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Tips for school holidays

Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 11:37 am
by Villagedad
Hi

We are long term preparing our DS for the 11plus, he's just finishing year 2 and going into year 3 in September.

We wondered if anyone has any tips on work to do or games to play (with an 11plus slant) over the summer holidays to ensure he stays on track and hits the ground running come September and KS2..

Any advice or tips welcome

Villagedad

Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 12:17 pm
by andyb
Going into Y3 in September and already doing 11+ coaching :shock: Let him be 7, sorry I'm too gob-smacked to write anything else.

Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 12:37 pm
by lion63
Please don't take it as a criticism, Village Dad.

You are probably pleased with your DS's performance at Infants and reluctant to lose any momentum in his progress.

However, summer holidays should be, in the main, a time to switch off especially for one so young. Even adults need recharging.

Plenty of reading,even if non academic, would keep things ticking over.

Family games, with counting (Monopoly), recognition and response (Snap), words(Scrabble), deduction(Cluedo) and one called Set (Visual Perception) would allow learning in a relaxed mode and at a different level.

I don't know if it's your first child to do the 11+ but at this stage, it's confidence building and keenness to attempt anything that will stand him in good stead for future exams.

If he has no underlying problems that needs addressing, my advice would be to let your DS learn by playing rather than with practice papers and 'proper' educational aids.

My tip would be that for one so young, to 'hit the ground running' would be risking boredom at the very least and burn-out at the very worst..

Have a brilliant summer.

Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 12:39 pm
by Villagedad
andyb wrote:Going into Y3 in September and already doing 11+ coaching :shock: Let him be 7, sorry I'm too gob-smacked to write anything else.
Sorry I don't think I explained things properly.

We aren't doing any 11plus type work (ie VR or NVR), just things like reading, comprehension, and maths for his level at KS1 (soon to be KS2)...

What I meant by long term preparation is doing the activities which will keep him interested and on the right path over the summer holidays.

I should imagine that's keep up the reading asking him questions about what he has just read etc., plus word games like scrabble etc..

Any other fun things and tips for school holidays would be welcomed

Thanks

Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 12:44 pm
by yoyo123
visit castles, museums etc, they often have activity days for children.

if it's wet what about a day making cookies or cakes, lots of maths sneaked in there.

does your local library have a reading challenge? Mine children used to love them, you keep a record of teh books you have read and get things like stickers , pencils or book bags when you hand in the sheet at the end of the year.

Early Prep

Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 9:23 pm
by EmeraldE
HI there

I feel it is VERY important to encourage a love of books and reading. Most VR papers are bias towards the english questions (usually containing more than the maths ones). I would also pay particular attention to learning tables and maths facts when the time comes. They do often need a lot of 'reminding' (for years!) to remember tables etc.

On the whole I would just monitor progress and not concern myself too much about prep per se until about Y4 and then softly softly.

You could drive yourself nuts worrying about how DC is progressing but it will wear you down over such a long period. Just relax and enjoy time reading and discussing stories and new words etc.

Good Luck x

Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 10:23 pm
by katel
Turn him loose. He's 7. he needs to be outside and wet and muddy. forget all about school for 7 weeks. read to him lots, have books about for him to read - but let him be feral!

Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 12:52 am
by Just1-2go
I have two children at GS I didn't push them at all until the beginning of year 5.
We read lots of books, visited interesting places buts thats all.