Strategies to keep it simple????

Advice on 11 Plus NVR papers and problems

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semb
Posts: 123
Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2013 10:41 pm

Strategies to keep it simple????

Post by semb »

Dd seems to tie herself up in knots doing NVR. She seems to look at questions and really over-complicate them. Often she'll look at one question for ages and be trying all sorts of complicated comparisons between the different figures. It worries me as the exam is so timed pressured. I keep telling her that seeing as there is little time to answer questions in the exam, the answer is generally much simpler than she is thinking. I try to get her to describe what she can see and think simply, only becoming more detailed and complicated if need be.

eg last night she was looking at a question where you have to say which figure doesn't fit in / doesn't share the same rule as the rest, and she was counting lines, looking at rotation, reflection, what the shapes were, how the shading patterns differed in each figure etc etc and yet the answer was simply that one figure had dots to the right of the main shape whereas all of the others had dots to the left of the main shape!

I'm not sure what else to suggest to her, yet this is the area she is struggling with most time wise because of the level of detail she is going into for each question!

Any thoughts / tips gratefully received!
Enjoyingthejourney
Posts: 122
Joined: Mon Jan 04, 2016 12:44 am

Re: Strategies to keep it simple????

Post by Enjoyingthejourney »

Hi, with that type of question it may be simpler to list the factors all shapes/images have in common. The exception would obviously be the answer. So rather than looking for the one that is different, look for the ones that have similarities, and then the answer would be apparent for not fitting in with the rest.
Tinkers
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Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 2:05 pm
Location: Reading

Re: Strategies to keep it simple????

Post by Tinkers »

I don't know if SPANSS will help

Shape
Position
Angle
Number
Size
Shading
PurpleDuck
Posts: 1586
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2010 10:45 pm

Re: Strategies to keep it simple????

Post by PurpleDuck »

Do you have a book which teaches NVR? If not, then have a look at the CGP 11+ NVR Study Book and Parents Guide. It has a lot of explanations and worked examples in there, so maybe it will be easier for your daughter to get used to spotting patterns when she can see it explained step by step.

https://www.cgpbooks.co.uk/Student/book ... ook_NHRDE1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Another useful resource is Bond 11+ NVR Practice Tests - not the assessment papers books, but practice tests. This is because the answer booklet that comes with the test papers includes detailed solutions/explanations to each question, not just the answers.

I do sympathise with your DD - I can manage only the simplest NVR questions, anything more than that and my brain goes on strike! :lol:
It felt like I hit rock bottom; suddenly, there was knocking from beneath... (anon.)
semb
Posts: 123
Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2013 10:41 pm

Re: Strategies to keep it simple????

Post by semb »

Thanks for the good advice Enjoyingthejourney, Tinkers and PurpleDuck.

She's been doing CGP 10 min NVR tests, after finishing the CGP NVR Practice book. Her timing is hit and miss. Sometimes she does them in 8 mins, sometimes 20 mins!! The latter are the times where instead of looking at and describing what is in front of her she methodically goes through all of the ways the "How to" guide tells you figures might differ e.g. shading, number, reflection, rotation etc etc and in this way uses up so much time. I try to tell her to describe what is in front of her first, as then it might be obvious it's a rotation question, for example, and then she saves herself all of the time considering factors that are irrelevant in the question at hand. I tell her that only if in describing the figure to herself she can't work out what the right answer is, then consider other factors....but any suggestion I make is dismissed!

We carry on....! Thanks again
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