When did you begin to train your child for grammar schools?

[Yamin151]

Apparently the whole class applauded one day when he answered a question and was actually right. .

What a horrible thing to do

[ToadMum]

Apparently the whole class applauded one day when he answered a question and was actually right. .

What a horrible thing to do

Actually, the way DS2 explained it, it wasn't. It may be a cause of bafflement as to how he came to be there, but the lad isn't totally unloved, and it was by the sound of it a genuine 'wow, well done!' moment.

[mystery]

To Fantasy, I think you should do whatever you and your child feel most comfortable with. How much you do either directly or indirectly with your child will also depend on many factors including which school your child is at, your home circumstances etc etc.

But yes, your child is young and your time with them outside work is limited so make sure that all the very important things about childhood and parenthood are not lost. But what these are is very dependent on the culture in which you choose to bring up your child.

I don't think that anyone should mock you for thinking ahead or feeling "anxious" about whether you are doing the riht things now to lay a platform for the future. Everyone is different and what some peope might see as deliberate preparation for a selection test others just see as part and parcel of the normal things one might do with a child.

I wouldn't choose to do non-verbal reasoning with a year 1 child after work and before their bedtime but others might ..... and some children might prefer it to a story. Who knows. It takes many different types to make world.

Whether or not being selected in a selective entrnce test matters very much depends on what schools you ahve available to you.


Good luck.

[fantasyvn2008]

To mystery: Thank you for your very reasonable advice.

Regards,

[J50]

But J50, I am intrigued by the concept of a child being 'grammar school material', or possibly an alternative described as 'educationally below average'; surely the received wisdom on the forum is that there is no such thing as natural ability - all children are equal and the only thing which divides them is their willingness to work (usually with their tutors) .

Oh yes I forgot, no such thing as natural ability, you can train a monkey to add one plus one these days so why not any child of any ability to pass the 11+ for a selective grammar school? People need to find their place in life and accept their role as binman, corner shop worker, or theoretical physicist concerned with String Theory. "22,000 days, it's all you got, it's not a lot"...

[ginx]

I've just received the eleven plus books ordered from here.

Ds2 is in year 5, very good at maths, not very good at literacy.

He could not do the first two close passages in the book at all. I struggled! I suppose it was particularly difficult for him as he does not read.

I was going to leave it till summer and the only reason I've got the books now is that all his friends are having coaching - together - and are teasing him for not joining them. He understands our reasons not to coach him formally but I am worried all his friends will pass the eleven plus and he won't. I don't know how much coaching helps but we'll try with the books. Thank goodness the answers are there!

I hope, however, he is separated from his friends. I know kids can be unkind but they keep leaving him out in conversations, these boys and their families socialise together and the boys discuss what they've done at weekends, in the holidays, etc. Dh and I don't have much in common with them but feel guilty we don't do more. Of course we always invite their dc to parties, round to play occasionally, but that's all.

So I've succumbed to peer pressure. Hopefully I will learn some grammar - and leave the maths to dh. Ds2 is a positive boy but rather afraid of failing if his friends pass - although he is quite happy to go to any school.

This is our last time through the 11+ and I am so glad. Poor ds2. He's just in a class full of children with pushy parents and now I feel I've become one. What can I do?

[PurpleDuck]

Are you sure this isn't just another wind up merchant? After all, they did post this previously:

Could you pls advise? My son is in year 1 (born in 2009). We go to work, so after he finishes school at 3.15, a childminder will take care until 5.30.

After we get home, I intend to have this timetable with him until bed time:

5.30 - 7pm: free play and dinner
7-7.10: piano
7.10-7.20: free play
7.20 - 7.30: handwriting

7.30-7.40: free play
7.40-7.55: maths

7.55-8pm: break
8 - 8.10: reading and then going to bed

I managed to do this timetable for two days with my child.

But I was wondering if it is suitable for his growth and well-being. Your advice is greatly appreciated.

Do you happen to have this in an excel spreadsheet with a dynamic pie chart?

[PurpleDuck]

When did you begin to train your child for grammar schools?

I want to ask this question as I became more worried after learning about my two friends.

They, among others, always said that their children only had tutors in Year 4 or 5. Little pressure but still their children succeeded in 11 Plus Exams.

However, recently, through other friends, I was told in fact, one person requested tutors for her child at Year 2. Another had tutors at Year 3. And in the last two years (Year 4 and 5), the child had six tutors at the same time. And apparently for both of them, the children had to do maths and verbal reasoning exercises every day from Year 2.

How common is this for other parents? Do you really need tutors for your children from Year 2? Or at the very least, do you need to ask your child to do relevant exercises every day?

Thank you

The only thing my both DS did in he early years of primary school was homework given by the school and as an extra, I bought for them handwriting workbooks, as their handwriting was appalling (it was about in year 2, if I remember correctly). I think that the extra handwriting practice really paid off, not just in terms of making their handwriting more consistent (e.g. letter sizing and position on the line etc.) but also by developing stamina/writing speed which came in very useful as they moved up through school.

We have been through the 11+ twice (and thankfully no more of that for me, ) and based on my personal experience, I would say that starting anytime earlier than year 5 is too early, as you are risking getting really fed up with the whole thing. My older DS started his 11+ preparation roughly around October half-term in Y5, going slowly at first, and stepping up at Easter. He is now in a selective school of his choice. My younger DS started from early September in year 5 and it was too much for him - by the time the grammar school exams came, he had been working for a year and it was just too much pressure for too long. He did pass all three grammars he sat and we are hoping he will get a place, but I wouldn't start him this early if I were to do it again.

What I feel was worth doing, was a 10+ mock in July of Y4. DS sat the mock with no prior preparation at all, as we wanted to see how he would manage compared to the other children, some of who would have been preparing for the mock. He came out above average for maths, average for English and a bit below average for VR, so we concluded that it was worth going for the 11+.

[Stokers]

He could not do the first two close passages in the book at all. I struggled! I suppose it was particularly difficult for him as he does not read.

ginx, don't despair. My DD really struggled with the Cloze passages to begin with and we were tearing our hair out. But it gets better - it really is one of those things where just practice in itself will improve performance. One of the things DD found difficult was keeping all of the words in play - at the start, if she had already used a word, she wouldn't consider it for a later gap, ie., she would assume that she was right, and would then really struggle to find the right answer. When she learnt to accept that she might have used the wrong word earlier, and change things round a bit, performance improved.

Also, don't forget little tips like, will the word be a verb, noun, adjective? Will it start with a vowel or consonant, etc? Good luck!

[ginx]

Thanks, stokers. Advice much appreciated.

He tried the maths book (I ambitiously bought book 2, what a mistake).

He managed about four of the questions. And he is apparently top of his class at maths.

We looked at verbal reasoning together and he managed a couple of questions about grammar.

This has knocked his confidence. He said what is the point in trying as he can't do it.

He could manage some of the Bond questions so if we do anything soon, we will go back to Bond. Despite your encouraging words, stokers, I don't think he has much of a chance (well, I never thought he did!) so I'll leave it for a while.

But I thought those books were incredibly difficult. No wonder I didn't pass the 11+. No idea how my dd2 managed to get to a gs.