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Advice on practice papers

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 2:49 pm
by clare
My son is due to take his 11+ in Oct - I am trying to gauge the type of score we should be looking to achieve when doing the home practice papers? Also some practice papers are 50 question and some 80 - should we stick to just 80 questions when we practice? Any advice would be welcome!

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 4:57 pm
by patricia
Dear Clare

I have copied and pasted the following post which was in the free help thread of the Bucks section]

With regard to scores the estimated raw score for Bucks is 86%.I prefer my tutored children to be scoring 90% plus....

Dear PK

Well done for choosing to 'diy'

Techniques best practised with IPS, need to buy the following

Ips...techniques, starter series, extra practice questions, 10 tests. daily practice tests books 1 and 2

AFN...tests 1 - 8 multiple choice

Susan Daughtrey...Bright Sparks [ DO NOT buy her books 1 - 7 they are mostly irrelevant for Bucks ]

Nfer

Ensure at all stages you are buying verbal reasoning/multiple choice.

1] Start with IPS techniques [for your own benefit] followed by starter series [ to teach your child the basics ]

2] Tests, In the following order. AFN [are slightly easier] They are 100 questions in 50 mins...split into 2 tests of 50q 25mins

3]IPS 10 tests...50q 30mins

4] Susan Daughtrey Brightsparks...4 tests 80q 50 mins

5] NFER 4 tests, however these a have 85q, cross out the last 5 and use as regular practice. ALSO these tests have types HIKNOS missing [ see IPS for which tiypes these are, therefore MOST important to practice HIKNOS alongside NFER tests.

While all this testing is taking place can use IPS additional questions/ daily practice tests

In addition [ are you exhausted yet! ] ensure.....

All four maths operations are up to scratch ie quick mental recall.

Reads out loud to you, making note of all unknown vocabulary, make up FLASHCARDS, word in large letters on front, on reverse meaning, together with single words that mean the same and opposite, make up games. There is a list of 'important' words on the free download section of this website that I use for my lessons.

Patricia

Ps....Clare, any questions just ask

Advice on practice papers

Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 8:22 pm
by Clare
Patricia

Thanks for your advice. We started preparing with vocab last oct - but i worry that he still isnt up to it. Maths is not a worry at all. He can do the code questions and mental maths easily. His vocab is weak. He can do 80 questions in about 60 mins at moment and gets 90ish % - we do the same paper so he can see how he does compared to me - and he beats me every time. We will continue to practice.

thanks

Clare

Advice on practice papers

Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 8:24 pm
by Clare
One last question, which practice papers really are like the real test? I notice that some present questions in different ways - i want him to be fully prepared.

Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 8:56 pm
by patricia
Dear Clare

Scoring 90% with a weak vocab is actually quite impressive, timing will come with practice

I have said time and time again, vocab is the biggest problem on the Bucks 11 plus.

1] read, read and read out loud to an adult

2] playing the adult version of scrabble, allowing the child to use a dictionary

3] you as a parent using extended vocab in your every day language

4] look at my list of 'important words' in the free download section

5] tips section, games for compound words.

Re tests.......IPS and Afn contain the right type of questions, the following contain the correct types and 'look' like the real thing...

1] Susan Daughtrey...Bright Sparks series

2] Nfer [ but must practice HIKNOS in addition, use IPS additional practice questions ]

Patricia

practice papers

Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 1:58 pm
by Clare
hello patricia
we are going through practice papers now on a regular basis. timing has improved to around 45 mins for 80 questions and ranges from 66 - 69 correct out of 80. Are we still on target or should he be acheiving a better score?
thanks clare

Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 11:13 pm
by patricia
Dear Clare

Sounds as though timing has improved, but accuracy,declined slightly from 90% to 84-86%

Keep up the practice, is there a particular type/types of question that he struggles /spends too much time on?

The approx pass mark is 86% I prefer my children to be gaining 90% plus.

I wouldn't be unduly worried, you still have plenty of time to increase accuracy.

Patricia

Advice on practice papers

Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 10:06 am
by Clare
yes he struggles with this type:

In each of the following questions, find one word from each group that completes the sentence in the best way.

Reign is to (king, rain, rule) as queue is to (cue, long, bank)


and thats due to his vocab problems. I dont know what else to do except practice and in general conversation ask him words and their meanings.

Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 12:04 am
by patricia
Dear Clare

Children often fall into traps with this type of question. I first explain to my children that the CONNECTION HAS to be the SAME in each line.

That CONNECTION is one of 4 [opposite, similar, a relation,a spelling]

1] Opposite in meaning

Contest is to [game, football,agree] as Light is to [ sun, lamp, heavy]

Child sees game next to contest, immediate mindset, difficult to get the fact that contest also means, don't agree. Light put next to sun and lamp, mindset. light comes from sun etc, however it also describes the weight of something. As the only one from the 4 that applies to both sets/lines, is OPPOSITES this must be the answer - agree and heavy.

2] Similar in meaning

Dormant is to [ door, asleep, awake] as flaw is to [floor, defect, tiles]

First set has one word with same meaning and one word that is opposite, Second set has one word that is a homophone, one that is the same, as both lines have to have SAME connection, must be the words that mean the SAME asleep and defect.

3] A relation

Car is to [road, garage, petrol] as plane is to [hangar, pilot, airport]

First set, car DRIVES on a road, car is STORED in a garage, car RUNS on petrol. Second set, plane is STORED in a hangar.

Found the same connection, STORED in. With relation types, always try to find the SAME words to describe a word in each line, in this case its the word STORED. Other possibilities are....Comes from, is poured from, is a baby of, is the colour, lives in,

4] Spelling. this can be split into 3

a] homophones - reign and rain
b] word has a letter added or removed - part and pat, bake and brake, scent and sent.
c] word has same letters but order changed - laid and dial, madam and madam

Child must remember the answer is one of four options [ opposite, same, relation, spelling] I tell my students to scan both sets first [often the required words jump out at them] if not apply the 4 possibilities.

Hope this helps, re vocab 'problem' can only reiterate my post further up this thread, that scrabble out!!

Patricia

Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2006 5:17 pm
by Mike Edwards
Hi Patricia

Great tutorial.

Can you repost it in the "tips" section?

Regards

Mike