judging child's 11plus potential in ks1

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missalooni
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2015 3:39 pm

judging child's 11plus potential in ks1

Post by missalooni »

Hi there I am really interested to see what advice you have. I am really keen for my children to go to grammar schools . My oldest son is seven and while he is bright,he isn't really liking his reading very much and (truthfully) is a bit lazy. His teacher says his reading is ok for his age but it's not as good as his maths. I had at the back of my mind that early fluent reading is an indicator of intelligence?

I realise that it's still early days but I can't help wondering what the likelihood is is he will past 11+ when he really, really hates reading. We had tears and tantrums this morning because I asked him to read something. When he does read, his comprehension is very good. Obviously I just want him to be happy but I need to get a handle on how likely we are to have to move etc to sort out secondary school. Also any tips on helping reluctant readers especially boys would be fantastic- I am at my wits end!
NanoNano
Posts: 107
Joined: Wed Sep 17, 2014 6:21 pm

Re: judging child's 11plus potential in ks1

Post by NanoNano »

I am not sure if it is any help, but from our research we understand that level 3s at the end of KS1 are a good indicator for potential. :-)

As for reading, DS would never read out loud to us, so we just let him find some books he was interested in (Beast Quest, Alex Rider) and let him get on with it. Without the pressure of being asked about the text he had just read, he would openly come to us and explain the plots and became more enthusiastic about reading.
DC17C
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Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:34 pm

Re: judging child's 11plus potential in ks1

Post by DC17C »

My son was a bit like this ...and still is now he is a 13 yr old. He is not a great reader for enjoyment now but will read certain adventurous stories- mostly Charlie Higson , Anthony Horowitz etc. DS is and always was increadibly stubborn and always has hated being to being told what to do and so I have to pick my fights and reading was something i did not want to battle about.
The only thing that worked with DS was me regularly reading to him - sitting down and cuddling up at bed time and reading books he liked the look of and we could enjoy story together. When younger they usually had interesting pictures and were more factual but I remember the DK readers star wars / marvel type books were good too. Then we moved on to simple chapter books Beast Quest- I think were popular . Eventually we went through all the Harry Potters and all sorts of others that ds liked from the local library. Eventually we moved on to using a kindle and I found DS was happier reading from the kindle. Perhaps not seeing how big a book was helped and perhaps changing the font helped. It took until ds was 9 before he really wanted to read on his own but by 11 he was assessed as having a reading age of 15 +.
Peridot
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Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 5:02 pm

Re: judging child's 11plus potential in ks1

Post by Peridot »

Have you tried doing the summer holiday library reading scheme? This year it's called Record Breakers and has a link with the Guinness Book of Records. I bumped into two KS1 boys I know in my local library last week, whom I wouldn't have put down as particularly passionate readers, and they were very excited about the scheme. My children loved doing it when they were small.
Guest55
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Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: judging child's 11plus potential in ks1

Post by Guest55 »

I think boys often prefer non-fiction books so get him to choose something factual.
Eccentric
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Joined: Fri Dec 19, 2014 8:58 pm

Re: judging child's 11plus potential in ks1

Post by Eccentric »

My daughter was totally uninterested in KS1. I decided not to push her at all at that stage, consequentially she was later at learning to read and advancing in maths skills than her peers. She hated doing her homework so I went and had a meeting with the teacher and we came to an agreement that if she felt like doing her reading practice, spellings etc she would, if not she would not. I used to just read to her all the time and tell her and show her how brilliant reading and knowledge was. In year 4 she suddenly got it and now there is no stopping her. You could not have a more motivated child and she is doing really well academically too.
I would just put the background work in, keeping it play based and fun. Go to museums, visit the library and bookshops and just browse Take him to exhibitions, read him titbits about things that he is interested in, do puzzles with him, play board games, teach him how to play draughts and connect 4, get him a pattern colouring book and find the difference book and sit down and spend time doing fun things with him. Teach him to tell the time by making him feel important by making him the keeper of the time in your house.
Peridot
Posts: 2195
Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 5:02 pm

