vr test. are bond books a waste of time?

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daofan
Posts: 53
Joined: Tue Sep 21, 2010 9:53 pm

vr test. are bond books a waste of time?

Post by daofan »

Hello,
Can anyone help with this. My son is due to sit the exam next year and is practising the bond verbal books 11-12 years. I have read numerous posts suggesting IPS are harder and better practice than bond. We started the IPS but found they were in fact easier than the 11-12 bond papers. Are the bond papers a waste of time because they have question types not used in the dao vr paper? I dont want to waste valuable time and am so confused as to what is the right approach with regards bond papers.
Thank you for all your help.
no_ball

Re: vr test. are bond books a waste of time?

Post by no_ball »

They were for us for Birmingham king Edward board exams. Just practised technique in the end.
purplerose69
Posts: 50
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2009 10:26 am

Re: vr test. are bond books a waste of time?

Post by purplerose69 »

Nothing is a waste of time, especially if you have another year to prepare. I find the Bond books very helpful despite the fact that there are numerous others on the market. Yes, they are with a few a\dditional techniques and exercises but they increase child's vocabulary and are definitely not a waste of time, although at the end of the day you will probably have only GL assessment papers at the exams.
daofan
Posts: 53
Joined: Tue Sep 21, 2010 9:53 pm

Re: vr test. are bond books a waste of time?

Post by daofan »

Thank you for your advice. What are the GL papers ?
purplerose69
Posts: 50
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2009 10:26 am

Re: vr test. are bond books a waste of time?

Post by purplerose69 »

GL assessment papers are a type of 11+ papers in the 4 subjects ( VR, NVR, English and Maths). Apart from their own website, you can purchase those through amazon.co.uk and other websites. My best advice is get a very good tutor ( with good results and reputation) who will coach your child - to rely only on yourself and the books available in the shops is not sufficient. You need good tutoring for about 1.5 years - that is the best. My personal opinion.
ebf3
Posts: 34
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 10:31 pm

Re: vr test. are bond books a waste of time?

Post by ebf3 »

It was a last minute practice with bond ten minute tests that taught my ds a word which came up in the vr test at DAO last year. (Score =20) Every point counts! In my opinion it is worth practicing as many different types of vr as possible, not just for the style of question, but for the different vocabulary that comes up from different publishers.

Having been through it, I would have broadened the range we used further; we only did three types: Bond, Athey and one other which I forget the name of. (All easily available on the High Street). He did get in (and is loving every minute) but I think we could have prepared more thoroughly for the test.
manicmummy
Posts: 63
Joined: Sat Nov 13, 2010 11:12 am

Re: vr test. are bond books a waste of time?

Post by manicmummy »

My DD completed every bond book from9-10 upwards and also the practice papers. we also used the susan Daughtrey technique and practice books and papers, walsh practice papers and gl assessment papers.
bOND is a good base and very good for vocab , gl papers less challenging than bond/walsh papers.
Yes we did spend a lot of time and money on books etc but as vr is double weighted youcant practiceenough
only time will tell if this has paid off ......best of luck
yogkruti
Posts: 267
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2010 6:06 pm

Re: vr test. are bond books a waste of time?

Post by yogkruti »

"vr is double weighted" sounds interesting :? could you please explain?

Thanks!
manicmummy
Posts: 63
Joined: Sat Nov 13, 2010 11:12 am

Re: vr test. are bond books a waste of time?

Post by manicmummy »

ah may have confused you ...in essex vr paper is worth 50% as opposed to english and math 25% each ...not sure if that applies to you :?:
SleeplessInSuburbia
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2010 10:12 pm

Re: vr test. are bond books a waste of time?

Post by SleeplessInSuburbia »

Last year 2 girls from my daughters school got through to HBS and neither had a tutor. I asked there mothers who have siblings in my children's classes and they just used books from WHS for 6 months. Both their daughters were the smartest in y6 and didn't really find it hard at all. You need to be naturally bright at math and English and have some practice on VR and NVR. I do feel sorry for those kids who are tutored to pass, will that suddenly stop or will you have to tutor them all the way through so they can keep up? My daughter is currently top in y6 and has never had a tutor, her math and English is strong so I feel she will sail through the second round, she felt her VR and NVR went well and nothing worried her, but then she does sometimes make silly mistakes and those worry me when she is sitting amongst girls who have been coached for years! But I'm still not worried, she will be one of the 93.
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