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Any advice?
Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 9:13 am
by kittyhola
I'm in slight meltdown here as in tutoring sessions my daughter is getting somewhere between 85% and 90%. But she did her first timed paper at home this week, missed 11 questions out and got a further 15 wrong. Can we still pull it off with 10 weeks to go?
Test papers
Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 9:44 am
by HopefulDen
Don'r panic-this always happens when you start doing the timed papers. your DS is scoring similiar to my son last year at this time of the year and he passed with flying colours. The type of question paper may be the fault here. Doing the full ones immediately can sometimes be too much all at once for them. Mike gave me advice on which ones's to use first (see my posts). I started off with the 15 minute IPS papers and then went to the IPS half hour ones-this builds their confidence. Follow on with the Bright Sparks papers leaving the NFER ones to final month. My other advice is to get the Tutors CD if you haven't already as these are timed and will help your daughter to get an understanding of how long different questions types should take. Also don't forget that some question types are trickier and take longer while others may just take a second or two. Another trick is to leave the reading information questions to the end because they take the longest and are only worth 1 mark whereas other multiple choice ones are worth several marks. Similarly she sould move on from any questions she can't do after a minute or two and come back to them at the end. if she still doesn't know then she should have a go at guessing as it might be right and it's better than leaving it blank-hope this helps-she will speed up nearer the time.
Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 10:04 am
by kittyhola
thanks Hopeful Den. Are the materials you mention from this website? Tutor's cd, bright sparks etc?
Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 10:14 am
by Mike
Hi Kittyhola
A technique, only during preparation, is to leave the last question in each question set out, with N type question were 2 sets of questions appear, only complete the first set.
This allows students to get to the last set of questions that may be an easier type. Generally the last question in the set is the most difficult.
As the student knows that they have left the last questions out, it is easier for them to go back and complete them if there is time left.
This advice does not apply to the real tests.
Regards
Mike
Resources
Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:33 am
by HopefulDen
Yes all of the resources are availiable here on this site.
I used the IPS method and technique, IPS daily practice papers, the Tutors CD, IPS full practice papers, and later Bright sparks and NFER.
The Tutors have since published a method and technique guide which can be downloaded from this site. Good Luck!
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:05 am
by Newbie But Stressed
you have tons of time... Don't panic
Just make sure you can get your daughter to finish the paper on time and move on if she does not know the answer (after marking the question)..
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 3:35 pm
by Jess
Exactly the same thing happened with my DD this weekend. Did her first timed test and didn't get anywhere near completing it in the time. We sat down yesterday afternoon and did lots of practice questions as fast as she could. I just don't think she'd grasped quite how fast she needed to be going under timed conditions. Did another paper today and she finished with 3 minutes (!) to spare and scored 90%.
As 10 year-olds, the concept of working under extreme time pressure is very new to them. I'm sure your daughter will improve rapidly once she understands this, and you have plenty of time between now and the exam to practice.
Good luck!
Jess
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 9:21 pm
by kittyhola
Thanks Jess, that's v encouraging to hear. Well done to your daughter. My daughter's got the basic understanding of all the question types but she hasn't got the speed yet plus she makes careless mistakes. She does the hardest parts of the maths questions - gets that right- then rushes and gets the answer wrong by 1 and loses the mark! She's under extra pressure cos her sister has just started at WKGS and loving it. Life can be hard! But we have got 10 weeks and I hope we can 'fine tune' her so she increases both accuracy and speed.
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:43 am
by Pensby
Hi Kittyhola
Just wondered whether asking her sister to help might work if they get on well,maye she could give your younger DD some tips!
Could they do some timed q's together to help speed up?
How about doing some other types of q's like sudoku to help her speed up too!Does she have a DS coz the brain training games are great for speeding up and are good fun!
As everyone else says you've still got lots of time so don't panic!!
Out of interest how old is DD will she get many age points,I found my DD (July bday ) had timing issues but DS ( NOV) never had a problem.
Glad you older DD like WKGS mine is in year 10 and loves it!!
Good luck Pensby
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:32 am
by kittyhola
Wow everyone is so supportive on this forum. Thanks Pensby for all your advise. She is a July birthday so I don't know how many q's she could get wrong and still pass! Nice to hear from a fellow WKGS parent although the WGS and WBS are also v supportive too of course.