A bit bonkers methinks!

[Bob1892]

Hi
I found out the other days that some dc are doing upto SIX hours a day studying. Surely this is a bit too much. Surely this is putting the dc under a lot of stress. We're only doing a hour every other day. I thought a little but often approach might be best but I've had a little panic if these claims are true.
Maybe we need to pull our finger out and start upping the hours but I don't really want to stress ds. I think he's had enough as it is poor lad.
End of the day I suppose it's horses for courses.
What are other dps' approaches?

[Yamin151]

Carry on as you are. Many would say no work at all in the holidays, we did ten mins per day. You know your child best. A lot of the hearsay will be exaggerated rumours anyway, but yes, there are those whose children do a lot but that doesn't mean they are more likely to gain a place, just under more pressure. Stand confident, you are right not to go beyond your comfort level on this.

[kenyancowgirl]

If a child needs 6 hours study a day to take the test then, in my opinion, they are absolutely NOT suited to GS!!! Privately, any child made to sit through that each day, I can only assume is day dreaming for about 5 hours of it.

That is ridiculous - how on earth will they keep up at school if they have to do 6 hours a day just to get in? This amounts to a form of child abuse - it is the school holiday and they should have a break - small amounts to keep their head in the right space but equal time off to enjoy being a 10/11 year old child.

Parents that do this to their child need to take a long hard look at themselves and ask the question... REALLY? If you feel your child needs this amount to pass the test then please do not put them through the next 5-7 years in this environment. Let them be happy in a school where they will be near the top, without the pressure and pace, where there is the expectation of 1-1.5 hours extra on top of the school day, in homework, on top of the after school activities any good school would like you to get involved in, so no time to catch up by doing 'extra' to keep up.

NO school is worth that, I assure you.

[ToadMum]

Glad you leapt in first, KCG .

I suspect the problem is either that the child is actually perfectly able and parents have just allowed themselves to be panicked into believing that what they are doing is necessary regardless, or that the child is not and the parents know that the alternative is possibly not even being very near the top at a non-selective alternative. Which might actually be quite a comfortable place for their offspring but would do nothing for the parents' self-esteem.

[Bob1892]

Six hours does seem a bit extreme but wonder whether it's true - you never know what to believe in this 11+ business.
But dps will go to any extreme to gain a gs place for their dc -I remember on the morning of the test 3 years ago - when my dc took the test - that whilst waiting in the car before the test a dc was doing a Bond VR paper in the car next to us.
Surely in these last 5 weeks dc can learn only so much - if they don't know it by now then......

[doodles]

Surely 6 hours per day is actually longer than most school days (my DS have 5 one hour lessons per day) and that's without taking into account the days when they have drama, PE, games etc etc

[meldan103]

6 hours....crazy parents for you !! Agree that this is some sort of abuse. My dd will be sitting her test this September and can honestly say she has not looked at a book since the start of the school holidays. I have home tutored her since January with roughly 8 hours revision over the course of a week..For me this has been ample time. If she doesnt know now then she isnt ready to go to gs. She has sat one K*** test so she could get a feel of the environment. The results showed she was above average but I'm not relying on these. It will all depend on the day, but for now she is going to enjoy being the child that she is and have fun. If she doesn't make it, then so be it. It will not be the end of the world. I wish all good luck and advise any child not to worry (although there will be nerves) and to try their best which is all we can ask for.

[nervousmom]

6 hours a day, wow! All work and no play, as they say!

My DD does an online test each morning. Monday- maths, Tuesday-English, Wednesday - verbal & Thursday NVR.

After this for up to 1 hour, she has been doing a little extra I.e maths on Monday and so on.

Not sure what tomorrow (Friday) will be. Perhaps a mix of everything!

She also likes to read and is doing this each day for a bit too.

In between all this, she has been on the trampoline, playing in the park, riding her bike, practising her gymnastics, skyping her friends, oh and this afternoon has just gone to cinema with her dad and brother to see Ant Man.

I believe there is no harm at all for her to do a little work each day, however they are children at the end of the day and need time to relax and chill out, otherwise I think they will become totally frazzled and stressed by it all.

On the morning of the test she won't be doing any revision. If she doesn't know it by then she never will!

At the end of the day they are 10 year old kids and need time to be kids.

[quasimodo]

Hi
I found out the other days that some dc are doing upto SIX hours a day studying. Surely this is a bit too much. Surely this is putting the dc under a lot of stress. We're only doing a hour every other day. I thought a little but often approach might be best but I've had a little panic if these claims are true.
Maybe we need to pull our finger out and start upping the hours but I don't really want to stress ds. I think he's had enough as it is poor lad.
End of the day I suppose it's horses for courses.
What are other dps' approaches?

It is unlikely those children's parents from the four or five thousand taking the Birmingham consortium exam who are pushing their children to such an extent would come on the forum to say this is what they are doing. But I have no doubt there will be parents doing this as they have over the years.It is hard to work through the summer holidays at those levels and in my view counter productive. Some things like good vocabulary,reading and comprehension skills take years of effort and learning for most children at school and can't be easily acquired.
In the same way we learn't when doing exams, to ignore those people who after coming out of the exam said it was easy and they hadn't done any revision.Usually it was untrue as they had done revision and sometimes it was hard.Ignore others and concentrate on your approach for your own child as you will know best.

[Bob1892]

I think we're doing the right thing at the moment. We're away for a few days on holiday and then I think we'll stick to our one hour a day every other day. No point having burnout.
Good luck to the six hours a day brigade- let's hope it's not in vain.