Any Suggestions for Games to play as preparation?

pixiequeen · Post by **pixiequeen** » Sat Jan 03, 2009 12:43 am

Hi everyone

My DS is in year 4 at the moment and I thought that I would use this year to sneakily increase her language and maths skills before starting to do some VR with her in year 5.

Can anyone recommend some good games (board games not computer)? I don't want her to be too aware of what I'm trying to do! I'm going to get a scrabble set but not sure what else to get. She reads at a high level but doesn't always understand the meaning of the individual words, her maths is good but needs to be quicker and her logic/sequencing skills are very haphazard.

Any suggestions gratefully received!

Glos_Mum · Post by **Glos_Mum** » Sat Jan 03, 2009 8:02 pm

sycamore · Post by **sycamore** » Sat Jan 03, 2009 8:46 pm

My DD hates Scrabble, she thinks it's 'educational' and therefore 'completely lame'. We play a lot of strategic games like Mastermind, Risk and Cluedo, even good old-fashioned Monopoly makes her think ahead and approach things in a logical way. We haven't played chess since she beat me.

Even though it's completely politically incorrect, we also love quiz shows like 'Millionaire' and 'The Weakest Link' which are great for exposure to new words.

tense · Post by **tense** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 10:27 am

Mine hate scrabble too - but this Christmas we have discovered bananagram. It's very like scrabble (in that you create a crossword) but everyone plays at the same time so there's no boring waiting & there's no addded points for where you place a letter on the board (in fact, there's no board). You can change your mind as you go along & scrap old words to make new ones too.

OK, some purists will call it dumbed down scrabble - which I guess it is really - but as my 8 year old DS will happily play it (previously allergic to such things) I don't really mind!!

bucks mum1 · Post by **bucks mum1** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 4:33 pm

I agree with Glos mum about trying to use adult vocabulary when you speak to your child. I have a DS who although a capable reader is very reluctant to read books. If I use a word he doesn't understand he always asks what it means and has learnt many new words in this way. Also through documentaries on TV etc. He recently passed his VR tests in the Bucks 11+ and did not seem to struggle with the vocabulary in the tests. He kept a little book where he wrote down new words and their meanings and then tried to use them in essays at school.

MarkyBoy1972 · Post by **MarkyBoy1972** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:32 am

I would agree with those that say reading together is a fantastic way to improve understanding of language... my daughter is 11 and has been reading to me most nights for the last 6 years and still enjoys it now.

When she was younger and came across a new word she would try to sound it out ... and now she has a reading age that is 5 years beyond her age! Nowadays when she comes across a word that she does not understand we talk it through and she is often able to suggest replacement words that have a similar or same meaning - very helpful for one of the question types in the 11 plus.

But like others here we also play Cluedo, PayDay, Game of Life and others... they are fun but also have value from a logic, strategic and numerical perspective too. DON'T LIKE THE NEW DIGITAL MONOPOLY as I believe this takes away some of the numerical value from the original version - eg counting money and giving change as the banker, etc.

Think I may have sounded a little too passionate about the digital Monopoly ... sorry!

Hope this helps ...

PS Boogle is quite good too! Or is it spelt Boggle?!?

Jen'smum · Post by **Jen'smum** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 5:18 pm

Think I prefer the sound of Boogle!!

pixiequeen · Post by **pixiequeen** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 12:03 am

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I am going on a game hunt (freecycle, ebay, or it'll cost me a fortune!) and have taken on board comments about reading with my DD and using adult vocab too. I realise I have been very guilty of dumbing down my language when I talk to her, perhaps because she is the eldest of 3, I pitch myself at a level they might all understand.

It's great to be able to ask for advice from people who have experience of the 11plus - It doesn't seem the done thing to discuss it at DD's school..!

Milla · Post by **Milla** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 3:20 pm

I agree you have to be careful. I got in a right state come selection time last time round. DS1 had passed the test for Tommies, but of course you don't know if it's by enough. A nosy "friend" had been very insistent regarding what order I was going to put my choices in. Her son was / is going to the local comp (a very good one) but I was fearful to appear as if I was making out that it wasn't "good enough" for my darling. The excellence of the school in question wasn't in doubt, it was whether it was right for my boy. But whereas people think that they can pass judgement, generally detrimental, of the "can't see why you lot bother sending your child across the county when there's a perfectly good comp on the doorstep" sort of thing against grammars, the reverse just isn't "allowed". Or are we all too polite!

Glos_Mum · Post by **Glos_Mum** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 6:58 pm