Have your DC been consistently brainy?!

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fatbananas
Posts: 1411
Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2010 2:03 pm

Have your DC been consistently brainy?!

Post by fatbananas »

I've posted on here, when introducing myself, about the anxiety created in parents (myself included in weaker moments :wink:) by parents already tutoring/ kumon-ing their kids in my DS's Yr 1 class. The responses I received mirrored my own instincts which was to support my son now if he needed it in any particular area but otherwise he was FAR TOO YOUNG to be thinking of anything like that!

Now I'm wondering if everyone who's DC got into grammar/ selective independent secondary schools had very brainy children throughout their infant/ junior school life, where it was almost obvious that passing the 11+ well would not be an issue, or whether their children had peaks and troughs in their development or 'took off' at some later stage after a slow or shakey start?

For background, my DS is at an excellent state primary. He is a good middle at maths(without any assistance from me), a strong reader, doing well with his writing, very strong on science (albeit yr 1) and has a good imagination. His teacher describes him as having the higher-level thinking skills that apparently only a few kids in each class/ year (not sure which) have. I'm basically wondering if he's going to be 'up to' the 11+ challenge or whether it's simply too early to tell.

Do we ever stop worrying about our childrens' future?!! :)
Seize the day ... before it seizes you.
Ed's mum
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Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:47 am
Location: Warwickshire.

Post by Ed's mum »

Hi there Fatbananas (Loving the name)
Some children will always be at the top of their classes/year group all the way through school. Some are 'late developers' and only really begin to show their aptitude as they move into KS2 or even year 4/5. Some will be ahead initially and then will even out alongside their peers. It's not entirely possible to be certain when a child is only in year 1, but it's an extremely good position to be in.

I hope that makes sense.
chad
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Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 1:49 pm
Location: berkshire

Post by chad »

Yep... completely agree with Ed's mum
Children develop at different times.....so Yr 1 is too early for a def yes or no
Your ds seems to be doing well :D

and no....... i don't think we ever stop worrying (even if we don't show it) :roll:
sherry_d
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Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2009 4:38 pm
Location: Maidstone

Post by sherry_d »

chad wrote:i don't think we ever stop worrying (even if we don't show it) :roll:
my mum still worries about me :oops:

With my DD I was very naive and didnt bother with much, just doing the basic which was homework which was rarely given or would be once a week. Then I get a :roll: as she began her year 5 and realised how much she had to cram in. Now I wish I had worked with her the basic stuff like knowing timestables by heart and push her to read a bit more. I am now a lunatic mum trying to cram everything in well about 6months now. In a way it was good as I didnt have that pressure early on but I feel sorry for my DS who is only 2 now :cry:
Impossible is Nothing.
Chilled
Posts: 118
Joined: Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:13 pm

Have your DC been consistently brainy?!

Post by Chilled »

Fatbananas said: [Now I'm wondering if everyone who's DC got into grammar/ selective independent secondary schools had very brainy children throughout their infant/ junior school life, where it was almost obvious that passing the 11+ well would not be an issue, or whether their children had peaks and troughs in their development or 'took off' at some later stage after a slow or shakey start? ]

Without knowing loads of children before I had my son, it's difficult to say whether he has been consistently brainy in comparison with others. I do know that he has always been very articulate for his age and picked up maths quickly. In Reception and year 1 he was average at reading, certainly not way ahead, but once he realised that reading could be a pleasure he was off and is now a prolific reader.

I didn't even think about whether we would opt for selective schools/11+ type exams until the end of Y3 when his school did NVR and VR tests and he scored in the top 15% and we didn't start doing any prep until Jan of Y5.

Please try not to think about his 11+ potential yet and especially don't send him to Kumon or a tutor. The most important thing for now is that your child is happy at school and enjoys learning.

Imho, it's bad enough that children are receiving formal schooling at the age of 5 & 6, never mind sending them to a tutor as well. In some countries children don't start formal education until the age if 7 and yet their literacy rates are higher than in the UK.

[/quote]
Sally-Anne
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Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Post by Sally-Anne »

Hi fatbananas

I have a friend whose son was hopelessly late to read a single word - nearly 8 years old! Everyone was despairing - the teachers, the parents, the SENCO, the Head ... Even the smug mums at coffee mornings had stopped offering platitudes and started to do all they could to help. :shock:

A couple of months before his 8th birthday he picked up a book and read it. Then another, then another, and so on. He still hasn't stopped reading - he walks around with his nose in a book permanently, reads at mealtimes, on the way to school, etc.

He breezed through the 11+ with no tuition at all and got almost full marks. He is right at the top of his GS, although I must say that he still does most things to "his own agenda" and no one else's!

Sally-Anne
Frustratedmum
Posts: 186
Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2009 12:42 am

Post by Frustratedmum »

We've been very lucky with DS1, he's been consistently ahead at school since his Nursery days so fortunately we took no extra tuition whatsoever & he's managed to pass the Bucks test & Kent test so far (awaiting Medway results but who knows). Now I won't go into anymore detail at all for fear of sounding boastful & that's clearly not my point.
Some of my friend's children have had a couple of years of tuition to be at the correct level for GS, so my point is that it's a vast spectrum of children who go to GS from all kinds of levels & all more than likely cope as well as each other at GS however they got there.
Cats12
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Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2009 1:51 pm

Post by Cats12 »

hi fatbanas, I think the kumon thing can be helpful for DCs if they're in a poor/middling primary, doesn't do times tables or encourage reading enough etc...I think formal tutoring so young is daft but having said that I know parents with DCs in such schools as above and i think they needed help when the school wasn't delivering.
The higher order thinking - oneof my DCs identified v early on as higher order thinker and we noticed a differnece too, the other really blossomed yr 5 and 6, though we knew it was always there. Both think differently but both intelligent - will exams/other outcomes be similar? Time will tell. I think you go with instinct - you know if your DC has more to give and in time will show it, others you know will always shine.
T.i.p.s.y

Post by T.i.p.s.y »

It's unlikely a very bright child in Yr1 will not remain bright unless their learning is impacted by teachers who won't give him/her appropriate work.

My youngest was developmentally behind for the first five years and is now ahead of his peers but not staggeringly so, and this is without my input. Now I'm sure, with a little effort he'd get into a super selective and definitely a GS where there is a pass mark. Asked me the question 5 years ago and I would have said no.
crazydaisy
Posts: 90
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2009 3:06 pm

Post by crazydaisy »

Love the name, Fatbananas! I agree with Cat12 that formal tutoring sounds unnecessary in yr 1 as your DS is doing fine. Our view (and we've got 3 through their 11+ so far) is that at this stage the most important thing is getting them reading loads of varied stuff. Reading is really the only thing you can't cram in the last 18 months before the exams. But we have done Bond books a bit at this age, at home and just 'for fun' (sad, aren't we). Our DD was rubbish at maths in yr 1 and with Bond books at home for 18 months from yr 4 and with a tutor for the last 6 months(more to take the pressure off me as it gets a bit intense) got up to speed nicely for the 2009 exams. Enjoy reading together now and see where you are towards the middle of yr 4? How lovely to have such a bright child - well done you! :D
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