11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi Everyone

My son is due to sit his 11+ this November/December. He has been practising papers since April but his scores for maths are all over the place and if anything getting worse (today 58%). I am really worried about him as he is disappointed as he felt he did well and is getting disheartened. I don't understand it because his school say he is on for level 5 in maths. Don't know how to move forward. Can anyone help?????

Hi - love your username!

It's hard to give advice without knowing which area you are in and the format of the test.

May I suggest that you scroll down and post in your local area as you will get better advice?

Hey! I can help a bit in this. Our ds was/is going through the same inconsistency!!!
1. Identify his weak areas e.g fractions or word problems pertaining to ratios.
2.Start from the absolute basic concepts with him, even when you know he has done that previously. For example with fractions, cover proper improper fractions, their addition or multiplications, how they are incorporated in word problems etc. Let him get confident in the area.
3.Solving paper is like medication, leave some gap between solving two papers and never mix them with two tough ones in a row.
4.Do some random maths before hand like time tables flash cards and then sit for the test paper. They get into the groove then
5.Because of the impending exam they have butterflies of the size of dinosaurs in their stomach. Anxiety can be detrimental to concentration. Soothe his nerves. A good foot rub or head massage does the trick along with their favorite food.
Dont worry! we all are in the same boat.

Thanks for your advice. I feel a bit happier knowing I'm not the only one with this issue!!!

Vasu's advice sounds good. Have you also considered the tiredness / time of day thing? I helped my stepson with the maths and I remember there was consistently a huge difference between morning scores and evening scores - he was much better in the morning.

Also, less emphasis on the timed test papers

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All good advice. Another trick is to sit down with him and just pick up a few wordy questions and ask them how he would do them - not to do them - but how he would do them - and help him unravel the questions if necessary. Then get him to do them another time. So you are cutting down the stress of deciphering the question and doing the maths into two distinct steps on different days.