11+
Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators
Re: 11+
Hi Shital. Don't panic, everyone is in the same boat. I haven't even started with DS2 yet as I am still working with DS1 who still has some exams to sit.
It is difficult to say how much you should be doing as it depends on what other commitments you all have, how much time you can spend with him and how strong / weak he is in each of the areas. I personally find it pointless to get children to do endless assessment papers if you don't then have time to go through anything with them, which is why DS2 is not doing them until I have time to supervise his work properly.
I know you mentioned that you are using Bond papers before: I would recommend that you try to move move on to 4th papers by Jan/Feb so that your DS can complete them by the summer and move on to 5th papers or other types of papers. Schofield & Sims are also a good resource for both maths and comprehension. If he has a weakness in spelling you might need to address that too.
Don't forget, not everything is about the children sitting on their own completing continuous papers. Break up the routine with things like free-rice website for vocabulary or some of the CD programmes available on this website as kids are often more willing to do things on the computer. Also, you must encourage your child to read more books and talk about them together. I think it is better to do less comprehension papers and test how much they understand what thet they reading by talking about their books or reading and discussing any newspapers that are about the house - it gives you a chance to talk about things you might not otherwise.
I am not suggesting that you need to do all of that on a weekly schedule as it would be impossible to fit in. I would say, make a list of the things you want to cover, how much time you need to cover each of them - with more time for weaker areas, and make a timetable for how much can be reasonably covered within the time you have left, but be realistic! It doesn't matter how much everyone else is or is not doing - you need to decide what you can both fit into your life without making everyone miserable. Some children are too tired during the week and prefer to do all their work over a couple of hours on a weekend. My DS preferred to do 40 minutes during the weekdays and we only looked at weak areas on the weekend if we had not managed to adress them during the week. To some people this might be way too much, but we only really started the work 7-8 months before the exam. Others do less a week but over a longer period of time.
On the other hand, one parent told me that their child did up to 3 hours
everyday - but I know her DS was always falling asleep in class and was always getting in trouble for forgetting his kit, homework, spellings etc and had a miserable time at school.
It is difficult to say how much you should be doing as it depends on what other commitments you all have, how much time you can spend with him and how strong / weak he is in each of the areas. I personally find it pointless to get children to do endless assessment papers if you don't then have time to go through anything with them, which is why DS2 is not doing them until I have time to supervise his work properly.
I know you mentioned that you are using Bond papers before: I would recommend that you try to move move on to 4th papers by Jan/Feb so that your DS can complete them by the summer and move on to 5th papers or other types of papers. Schofield & Sims are also a good resource for both maths and comprehension. If he has a weakness in spelling you might need to address that too.
Don't forget, not everything is about the children sitting on their own completing continuous papers. Break up the routine with things like free-rice website for vocabulary or some of the CD programmes available on this website as kids are often more willing to do things on the computer. Also, you must encourage your child to read more books and talk about them together. I think it is better to do less comprehension papers and test how much they understand what thet they reading by talking about their books or reading and discussing any newspapers that are about the house - it gives you a chance to talk about things you might not otherwise.
I am not suggesting that you need to do all of that on a weekly schedule as it would be impossible to fit in. I would say, make a list of the things you want to cover, how much time you need to cover each of them - with more time for weaker areas, and make a timetable for how much can be reasonably covered within the time you have left, but be realistic! It doesn't matter how much everyone else is or is not doing - you need to decide what you can both fit into your life without making everyone miserable. Some children are too tired during the week and prefer to do all their work over a couple of hours on a weekend. My DS preferred to do 40 minutes during the weekdays and we only looked at weak areas on the weekend if we had not managed to adress them during the week. To some people this might be way too much, but we only really started the work 7-8 months before the exam. Others do less a week but over a longer period of time.
On the other hand, one parent told me that their child did up to 3 hours
everyday - but I know her DS was always falling asleep in class and was always getting in trouble for forgetting his kit, homework, spellings etc and had a miserable time at school.