Re: judging child's 11plus potential in ks1

Post by Peridot »

My daughter was similar to Eccentric's in that she suddenly showed her true academic colours at the end of year 3 and very definitely in year 4. In KS1 she wasn't in any of the top groups, although she did love reading, and she was really quite determined about what she would do and wouldn't do :D. I would follow all the suggestions Eccentric gave and not worry - wait and see.
NanoNano
Posts: 107
Joined: Wed Sep 17, 2014 6:21 pm

Re: judging child's 11plus potential in ks1

Post by NanoNano »

Eccentric wrote:She hated doing her homework so I went and had a meeting with the teacher and we came to an agreement that if she felt like doing her reading practice, spellings etc she would, if not she would not
Wish our school had been so understanding.. whenever we said he wouldn't read out loud we were greeted with horrified/disgusted looks! They told us he had to widen his reading matter and suggested books that were not to his taste (fairies, dragons, wizards, David Walliams!) which we knew wouldn't work; and yes we did try! In the end he found his own way with a love of Terraria (before he moved on!) so he enjoyed researching through a wiki-type page. Although not reading in a "classic" style it certainly improved his linguistic abilities and confirmed to us that in order to get the practice he just needed to be interested, and for him a reading list just wasn't cutting the mustard.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: judging child's 11plus potential in ks1

Post by mystery »

missalooni wrote:Hi there I am really interested to see what advice you have. I am really keen for my children to go to grammar schools . My oldest son is seven and while he is bright,he isn't really liking his reading very much and (truthfully) is a bit lazy. His teacher says his reading is ok for his age but it's not as good as his maths. I had at the back of my mind that early fluent reading is an indicator of intelligence?

I realise that it's still early days but I can't help wondering what the likelihood is is he will past 11+ when he really, really hates reading. We had tears and tantrums this morning because I asked him to read something. When he does read, his comprehension is very good. Obviously I just want him to be happy but I need to get a handle on how likely we are to have to move etc to sort out secondary school. Also any tips on helping reluctant readers especially boys would be fantastic- I am at my wits end!
Helping reluctant readers - need to, in a subtle way, get to the reasons. Is he struggling decoding the words, does he prefer listening to you read, is it the reading matter you are giving him, is he feeling down about it for some reason etc?

The key usually is to take it in turns reading stuff he really enjoys ( any old rubbish so long as he is loving it) and at some point eventually he will want to read without you e,g. To carry on and find out what is happening next while you put the washing on etc.

It could take years until it is a self motivated habit of his own. In the meantime keep up the vocabulary acquisition with audio books and taking it in turn with the reading.

If he has not been taught to decode well and is just guessing and making lots of errors or being frustratingly slow so he can't enjoy it there are some good ways of working through this quickly.

I don't think that a child's reading enthusiasm or skill is a reliable measure of intelligence so I would not worry about this - just make sure he is not having the pants bored off him by school guided reading lessons and the books he brings home to read - sometimes these things are the source of the problem.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: judging child's 11plus potential in ks1

Post by mystery »

NanoNano wrote:
Eccentric wrote:She hated doing her homework so I went and had a meeting with the teacher and we came to an agreement that if she felt like doing her reading practice, spellings etc she would, if not she would not
Wish our school had been so understanding.. whenever we said he wouldn't read out loud we were greeted with horrified/disgusted looks! They told us he had to widen his reading matter and suggested books that were not to his taste (fairies, dragons, wizards, David Walliams!) which we knew wouldn't work; and yes we did try! In the end he found his own way with a love of Terraria (before he moved on!) so he enjoyed researching through a wiki-type page. Although not reading in a "classic" style it certainly improved his linguistic abilities and confirmed to us that in order to get the practice he just needed to be interested, and for him a reading list just wasn't cutting the mustard.
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