study centre

[80's girl]

I personally would like to see CEM change the format each year, as I believe that would hopefully "even" things out a little, so children would really need to expect the unexpected. It seems over the last few years, the tests have remained pretty much the same. I agree there is lots of "scaremongering" around tutoring, but I honestly think that you are not doing a child any favours by sending them to a highly academic school unless they have the genuine ability to be there. They will have a very miserable time. As a parent you must be the judge of this, and I'm not saying a child shouldn't be tutored, because I did it, but not to the extreme.

I think it is wise to think ahead, and imagine you child as a 14yr old, with all the hormone fuelled temper tantrums and "baggage" that will involve, they will almost certainly be far less biddable than a "sweet" 10 year old. They will need to not only be bright but also self motivated to get on in a good grammar school, I would not personally want to "push" a child for the next 8 years of their life, I believe it will and indeed have seen it "all end in tears." I think this is very different from good parental responsibility and guidance.

[poiuyt]

I fully expect to make myself available whenever my DC needs help/assistance with any homework/revision/tuition. This is a 100% parental responsibility and mustn't be left to 'the school' 100%.

Of course as the child gets increased confidence, this will be a sliding scale as to the level of help required.

[mike1880]

I personally would like to see CEM change the format each year, as I believe that would hopefully "even" things out a little, so children would really need to expect the unexpected. It seems over the last few years, the tests have remained pretty much the same.

I agree with that to some extent. After a few years at the beginning when they changed the test every year, CEM have settled on a specific format in recent years. However, it seems to me that the synonym/antonym element in particular is now well known (down to the level where I suspect the more professional and capable tutors have a pretty comprehensive list of words that have come up repeatedly in the last few years) and is becoming, if not already, susceptible to coaching.

While I don't think there is quite the same issue with the other sections, I'd still like to see a significant change in format this year.

Mike

[reeyah]

Mike, I wrote NVR shows natural intelligence. VR can indeed be learnt
( although even then, brighter children learn more with very little effort )

[mike1880]

Not really, NVR shows one particular form of ability. Our two children have roughly equal intelligence but one of them is off the top of the scale on NVR tests while the other one is much more "average" on NVR so I don't think testing based on NVR is a particularly useful indicator of overall ability.

(And for what it's worth, the one who's worse at NVR will probably do better in life because she has much stronger verbal skills and people skills which are, let's face it, much more useful in everyday life. The abilities NVR tests aren't always very relevant (or readily transferrable) to everyday situations although they can be useful in specific activities.)

Mike