Home tutoring or private tutoring
Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2018 4:46 pm
Hi everyone,
So today is the day most of the parents in Birmingham will get their results! Just like some of you, I received DC's results today, but I know a few years ago I researched and debated how to get my DC's to the standard they could pass the 11+ including options like sending DC to local tutors. I wanted to share my experiences, as hopefully they may help some out there whose DC's are due to sit the exams in the forthcoming years.
Before sharing my experiences, I firstly wanted to thank people on this forum - the regulars, the one off posters and the moderators. There is some invaluable information on this forum and always amazing people to help you.
I have two DC, one sat the exams four years ago and the second sat this year. Before I share my experiences, I also wanted to acknowledge that different children respond to different things - They are motivated by different things, want different things and learn differently. What works amazingly well for one child may be another's nightmare. So try different options, speak to different people and find something that works for you and your child.
DC1 - Two years at a local tutor, who had a brilliant reputation but I now believe rests on his laurels. In the last few months before the tests he took on more and more students. Feedback from him was always vague, with the standard "she's doing okay, but needs to work harder"! During the summer DC seemed to improve her Bond / CGP tests results from the 50-60% marks to c.90% - She sat these tests at home when I was away with work. Being sceptical, I made her sit a set in front of me and it turned out she was lying and cheating to stop me nagging. Her results in both Walsall and Birmingham tests were impressive (much higher than I expected) and she is now very happy in one of the local grammars.
DC2 -With the "one down, one to go" attitude, we sat as a family and discussed DC2's study options. As a family of four, we concluded that we now knew the process, the standard of exams, had all the material and 1 could also help 2. So we decided to home study 2! The benefits were obvious (no tutor costs) and I even incentivised mum, DC1 and DC2 financially (via some of the savings). We developed a study plan, with regular CGP/Bond book material, and scheduled when he would start the mock tests. Within weeks DC1 was behind plan. At every stage he challenged and fought, he wasted time and what was 10 mins study work became a 1-2 hour battle of nothingness. No matter how clever you are and how prepared you are - your child may not listen to you!
One year in of a two year programme and we were beginning to panic. My daughter constantly reminded me how far behind he was, and we rapidly came to the conclusion that we may have made a big mistake. This phase of "he's too far behind and not going to pass" seemed to go on in our house for months - Please don't under estimate how busy you are and ask yourself - do you really have the time? One day my wife was talking to a work colleague who recommended an online 11+ service. They let DC's do 10-15min tests 5 days a week, and provide feedback. DC2 loved online so we thought we had nothing to lose. As expected DC loved it, and the system was impressive - different subjects daily, some speed tests and where DC's get questions wrong, they were repeated - All too perfect. Initially DC's online test results improved, we took the foot of the ball (again) and DC stagnated. We noted three issues: (1) DC was rushing tests, so he could sneakily play online games; (2) DC was cherry picking certain tests and skipping some of the harder ones; and more importantly (3) DC felt as he was doing tests online, he didn't need to do any workings and therefore was getting some of questions wrong. Luckily we spotted this and deprioritised online and went back to paper mocks. Whilst paper mocks were always in the plan, we underestimated some of the downsides of the online tests. Today we found out DC2 passed but scored less than DC1. He will still get into his preferred school, but like most of you I was worried. To summarise:
1. Find something that works for you and your child.
2. Don't take your eye of the ball like I did. Luckily on both occasions I spotted it, but boy did we panic both times.
3. Don't under estimate how busy you are.
4. Don't under estimate how clever your kids are, especially at trying to fool you!
5. I'm a firm believer in variety. Use various teaching methods, various publishers, various styles. Don't stick to one type of book, mix it up. Because DC2 wasn't at a tutor we sent him to some mock tests - I believe these helped compensate.
6. Pace yourselves - We never started tutor (for DC1) until the start of year 4, but always kept an eye on school reports and school results. Teach your DC times tables early and use the word lists on this forum. DC1 struggled with some maths questions, because she made silly simple maths mistakes, but when she was at school she received weekly spellings and also received weekly spellings from tutor for two years - DC2 didn't have either.
Finally don't trust anyone else with your children's future - whether your kids go to tutor, study at home, use online - you really have to check progress and if necessary adjust your plan.
