What's The Plan For Your Year 5 Child ?

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scarlett
Posts: 3664
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 10:22 am

What's The Plan For Your Year 5 Child ?

Post by scarlett »

For those of us with children in year 5 , just wondered how it was going ? Any update at all ?

My son is working through the Bond NVR and VR and seems to be doing ok. Have any of you gone through the How To Do books with your child ? Please tell me no one is starting papers yet ! Aaargh. I am trying to get him to read more which is a bit painful, so I'm reading to him and trying to use more flamboyant words when I speak ...it's exhausting.

For maths he didn't achieve his target level ( as didn't the whole class....teacher issues) so I am really going over all the basics with him. His tables are ok, a little slow but he really has a problem with the problem solving questions...especially the ones which have 3 parts to them and then when I try to explain it to him he will start crying. I feel like crying too.Still, I'm sure with practice it will improve , it's just feeling like lots of pressure at the moment.

So, how is everyone else getting on ? :)
yoyo123
Posts: 8099
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: East Kent

Re: What's The Plan For Your Year 5 Child ?

Post by yoyo123 »

don;t worry Scarlett. almost all children find word problems and problem solving questions difficult. They are confronted by what seems like a massive question, when in fact a lot of the words are irrelevant, does it matter if there are red pens or if they go in a blue box etc?? using highlighters to find the important bits os a good idea.

Make cards with the 4 operations on and have a stack of questions, read the question and then get your son to put the question buy the correct one. makes him think about how to approach the task. ( you don;t have to solve them at this stage, just work out what you need to do. Can bring up some interesting discussions too, eg do you subtract or divide..might they be closely related? etc

Try googling word problems KS2 or problem solving KS2 ( I'd try year 4 at this stage)

look on them as puzzles to which you have to find the clues in order to solve them properly, hecan be a maths detective. Professor Layton games on DS and similar are excellent for this. ( I plauy them :oops: ) Ther are lots of board games and online games too which use the skills and knowledge he is developing, in a different format. Fun to do and a way of reinforcing stuff learnt in school.
scarlett
Posts: 3664
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 10:22 am

Re: What's The Plan For Your Year 5 Child ?

Post by scarlett »

Thanks Yoyo...yes, I do seem to remember number problems being a sticking point for other children. I do go through them logically and ask him what sum he thinks he will need to do i.e divide , multiply , but it all seems a bit too much so I will use your card suggestion.

The Professor Layton game does look good, I shall have a proper perusal next time I'm at the shops. Always handy to have some games we can happily play too !
starmum2000
Posts: 144
Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2011 7:53 pm

Re: What's The Plan For Your Year 5 Child ?

Post by starmum2000 »

Reading tip for relcutant readers - don't underestimate the power of reading to your child.
Lots of parents think that as soon as their child is a confident reader they don't need to read to them any more & this is not the case.
Reading aloud to more confident readers allows them to concentrate totally on comprehension & not have to worry about decoding, it helps them develop expression, expand their vocabulary, & allows them to experience books they wouldn't tackle alone.
Last year when my son was in year 5 we read 'The Hobbit' together. He loves magic & fantasy so this was right up his street. Once I'd put little brother to bed we sat together on the sofa & enjoyed our book time. Sometimes, I'd get him to read a page, but more often I did the reading. Gentle discussion about a few topics served as comprehension practise, I'd also check he knew the meaning of new words. It was a really enjoyable time & now we've put the dreaded 11+ behind us we're going to start on 'Lord of the Rings.'
Sorry, I didn't mean it to sound like a lecture :oops: , just a more enjoyable & possibly more effective way of expanding their reading :)
Starmum x
yoyo123
Posts: 8099
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: East Kent

Re: What's The Plan For Your Year 5 Child ?

Post by yoyo123 »

Audio books are good too.
pheasantchick
Posts: 2439
Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2009 10:28 pm

Re: What's The Plan For Your Year 5 Child ?

Post by pheasantchick »

For the maths, I find the scholastic books quite good. Each page has three sections.
1) 'Pure' maths : 1+2 = 3
2) Simple problem: if a bag has 30 apples, how many would three people equally share between them
3) Harder problems : ie. two part maths problems

Therefore, if they complete a page, the questions are progressive, and they are eased into doing maths gently.

I'm trying to get DS to do at least one of these per week.

Also, both DSs enjoyed me reading aloud to them this summer (Secret Seven, War horse).

Also, still listening to son read (occasionally!)

Alos, DS attends tutor once a week (plus homework)
LtBrick
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2011 9:37 am

Re: What's The Plan For Your Year 5 Child ?

Post by LtBrick »

DD has just taken her Kent and is about to take Medway. DS is starting the whole process now as he is just now in year 5.

Maths and English homework as set by school, including 20 min reading a night.

Schofield and Sims Mental Arithmetic Book 4. This has 36 questions a page, split into 3 sections, basic maths, simple problems, word problems. Last year I tried to get DD to do 1 section, 12 questions, 2 to 3 nights a the week. So will do the same with DS.

As the year progresses will get DS to start the Bond 10 min tests in VR and NVR and towards this time next year start with the NFER practive papers.

On top of this there will be a 1 hour session per week at the tuitoring school.

Written like this it sounds a lot, but they are only spending 15 to 20 min on any night.
scarlett
Posts: 3664
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 10:22 am

Re: What's The Plan For Your Year 5 Child ?

Post by scarlett »

My problem is because I'm doing the tutoring myself and so I think DS feels hard done by...he keeps asking why the other 2 aren't doing work when he is. I've now set aside 2 days a week for him and told him these are his tutor days and he can either do it at home with me or spend the evening at a strict teachers house :oops: :) He is now being quite compliant.It feels like lots of work and I really can't remember how I started it all off with DS1.I'll just keep working through the books like you are all doing , perhaps.
neurotic kent mum
Posts: 970
Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2007 12:40 am

Re: What's The Plan For Your Year 5 Child ?

Post by neurotic kent mum »

Not even thinking about papers. I am using the same books - about 15/20 minutes a night ( total ). He and a friend tend to do the same work so he knows it is not just him suffering - which helps.
bondgirl
Posts: 802
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2011 11:30 am

Re: What's The Plan For Your Year 5 Child ?

Post by bondgirl »

DS has an hour at the tutor once a week and has 2-3 bond papers to do as homework (almost finished Bond Third papers in Maths and VR - generally scoring mid-high 90%s). Just started on Bond NVR Fourth papers. Plus tutor gives additional maths homework every few weeks. Gets very little school homework, but reads every night. Think this is more than enough with all the extra-curricular stuff to fit in too. Am I right in thinking NFER set the Kent papers?
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