2017 Entry

[seriousmum]

oh my gosh, I have just realised this is my dd. the exam is in 9 months time. Oops, time to get a move on then!

same here!

[Taolut]

Now that the offers are out (Massive congratulations to all the DC's who have received offer theirs for their chosen school and all the best to those waiting to hopefully get in through the waiting list).

I reckon it is getting real now with just over 6 months to go, has any one thought of Mock exam for CSSE? We live in Colchester but I am thinking of registering him for maybe one or two towards summer time just to see how he copes in an exam environment. In fairness to the children, the CSSE exam would probably be the first exam they ever sit.

This time next year, hopefully we would have received offers for out DC's.

Lets get the ball rolling I say

[dizzyizzy65]

Hi my daughter is hoping to go to whsg we are in catchment. We do a little work at home (30mins) most days and daily reading. she is in top sets at school so we are hoping this will be enough for her.

[littlemissm]

Hello !

Nice to see this thread as have a dd due to sit CCSE and CCHS in Sept. So much has changed since my ds did it 3 years ago. Has anyone got any suggestions on how to increase the vocabulary?

Thank you

[Taolut]

Hello !

Nice to see this thread as have a dd due to sit CCSE and CCHS in Sept. So much has changed since my ds did it 3 years ago. Has anyone got any suggestions on how to increase the vocabulary?

Thank you

Hello Littlemissm,

Welcome to the thread, a lot has changed indeed and I have been reading with ds daily and we have a flash card we play as a game daily to increase his vocabulary. Lots of new words to be honest but we are hoping that this would build up gradually over time (not like there is a lot of time left TBH).

I'm hoping some other mums share ideas on how to increase vocabulary.

[Colcmum]

We increased vocabulary through shared reading. I picked about twenty books I thought DD might enjoy and she chose the few we would read together - Jane Eyre, Lord of the Rings, War of the Worlds, collected stories of Saki (HH Munroe).

I tried to get reading in everyday, ten pages or so. I did most of the reading and at the end of each page we looked at what had happened, what imagery had been used, how the author was building the story/ atmosphere or tension (language, sentence structure etc). We also tackled any words she didn't know. tHis worked really well as all the words were approached in context and she had to see if she could work them out herself before I helped her.

I also made up spelling tests with similar sounding words to help with root words etc. She couldn't ask me how it was spelt but she could ask the meaning of root word which would help her learn how to spell it.

She was encouraged and rewarded to use more complex vocabulary in everyday conversation. And of course, she was encouraged to read as much as possible herself!

[littlemissm]

Thank you " Taolut" and " Colcmum" .
We have been reading a variety of books here too, trying to understand new vocabulary as we go and note them for revising later. We also try to look up the meaning of new words and put them into sentences, we usually need to revise them a couple of times before they seem to sink in.

Thank you again !

[seriousmum]

Now that the offers are out (Massive congratulations to all the DC's who have received offer theirs for their chosen school and all the best to those waiting to hopefully get in through the waiting list).

I reckon it is getting real now with just over 6 months to go, has any one thought of Mock exam for CSSE? We live in Colchester but I am thinking of registering him for maybe one or two towards summer time just to see how he copes in an exam environment. In fairness to the children, the CSSE exam would probably be the first exam they ever sit.

This time next year, hopefully we would have received offers for out DC's.

Lets get the ball rolling I say

any luck with the mocks?

[seriousmum]

We increased vocabulary through shared reading. I picked about twenty books I thought DD might enjoy and she chose the few we would read together - Jane Eyre, Lord of the Rings, War of the Worlds, collected stories of Saki (HH Munroe).

I tried to get reading in everyday, ten pages or so. I did most of the reading and at the end of each page we looked at what had happened, what imagery had been used, how the author was building the story/ atmosphere or tension (language, sentence structure etc). We also tackled any words she didn't know. tHis worked really well as all the words were approached in context and she had to see if she could work them out herself before I helped her.

I also made up spelling tests with similar sounding words to help with root words etc. She couldn't ask me how it was spelt but she could ask the meaning of root word which would help her learn how to spell it.

She was encouraged and rewarded to use more complex vocabulary in everyday conversation. And of course, she was encouraged to read as much as possible herself!

soooo helpful

[Two-at-once]

Hello !

Nice to see this thread as have a dd due to sit CCSE and CCHS in Sept. So much has changed since my ds did it 3 years ago. Has anyone got any suggestions on how to increase the vocabulary?

Thank you

Hi to all those in preparation! We're out the other side now. We also did alot of shared reading where I read and my DC discussed the meaning of the text back to me. I then selected words for them to explain to me and they also had to give me alternate words with a similar meaning. We tried to make it a game and even used the Guiness Book of World Records, comics and football annuals at times when traditional texts seemed too overwhelming.

We also tried having 3 or 4 new words a week which they had to use in their conversations with us. This was quite hilarious at times and kept me on my toes. I had to pay attention to their chatter so I wouldn't miss that my son's 'fetid' football socks were still in his school bag or my daughter was feeling 'pensive' about her spelling test the next day!

As was suggested elsewhere on this forum we also used the Descriptosaurus book. I would set them a writing task such as, 'Describe a walk in the woods in five or six sentences making your writing as vivid as possible.' We would then go through the writing together to see if they could improve on any of the vocabulary or phrases and then looking up suggestions in the book.

I encouraged them to use their imagination and not be put off by describing something or someone in a 'factual' way. I believe last year's exam asked them to describe a family member and my DS invented a crusty old uncle to describe rather than just boring ole Mum or Dad! They also practised describing classrooms, their teacher, supermarkets, libraries, an old man reading a newspaper, a toddler etc in an imaginative way. They did a couple of these a week over the summer term.

For us, the key was to keep it as much fun as possible and to keep it to small regular tasks. I think I expanded my vocab by the end too!