Advise please!!!

Eleven Plus (11+) in Essex

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pg19
Posts: 110
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2012 8:45 am

Advise please!!!

Post by pg19 »

Hello,
My son is in year 5 ,sitting for his 11 plus this september.He is fine with maths and the punctuation bit of english.But, he really struggles with the comprehension.I am started to feel negative about the whole 11 plus thing already .Comprehension is nearlly 80 percent of the paper and texts like 'Bleak house' are quite difficult with complex words to understand.He can do the bond etc 10-11 passages but they are no where near the real paper passages.
Please suggest people ,you all have a wealth of knowledge,different techniques and strategies that you have found useful and helpful,please share.
My son looses it too quickly once he sees a big passages and does not feel motivated enough to read again.Also, time is an important factor here.
I dont know how to help him .
Pg
Sudberger7
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Oct 13, 2013 9:42 am

Re: Advise please!!!

Post by Sudberger7 »

My daughters 11+ tutor had us "close read" the first 2 pages of lots of classic novels together. We had to look up every word she didn't understand which built up a great word bank, helping to boost her vocab. We also had to discuss the passages so she really understood what was happening. There are thousands of classics free on Kindle\kobo etc.
talea51
Posts: 522
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2011 5:10 pm

Re: Advise please!!!

Post by talea51 »

Lots of those classic books have mature themes that are not appropriate for children of this age so I wouldn't expect a 10 year old to read them.

My dd wouldn't read them as she said they were very boring. So we did what Sudberger7 said, we read a chapter out of each of those books. We talked about the meaning of what we had read and we looked up words. It exposed her to different ways of structuring writing as well.

It also lead to her realising that some of those books are actually quite interesting. She read "A Christmas Carol" herself after we did the first chapter as she really enjoyed it and my 7 year old has also really enjoyed it! She also enjoyed "The Hound of the Baskervilles" which was last year's text. We hadn't actually read that before the 11+ but she came out the exam and asked me to get her the book as she enjoyed the text in the exam! :shock:

I wouldn't get too hung up on reading all of them but if you do a chapter of each, you can get a wide exposure to very different styles of writing as well as different vocab.
Araucana girl
Posts: 492
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 5:48 pm

Re: Advise please!!!

Post by Araucana girl »

I tried to read books with my dd everynight or most nights with her reading a page then me reading a page. I asked her what any hard words meant and we looked them up. That way I could get her reading books that she might not have picked herself which were a bit higher in level. We discussed of descriptions and what was being implied in the story - Boy in the Striped Pyjamas ended up in quite a discussion!

With regards to the actual comprehensions - I wouldn't give the actual paper standard until Easter anyway. I think it can frighten them, you need to build up to it. Once they see the actual standard it is a bit of a shock and the marks start off really low but they do begin to see where they can get the marks with a little help.

Bear with it - if I counted the amount of times I wondered why I was doing this and whether we were wasting our time........ but dd is now looking forward to CCHS in September :D Keep going , it is a struggle but they benefit whatever the outcome. We are always here to help you let off steam :lol: :lol:
"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."

Albert Einstein
Crusoe
Posts: 23
Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2013 10:58 pm

Re: Advise please!!!

Post by Crusoe »

Hi Pg,

I do agree with Araucana Girl and Talea51. What they've said is 100% true.

Whatever the comprehension has been given by CSSE so far is far mature to understand and infer the meaning of the word(S)/ sentences. No 10 year old child can read by themselves unless and otherwise they are very much obsessive in their reading.

The best way to persuade reading those books has to start from us as parents.

Reading is fun , it takes us to the past and quite enjoyable experience. Introduce varied sense and settings of reading books. Children's classics are really tough as our current generation are not exposed to such scenarios. Dick- King Smith's books are a good start. To start with beginner books and then move on to confident reader and finally classics. It's just my opinion. Also letting children to read science articles and any magazines are really good to build vibrant vocabulary. Try encourage him to apply the usage of vocabulary that he learnt on that week in his writing at schools or with you. If they don't use it, they lost it.

Don't take the pressure of 11+. That will make your contribution more. Try build his reading skills lively and practically with the happenings around him.

A Girl and Talea51, I was watching all your comments , knowledge sharing, advise on 11+ on these months. You are really wonderful and all your hard work has been paid. I was waiting for the 2014 11+ storm to be over to post any comments. My DD is sitting this year for CEM and I may bother you both a lot. Accept my apologies in advance.

Thanks,
Crusoe.
talea51
Posts: 522
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2011 5:10 pm

Re: Advise please!!!

