Feeling sick with worry :-(

Independent Schools as an alternative to Grammar

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Kingfisher
Posts: 416
Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2012 7:08 pm

Re: Feeling sick with worry :-(

Post by Kingfisher »

It wasn't Fat Bananas, it was me! It can still be done. We all talk to our children, don't we? Many others are in the same situation and achieve phenomenal results.
MAZER66
Posts: 49
Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2012 12:54 pm

Re: Feeling sick with worry :-(

Post by MAZER66 »

Kingfisher wrote:It wasn't Fat Bananas, it was me!
sorry not sure how that happened, but I accept your valid point
fairyelephant
Posts: 588
Joined: Wed Jul 18, 2012 9:59 am
Location: N London

Re: Feeling sick with worry :-(

Post by fairyelephant »

Hi fitnik, Don't worry too much, but do sit down with the tutor, check she/he is fully up to speed with what is needed for your chosen schools and where the gaps are for ds, and how they will be filled. You have plenty of time but don't overload your son, you want to make sure he doesn't lose the enthusiasm he has now.
You can't beat yourself up too much about what happened in years 3 & 4, my y5 ds has grammar gaps but its nothing that can't be fixed.
Stay tuned in to the forum, it's the best bit about the whole 11 plus thing!
menagerie
Posts: 577
Joined: Thu May 26, 2011 9:37 pm

Re: Feeling sick with worry :-(

Post by menagerie »

MAZER - it's easy, even if you work long hours.

Get The I (Independent newspaper shorter version) a few times a week for your DC to read.
read a few poems with them - they are short but need DC to listen and focus. We started with TS Eliots Cats poems and moved on to all sorts of things - I was surprised how much they loved them.
Turn on Radio 3 and 4 in the car. Or stick times tables tapes on in the car (dismal failure in our case but some parents say their DC love the tables tapes and sing along.)
Or audio versions of books that stretch them beyond what they'd read independently.
Decide to go to a museum or gallery once a month. Just make it a habit. I keep gallery visits very short. Started out by literally whizzing them into the National to look at one painting (George and the Dragon or a famous Impressionist piece) and then straight out for an ice cream somewhere so that they associated it with pleasure (just call me Pavlov).
Don't make it dull and don't pretend to be interested in stuff that bores you. Go straight for the mummies at the British museum or the launch pad at the science museum and ignore the rest for now. I still get a kick out of hearing DC whine: it's not fair, we haven't been to a museum in ages. They love them because they've never been dragged round them just whizzed in and out at top speed.
Bestichka
Posts: 63
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2012 5:29 pm

Re: Feeling sick with worry :-(

Post by Bestichka »

Great post, menagerie. That's what we do as well. Going to the library also helps. DS is bordering on dyslexia, plus he's bilingual, so reading is not his favourite activity. But after being to the British Museum a dozen of times he can write almost a thesis on the Egyptian Book of the dead and the Rosetta stone - no extra help needed, just his own drive! Also going to the library helps - he is let loose there to roam, and now pleads to go there, even though we have a plentiful library at home. In our case it also helped to take him to the opera a few times - he was so impressed by one that googled the libretto and almost learned it by heart, and keeps singing one of the greatest arias in the shower :) but that gave him almost a ready-made answer to a few interview questions, as well as the basis for a few essays.

Cooking with DS also helped getting the ratio concept drilled in for math - once i allowed him to get a quantity of sugar wrong in the cupcakes - the result was so inedible that it really drove the idea home :)
MAZER66
Posts: 49
Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2012 12:54 pm

Re: Feeling sick with worry :-(

Post by MAZER66 »

Dear Fitnik, don't worry, there is no need to become a " tiger mum" stick to the priorties 3R's 3R's, and the 3R's for now - your child is not going for an Oxbridge interview! :roll: :roll: :roll:
bns
Posts: 122
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2012 2:15 pm

Re: Feeling sick with worry :-(

Post by bns »

well said, could never imagine my DS listening to radio 4 and going to opera !!, the abuse I would get!!
Bestichka
Posts: 63
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2012 5:29 pm

Re: Feeling sick with worry :-(

Post by Bestichka »

With that many gaps it's going to be a tough year, so it's nice to still maintain a normal lifestyle and remember that there is life beyond 11+, with art, beauty and leisure, and for us opera visits are a normal part of that life. What we don't want for DS is to become narrowly focused on academic results only - education and development of a person is much wider than that.

But of course dragging anyone anywhere just for the sake of it would never do any good. I could never be dragged to a rugby match - ever. :D
menagerie
Posts: 577
Joined: Thu May 26, 2011 9:37 pm

Re: Feeling sick with worry :-(

Post by menagerie »

Hang on Mazer and bns - in our house, no one is forcing R4 down the DC's throats. They find it funny. They love Just a Minute and Sorry I Haven't a Clue, News Quiz and Would I Lie to You. These programmes have effortlessly increased their general knowledge and their vocab while giving them a laugh. Far better than drilling the 3Rs which is boring and doesn't connect with the rich and exciting world outside.

No doubt some DC, like Bestichk's, love opera - the rush of emotions, the visual drama. Tiger mothers don't give their offspring a wide range of experiences. They sit them down at desks at home and get them to do endless dull as ditchwater print-outs of test after test after test.
Fitnik
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2013 10:19 pm

Re: Feeling sick with worry :-(

Post by Fitnik »

Lots of very helpful advice, thank you.

Baby steps towards the main goal - he's working very hard and having breaks too. I'm proud of him and will continue to support in any way I can.

Thanks again for your advice - really appreciate it. :)
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