Starting to think about 11+

Discussion of the 11 Plus

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now
kmum
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2008 2:22 pm
Location: Essex

Starting to think about 11+

Post by kmum »

I am just starting to think that I should be preparing myself to begin some very gentle build up to possible 11+ entrance for my son who is in Year 4 and who at the end of Year 3 gained 4c's in both reading and writing, a 3a for maths and a 3c for science.

I have read on this site that it is never to early to prepare and my son's school does not do 11+ preparation for any pupil and therefore we have to do this at home if we feel our child is able.

I do not want to scare or pressure my son in any way, only to do some introductory 11+ style work at home. I certainly don't want to make him feel like he is unable to do any work I may set him, which could inadvertently lower his confidence, quite the opposite.

I just wondered whether anyone can recommend any papers or similar that we could work from which are not 11+ level questions but will ease him in to that way of thinking. My local CSSE have said you can buy papers at WHSmith that are tailored for his age but will introduce him to the style of question used in the 11+ and to start at a lower age firstly to build confidence. Is this good advice, or can anyone else offer something different?

I was also thinking about building his speed at times tables, increasing his vocabulary and word understanding through reading increasingly trickier books. I only want to start with say 15 minutes per night plus reading. Any advice would be greatly received. Many thanks.
yoyo123
Posts: 8099
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: East Kent

Post by yoyo123 »

building vocabulary and times tables will be a great advantage. There are lots of games if you search around the net and some eecellent advice on this forum. I'll get together some good places to start for you. my personal opinion is that at this stage it should be fun and not "11+practice".

Not sure if your son has a "handheld computer console" but some of the brain training gammes are good, also jigsaws help spatial awareness and games like tetris which you can download all help with recognising shapes in different orientations. These skills are invaluable for non verbal reasoning .
yoyo123
Posts: 8099
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: East Kent

Post by yoyo123 »

try this
http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/g ... eteor.html

also www.freerice .com.

it's amazing what you can find with a bit of clever googling!

what are of teh country are you in, because that will determine what sort of papers he will take eg Kent does nvr and maths whereas Bucks just does vr
kmum
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2008 2:22 pm
Location: Essex

Post by kmum »

Many thanks for that information. I have saved both sites. The Free Rice site is excellent, although more for myself than my son. Great Fun!

Thanks again.
patricia
Posts: 2803
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2006 5:07 pm

Post by patricia »

Dear Kmum

Re the freerice.com, if you deliberately get the questions wrong it will start at a lower level more appropriate to younger ages...

Patricia
kmum
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2008 2:22 pm
Location: Essex

Post by kmum »

Thanks Patricia, I will try that.

I have since bought some Bond published verbal and non-verbal reasoning papers which are targeted at age groups. Although my son will be taking an Nfer 11+ if we decide to take this route, the Bond papers seem very good for just getting into the swing of things and thinking in a certain way. Especially as he gets no practice at those kinds of questions at school. I have initially bought the books one year lower than he is to build confidence and then I will get the older age books.

So far so good as he seems really keen. I think boys in particular enjoy the VR and non-VR as quite a few questions are code-breaking style. He did 15 minutes last night and wanted to do more, but I refused as I don't want to overload him or cause him to become quickly bored of doing them. I don't want to make them a task, just a fun exercise (as I would do a crossword or sudoku).

I can recommend the Bond papers simply because you can start at the right level for your child and build up.

Thanks again
cindy
Posts: 269
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2007 7:27 pm
Location: somewhere in kent

Post by cindy »

I thought that the bbc website looked good fun, my two enjoyed it[http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/revision/]

They still use it as ti covers all the key stages.

good luck

Cindy[/url]
essex-mum18
Posts: 218
Joined: Sun Nov 25, 2007 12:09 am

Post by essex-mum18 »

Hi, Kmum

I also live in Essex. The situation you are in is very similar to mine a couple years ago. My son school had no 11+ preparation and he was in a very good state primary school.

So, I started and introduced gentle Bond VR exercises with my boy when he was in year 3/4 to let him have a taste of what VR is. The regular gentle exercises definitely built up his verballing skills. At the same time, I made sure he was good at developing in the basic skills in numeracy and literacy.

He managed one book after another (according to his right age) without much difficulty. I only gave him the past papers (from CSSE) to do 6 months before the actual 11+ exam.

I understand that in Essex, they use the nfer papers which I used for later stage practice. However, I also found the Bond books useful for early exercises.

PS My son is in year 6 now and just finished his 11+ exam in last Nov. We are waiting for the result in coming March.
patricia
Posts: 2803
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2006 5:07 pm

Post by patricia »

Dear All

Please be aware that if your area uses NFER for VR, Bond books are not relevant.

I agree they can be of some use for early intervention, to use as quizzy type entertainment. However when you start your 11 plus regime for real, these are not the books to buy/use.

Publishers that are of relevance would be IPS, The Tutors, Susan Daughtrey [Bright Sparks series only] AFN, Walsh.

The 11 plus is quite a stressful time, there is no point in teaching irrelevant types [Bond use 50, Nfer 15/21 of those 50 not all of the 15/21 are present]

Patricia
essex-mum18
Posts: 218
Joined: Sun Nov 25, 2007 12:09 am

Post by essex-mum18 »

I agree with you, Patricia. That is why I explained the following in my post

** I understand that in Essex, they use the nfer papers which I used for later stage practice. However, I also found the Bond books useful for early exercises. **
Post Reply
11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now