UmSusu
Re: 11+
Hi Shital, know your child and know how they are coping with the work - you will then get a feel for how much work and effort you will need to put in. Every child is different and will either pick up things quickly or, may take longer to understand. DS1 was capable and understood the method and had progressed well and quickly - he got his first choice Grammar. DS2 was similar and much easier to teach - he sat his last exam yesterday (QM). Not sure of the final outcome but I know that he was prepared and there were no 'gaps' that I needed to worry about....it is now in the lap of the Gods.
Now, DD1 will be a real challenge. She will be sitting the exam in 2013 and I know that my preparation will need to be 1.5x longer. I have a feel of her capabilities and know that more effort is required.
Don't overburden a child and progress gradually and make it enjoyable (-as best you can), with a bit of variety.
One last bit of advice, if your child is being tutored privately, check their progress yourself and don't fully rely on the tutor (- unless they have a very good reputation and back it up with good results and come highly recommended from parents who have been through the 11+ process). Check their work regularly and ensure that any insufficiencies are plugged.
Best of luck for next year.
Elbart
Now, DD1 will be a real challenge. She will be sitting the exam in 2013 and I know that my preparation will need to be 1.5x longer. I have a feel of her capabilities and know that more effort is required.
Don't overburden a child and progress gradually and make it enjoyable (-as best you can), with a bit of variety.
One last bit of advice, if your child is being tutored privately, check their progress yourself and don't fully rely on the tutor (- unless they have a very good reputation and back it up with good results and come highly recommended from parents who have been through the 11+ process). Check their work regularly and ensure that any insufficiencies are plugged.
Best of luck for next year.
Elbart
Last edited by Elbart on Fri Dec 02, 2011 6:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
Camphillian
- Posts: 71
- Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2011 11:31 am
Re: 11+
Agreed, and any tutors that need to hang around outside grammar school Open Days to recruit prospective customers are probably by definition a waste of money and best avoided. DIY in combination with info from the sticky at the top of the page is likely to be much more productive for parents who are at all capable, unless you happen to know of an exceptionally successful tutor yourself. These are likely to be booked up long in advance and to have very convincing evidence of successful pupils to show to parents who want to see it. There are some real parasites around, in my opinion, who judging from the spelling on their flyers would almost certainly not pass the 11+ themselves, let alone provide adequate tuition to anyone else.poiuyt wrote:Agreed, cem tests are in the majority cases tutor proof. In my dc year, a very small minority went to tutor centre!
Re: 11+
A tuition centre has just opened 2 streets away from me with a punctuation error on the banner...although nothing could ever beat the one in Small Heath offering 'Grammer (sic) tuition'. 
It is centres like this this (when so many marks are available in the exam for literacy ability now) that really make my blood boil
However I would disagree that the majority of children at KE Grammars were not tutored. They may say they only did one paper on the back of an envelope to their friends ...the reality is that the vast majority were tutored
It is centres like this this (when so many marks are available in the exam for literacy ability now) that really make my blood boil
However I would disagree that the majority of children at KE Grammars were not tutored. They may say they only did one paper on the back of an envelope to their friends ...the reality is that the vast majority were tutored
-
Camphillian
- Posts: 71
- Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2011 11:31 am
Re: 11+
None of us can know for certain what other parents are doing, but I still don't believe there are enough really good tutors around to account for all the kids who get places at GS, and the rest either don't add any value or do actual harm. I don't think bright children who have reasonably educated parents and who have read a lot during their childhood need anything more than a familiarisation with NVR and maybe a bit of practice at the kind of maths problems that make them think, rather than the fairly predictable stuff they do at KS2. That shouldn't take more than a couple of hours a week for maybe six months before the test, I wouldn't have thought, and doesn't involve any outlay of money to some unscrupulous person.um wrote:A tuition centre has just opened 2 streets away from me with a punctuation error on the banner...although nothing could ever beat the one in Small Heath offering 'Grammer (sic) tuition'.
It is centres like this this (when so many marks are available in the exam for literacy ability now) that really make my blood boil
However I would disagree that the majority of children at KE Grammars were not tutored. They may say they only did one paper on the back of an envelope to their friends ...the reality is that the vast majority were tutored