Post by talea51 »

Crusoe wrote: A Girl and Talea51, I was watching all your comments , knowledge sharing, advise on 11+ on these months. You are really wonderful and all your hard work has been paid. I was waiting for the 2014 11+ storm to be over to post any comments. My DD is sitting this year for CEM and I may bother you both a lot. Accept my apologies in advance.

Thanks,
Crusoe.
Oh, thank you. What a lovely thing to say! No apologies necessary, I am very happy to help in any way I can.

Good luck with your prep, although it's hard work - I do think it's worth it. Thankfully I only have to do this again in 2016!!! :D
optimisticmom
Posts: 107
Joined: Wed Feb 09, 2011 12:09 pm

Re: Advise please!!!

Post by optimisticmom »

P19 do not despair as you are not alone! My son is also yr5 and looking forward to the Sept 20th...not!!

But we are marching along.....did I say marching?? seems like trudging along uphill at a very steep gradient!! It is good to hear from others on this forum as it helps knowing that most dcs are similar esp the boys!....not wanting to read the classics for lack of understanding. There is plenty more we can do to help and help we must. There is plenty advise right here and doing a little bit of this and that consistently will take your son places...such as his preferred choice of secondary school...teeheehee!

If I don't laugh about this challenging journey, I will cry! so every now and then I log on here and read someone else's blog and smile! My dd is in year 9 at CCHS and I must say the effort put in to her getting there has paid off.

All things are possible to them that beleive...says the famous book.

Best wishes P19.
Araucana girl
Posts: 492
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 5:48 pm

Re: Advise please!!!

Post by Araucana girl »

Crusoe wrote:Hi Pg,


A Girl and Talea51, I was watching all your comments , knowledge sharing, advise on 11+ on these months. You are really wonderful and all your hard work has been paid. I was waiting for the 2014 11+ storm to be over to post any comments. My DD is sitting this year for CEM and I may bother you both a lot. Accept my apologies in advance.
Thank you Crusoe for your kind comments. Please feel free to bother as much as you need. Glad to be of any help - I will still be on here as ds will hopefully be taking 11+ in 2015 - well we are doing the work anyway :lol:
"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."

Albert Einstein
Crusoe
Posts: 23
Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2013 10:58 pm

Re: Advise please!!!

Post by Crusoe »

Many thanks to A Girl and Talea51 for accepting my future disturbances to both of you. You are great!

I am a confident, DIY mum( I need to say this to myself a lot, until my DD gets into CCHS) who completely rely on my skills and my DD's ability. Thank goodness, my DD is a very bright child. I've never focussed or picky on Grammar Schools, so far. Because my DD is bright she needs a challenging environment. Until now, I've never tried doing any 11+ related studies or whatsoever. All these years we've tried to develop her interest in multiple areas and that makes me feel strong ,confident and letting her to take 11+ exams.

But, above all I am a normal mum who has judder, jolt and all kind of emotions. It makes me painful to pass the forthcoming months. I am not worried about the dedication, devotion and stressful moments that I am going to face for this task, it is just thinking about the amount of months that I've to wait patiently... to enjoy the results and benefit!

Well done and Kudos to all the mum and dad's who crossed this journey.

I'm having an abundant confident in my sweet DD, it is just me not sure about the marking system of this CEM Style and which makes me worried so much. Then, now and again, I convince myself that why should I worry about the marking, scores, IC, and OCC when I'm going to work hard to make my DD to get 100%( I can hear the laughing sound!). I would like to feel over confident to make myself happy to cross this tremendous journey.

A Girl and Tale51, Could you please advise me regarding the marking schemes and exam pattern( Do they follow any sort of National curriculum level?) of CCHS. I aware that there are no past papers will be available for 2015 entry also. I live in IC for CCHS( It's not bothering me as of now, maybe I feel quite panic once my DD took her exams). It will be helpful for many mums and dad's whose child is appearing for CCHS.

Thanks, Crusoe.
talea51
Posts: 522
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2011 5:10 pm

Re: Advise please!!!

Post by talea51 »

I would say for CEM you definitely need to have covered the Key Stage 2 curriculum as well as having practiced verbal and non verbal reasoning. I think a good vocab is critical to the CEM exam as well as lots of practice with very time pressured questions.

You sound like you are on the right track Crusoe! Good luck to you and your dd! The months of waiting between the exam results and the school allocation are not too bad except for the last month, I found. The last month dragged and as we got closer to allocation day, I got more and more nervous!
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