Taking a break from it

Eleven Plus (11+) in Medway

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anxiousyear
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:13 pm

Taking a break from it

Post by anxiousyear »

DD takes 11plus in September and I have decided to take a break from doing extra work at home as it is all getting too stressful and I think counterproductive. So we are relaxing now until after Easter. Her week point is the extended writing but she loves reading so I have hit on the idea of getting her to read extensively in that time the different types of writing that may come up. I have subscribed to a children's newspaper and she reads lots of fiction anyway. Does anyone know where I can get plenty of examples of factual reports and letter writing of the appropriate standard? I hope that if she reads enough examples she may get the idea by osmosis.

Incidentally her grammar and spelling seem to have taken a sharp downturn in the last month or so. Did anyone else experience this half way through year 5? Is it likely to be a result of overload?

Thanks
anxiousyear
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:13 pm

Post by anxiousyear »

I did of course mean 'weak point' not 'week point'. How embarassing! And me talking about spelling going downhill.
tiredmum
Posts: 1161
Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:51 am

Post by tiredmum »

lol you can edit that origianl post to change "week" to "weak".
My dd was lucky enough to pass the 11 plus last year and i didnt do any extra writing with her until the last month before the test. They tend to go over the different forms of writing at school in a normal literacy lesson, and if your daughter reads a variety of stuff then she should be fine. One thing i did was get my dd to ask me anything she read and didnt understand and we would chat about it. If i was you i would concentrate on the maths and verbal more as verbal is not covered in school and the maths in the test is much more advanced that year 5 maths and also "different", more problem solving. :D
dadofkent
Posts: 515
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2008 2:05 pm

Post by dadofkent »

I essentially agree with tiredmum. My DD took both the Kent and Medway tests, the latter being a backup. She was prepared for the maths, VR, and NVR in the Kent test, and it was the intention to do work on the creative writing for the medway test in the 4 or so weeks between the two tests. However, she was so fed up with exams, we did no further work after the Kent test with the exception of about 1hr the night before the Medway test just ensuring that she understood the different writing genres, styles etc. She passed comfortably with about 600, and the writing was her best score.
reddebs
Posts: 187
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 10:21 pm
Location: Medway/Kent

Post by reddebs »

Hi
When pen and paper stop there is still lots of creative work that can be done.
Try the verbal made up story or character profiles if you spot a likely candidate whilst out driving etc, A veral letter of complaint to the council if you spot roadworks but no roadworkers, a newspaper report on the roaming dog that could cause an accident etc.
There is potential in a lot of our daily routine for creativity to be expressed.

This verbal practice works well and is very informal. Especially if you try too - it will surprise you how much better theirs are to yours! :wink:
red_debs
anxiousyear
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:13 pm

Post by anxiousyear »

Thanks all for the replies. Lots of useful things there. I particularly like the verbal creative exercises - DD certainly loves talking so I'll work on that one.!! Cheers everyone
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