jeans) My over half says I shouldn't do anything for a couple of days, let her chill out, but I'm not sure if that's the right thing to do. Wondering whether to leave tests alone for a couple of days and just go through some areas on the Maths, like percentages, fractions and decimals??
What do you all think??
Thanks
Julia
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laid back son worried mum
- Posts: 4083
- Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2007 1:18 am
Hi, Julia,
it does look like your DD has been working hard and achieved respectable scores with her practice papers. I think it's commendable that she did some work in the summer and kept her mind ticking over.
She is probably feeling the 'strain of the occasion'...that there are big tests coming up. The previous posts in reply to Ke11y outline some last minute strategies that are very sensible.
I would agree with your other half that she needs a couple of days break.
You are lucky to have got hold of what she worked on in the school practice tests.
You can look through those and help her with any obvious problem areas.
You might find that she 'forgot' to think things through properly in the heat of the moment and that she actua11y knows what to do (and so would have got it right).
Try to keep her relaxed with positive words.
If they keep mentioning " difficult, hard, tough"...it wi11 be perceived as just that...something tortuous to get through.
you can say, " Wow, nearly there(for the exams)! you've learnt so much these past few weeks/months...it's impo55ible to forget everything!
.A11 this clever things you can do with these questions! Just go for it!"
The last few days or week, it's better to skim over worked papers together and chat about the techniques, without actua11y doing the work. .
Do you remember how you worked this one out?
This one was quite interesting..
Oh, I remember your answer to this one..
Children need the mental energy to do the real test and it's a bit like the Olympic heats..you save your best for last. Even if it is rea11y more difficult in the real tests, she would be better prepared(menta11y) for the cha11enge.
Keep we11.
it does look like your DD has been working hard and achieved respectable scores with her practice papers. I think it's commendable that she did some work in the summer and kept her mind ticking over.
She is probably feeling the 'strain of the occasion'...that there are big tests coming up. The previous posts in reply to Ke11y outline some last minute strategies that are very sensible.
I would agree with your other half that she needs a couple of days break.
You are lucky to have got hold of what she worked on in the school practice tests.
You can look through those and help her with any obvious problem areas.
You might find that she 'forgot' to think things through properly in the heat of the moment and that she actua11y knows what to do (and so would have got it right).
Try to keep her relaxed with positive words.
If they keep mentioning " difficult, hard, tough"...it wi11 be perceived as just that...something tortuous to get through.
you can say, " Wow, nearly there(for the exams)! you've learnt so much these past few weeks/months...it's impo55ible to forget everything!
.A11 this clever things you can do with these questions! Just go for it!"
The last few days or week, it's better to skim over worked papers together and chat about the techniques, without actua11y doing the work. .
Do you remember how you worked this one out?
This one was quite interesting..
Oh, I remember your answer to this one..
Children need the mental energy to do the real test and it's a bit like the Olympic heats..you save your best for last. Even if it is rea11y more difficult in the real tests, she would be better prepared(menta11y) for the cha11enge.
Keep we11.
Hi Julia
All the children I've come across who have failed the Kent 11+ have missed out on the maths paper but done quite well on VR and NVR. If you decide to do anything else with your daughter I'd be inclined to make it maths, as she seems to be doing well with the VR & NVR. However, as others have suggested, it could be that a bit of R & R would be the best way to go.
Best of Luck
All the children I've come across who have failed the Kent 11+ have missed out on the maths paper but done quite well on VR and NVR. If you decide to do anything else with your daughter I'd be inclined to make it maths, as she seems to be doing well with the VR & NVR. However, as others have suggested, it could be that a bit of R & R would be the best way to go.
Best of Luck
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Bexley Mum 2
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- Location: Bexley
Sam's Mum - I agree. This close to the tests it's time to start laying off the practice. Practice at this stage is unlikely to improve a child's chances of passing the 11+, but it will help to increase their anxiety and stress levels.
With regard to maths, what I have tended to do with my children at this stage is not practice questions but check their maths terminology. It would be dreadful to think they missed a point because they didn't understand what a question meant or how to do something simple (one of my sons kept confusing the perimeter of a rectangle with the area).
Examples might include: mode, mean, median, quotient, product, diameter, circumference, horizontal, vertical etc. You might also check that they know how to work out the area of a rectangle and circle, and also that they know about the different types of triangle and what their angles are (eg equilateral, isosceles).
And, I'm sure I've said elsewhere on this site, when my eldest son was doing practice papers for his 11+ and getting scores anywhere between 40 and 90% he said, "but mum, it's because it's only practice, of course I'll try harder for the real thing"! He did and passed comfortably.
With regard to maths, what I have tended to do with my children at this stage is not practice questions but check their maths terminology. It would be dreadful to think they missed a point because they didn't understand what a question meant or how to do something simple (one of my sons kept confusing the perimeter of a rectangle with the area).
Examples might include: mode, mean, median, quotient, product, diameter, circumference, horizontal, vertical etc. You might also check that they know how to work out the area of a rectangle and circle, and also that they know about the different types of triangle and what their angles are (eg equilateral, isosceles).
And, I'm sure I've said elsewhere on this site, when my eldest son was doing practice papers for his 11+ and getting scores anywhere between 40 and 90% he said, "but mum, it's because it's only practice, of course I'll try harder for the real thing"! He did and passed comfortably.