Good luck to all future students, and finally thank you to all on this forum.
So today is the day most of the parents in Birmingham will get their results! Just like some of you, I received DC's results today, but I know a few years ago I researched and debated how to get my DC's to the standard they could pass the 11+ including options like sending DC to local tutors. I wanted to share my experiences, as hopefully they may help some out there whose DC's are due to sit the exams in the forthcoming years.
Before sharing my experiences, I firstly wanted to thank people on this forum - the regulars, the one off posters and the moderators. There is some invaluable information on this forum and always amazing people to help you.
I have two DC, one sat the exams four years ago and the second sat this year. Before I share my experiences, I also wanted to acknowledge that different children respond to different things - They are motivated by different things, want different things and learn differently. What works amazingly well for one child may be another's nightmare. So try different options, speak to different people and find something that works for you and your child.
DC1 - Two years at a local tutor, who had a brilliant reputation but I now believe rests on his laurels. In the last few months before the tests he took on more and more students. Feedback from him was always vague, with the standard "she's doing okay, but needs to work harder"! During the summer DC seemed to improve her Bond / CGP tests results from the 50-60% marks to c.90% - She sat these tests at home when I was away with work. Being sceptical, I made her sit a set in front of me and it turned out she was lying and cheating to stop me nagging. Her results in both Walsall and Birmingham tests were impressive (much higher than I expected) and she is now very happy in one of the local grammars.
DC2 -With the "one down, one to go" attitude, we sat as a family and discussed DC2's study options. As a family of four, we concluded that we now knew the process, the standard of exams, had all the material and 1 could also help 2. So we decided to home study 2! The benefits were obvious (no tutor costs) and I even incentivised mum, DC1 and DC2 financially (via some of the savings). We developed a study plan, with regular CGP/Bond book material, and scheduled when he would start the mock tests. Within weeks DC1 was behind plan. At every stage he challenged and fought, he wasted time and what was 10 mins study work became a 1-2 hour battle of nothingness. No matter how clever you are and how prepared you are - your child may not listen to you!
One year in of a two year programme and we were beginning to panic. My daughter constantly reminded me how far behind he was, and we rapidly came to the conclusion that we may have made a big mistake. This phase of "he's too far behind and not going to pass" seemed to go on in our house for months - Please don't under estimate how busy you are and ask yourself - do you really have the time? One day my wife was talking to a work colleague who recommended an online 11+ service. They let DC's do 10-15min tests 5 days a week, and provide feedback. DC2 loved online so we thought we had nothing to lose. As expected DC loved it, and the system was impressive - different subjects daily, some speed tests and where DC's get questions wrong, they were repeated - All too perfect. Initially DC's online test results improved, we took the foot of the ball (again) and DC stagnated. We noted three issues: (1) DC was rushing tests, so he could sneakily play online games; (2) DC was cherry picking certain tests and skipping some of the harder ones; and more importantly (3) DC felt as he was doing tests online, he didn't need to do any workings and therefore was getting some of questions wrong. Luckily we spotted this and deprioritised online and went back to paper mocks. Whilst paper mocks were always in the plan, we underestimated some of the downsides of the online tests. Today we found out DC2 passed but scored less than DC1. He will still get into his preferred school, but like most of you I was worried. To summarise:
1. Find something that works for you and your child.
2. Don't take your eye of the ball like I did. Luckily on both occasions I spotted it, but boy did we panic both times.
3. Don't under estimate how busy you are.
4. Don't under estimate how clever your kids are, especially at trying to fool you!
5. I'm a firm believer in variety. Use various teaching methods, various publishers, various styles. Don't stick to one type of book, mix it up. Because DC2 wasn't at a tutor we sent him to some mock tests - I believe these helped compensate.
6. Pace yourselves - We never started tutor (for DC1) until the start of year 4, but always kept an eye on school reports and school results. Teach your DC times tables early and use the word lists on this forum. DC1 struggled with some maths questions, because she made silly simple maths mistakes, but when she was at school she received weekly spellings and also received weekly spellings from tutor for two years - DC2 didn't have either.
Finally don't trust anyone else with your children's future - whether your kids go to tutor, study at home, use online - you really have to check progress and if necessary adjust your plan.
Good luck to all future students, and finally thank you to all on this forum.