Very quiet in Warks
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Very quiet in Warks
I was wondering why it appears so quiet in the Warks forum as opposed to forums like Bucks, Kent etc? 
Maybe we're not so much into this 11+ business.
It would really help dps like myself ( & many others I'm sure) if we could get some feedback from other dps whose dc have gone through the CEM experience about techniques/tips etc.
Thanks
Shakey
Maybe we're not so much into this 11+ business.
It would really help dps like myself ( & many others I'm sure) if we could get some feedback from other dps whose dc have gone through the CEM experience about techniques/tips etc.
Thanks
Shakey
Re: Very quiet in Warks
It is very quiet in here compared to the other forums - I asked the same thing earlier this year. Despite this, there are plenty of parents with DC's taking the exam!
We're (hopefully) just post 11+ (DS sat the exam earlier this month - although we are still awaiting results).
I didn't DIY (much), DS went to a tutoring centre once per week from April this year, completed an online test each day, and I did some additional work with him in the summer hols and in the run up to the exam.
I'm not sure that I will be able to tell you much - but will, of course, share what I do!
We're (hopefully) just post 11+ (DS sat the exam earlier this month - although we are still awaiting results).
I didn't DIY (much), DS went to a tutoring centre once per week from April this year, completed an online test each day, and I did some additional work with him in the summer hols and in the run up to the exam.
I'm not sure that I will be able to tell you much - but will, of course, share what I do!
Re: Very quiet in Warks
Hi, dd2 did 11+ last year, scraped a pass, didn't get any level 6's (all her friends now at gs did), but I agree.
It's very quiet in Warks. Are there lots of lurkers? Or just nobody here?
Shakey, I'm an invigilator and invigilated the 11+ but have put my comments somewhere else on here (can't remember where) but can't remember enough in detail to help you. From what I saw, the general advice on here is right; read as much as you can, discuss things, read non fiction and fiction, so your dc has a wide vocab as possible. Maths looked hard (and dc said it was hard) this year, but the paper was as I expected it would be. I'm not supposed to discuss it. I don't know when it is ok to discuss, probably not until next Sept!
Speed is very important.
As I've said before, dd2 said last year she found Bond papers useful (but not sure anybody else did, so who knows).
Maybe some dp's in Warks will appear soon. This forum is great for general advice and support, but most useful for our county when discussing the 11+ in particular.
It's very quiet in Warks. Are there lots of lurkers? Or just nobody here?
Shakey, I'm an invigilator and invigilated the 11+ but have put my comments somewhere else on here (can't remember where) but can't remember enough in detail to help you. From what I saw, the general advice on here is right; read as much as you can, discuss things, read non fiction and fiction, so your dc has a wide vocab as possible. Maths looked hard (and dc said it was hard) this year, but the paper was as I expected it would be. I'm not supposed to discuss it. I don't know when it is ok to discuss, probably not until next Sept!
Speed is very important.
As I've said before, dd2 said last year she found Bond papers useful (but not sure anybody else did, so who knows).
Maybe some dp's in Warks will appear soon. This forum is great for general advice and support, but most useful for our county when discussing the 11+ in particular.
Last edited by ginx on Mon Sep 23, 2013 9:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Very quiet in Warks
Take the description "numerical reasoning" as a hint and don't expect simple maths where they are just presented with a calculation and have to find the answer. Worded questions where the first part of the task is to actually work out what the sum is are more the norm.
A wide vocabulary (at least understood, it doesn't really matter if they don't use it all in their own speech or writing) so read as much - and as much variety - as you can. Check they do know the meaning of any potentially more difficult words which crop up in what they're reading. Listen to radio with them and ask them what word x means if you hear something in context which you think they might not know - and encourage them to ask you if they hear something they know they don't know (however mine always insisted he knew them all so wouldn't do this part!).
Quick and easy cloze practice can be created if you pick an article from something like the Sunday Time, or National Geographic, and blank out words. Then get them to guess what the word might be. Initially it doesn't matter if it is the right word, just that they've chosen an appropriate one. Then blank out parts of words and see if they can fill in the gaps (this is easier if you copy the text into a word processing program first as you can replace letters with dashes or spaces to give a clue about length). Make these harder as you get through it.
Jumbled sentences are also quite easy to do yourself.
Synonyms and antonyms - you can get dictionaries of these which aren't expensive and can be used to make up your own questions.
A wide vocabulary (at least understood, it doesn't really matter if they don't use it all in their own speech or writing) so read as much - and as much variety - as you can. Check they do know the meaning of any potentially more difficult words which crop up in what they're reading. Listen to radio with them and ask them what word x means if you hear something in context which you think they might not know - and encourage them to ask you if they hear something they know they don't know (however mine always insisted he knew them all so wouldn't do this part!).
Quick and easy cloze practice can be created if you pick an article from something like the Sunday Time, or National Geographic, and blank out words. Then get them to guess what the word might be. Initially it doesn't matter if it is the right word, just that they've chosen an appropriate one. Then blank out parts of words and see if they can fill in the gaps (this is easier if you copy the text into a word processing program first as you can replace letters with dashes or spaces to give a clue about length). Make these harder as you get through it.
Jumbled sentences are also quite easy to do yourself.
Synonyms and antonyms - you can get dictionaries of these which aren't expensive and can be used to make up your own questions.
Re: Very quiet in Warks
My DD said the NVR was like Bond but speed was of the essence, I know quite a few kids who didnt finish the NVR section. She said maths was worded problems and very difficult again I know of quite a few kids who didnt finish this section my DD included. VR was what she expected multiple choice comprehension, cloze, synonyms (very difficult) some we had learnt but some she hadnt got a clue. The general advice that you read on here and in the "sticky" on the Bham forum is excellent. My advice would also be not to be too impatient, make sure that they really understand the mathematical concepts and know how to apply them, it is not enough to be good at mental arithmetic they need to really understand how to apply this. Try to build up vocabulary throughout the year the word list on this forum is very good and the vocabulary building program.
Re: Very quiet in Warks
Guest201, you could be summarising this year's paper! From what I saw, very few finished the NVR, the maths was difficult, but some dc finished the comprehension and cloze, I don't know about the synonyms. The maths included worded questions.
Speed important throughout. Some dc also looked terrified (which I doubt helped) so really important to stress it's not the end of the world if you don't get a place at a gs, look at other schools and point out good things about them (plenty of good alternative schools in Warks, I think), and try not to pressurise them too much. Remind your dc how difficult it is to get a place, there's a lot of competition, etc.
Remind dc everyone will find it difficult; don't listen to dc who found it "easy"; try not to talk about it too much. Remember talking about other things - anything - is important too - for general knowledge which is also very useful. I'm glad I've got three years respite.
Speed important throughout. Some dc also looked terrified (which I doubt helped) so really important to stress it's not the end of the world if you don't get a place at a gs, look at other schools and point out good things about them (plenty of good alternative schools in Warks, I think), and try not to pressurise them too much. Remind your dc how difficult it is to get a place, there's a lot of competition, etc.
Remind dc everyone will find it difficult; don't listen to dc who found it "easy"; try not to talk about it too much. Remember talking about other things - anything - is important too - for general knowledge which is also very useful. I'm glad I've got three years respite.
Re: Very quiet in Warks
Thanks for the advice guys- much appreciated.
Re: Very quiet in Warks
For the VR and NR papers the children need be very good readers. Mine is not a reader but has an expansive vocabulary. He did the exam and found his lack of reading left him wanting.
He found that he could not complete the nvr in the time allowed. Or to put it another way he found it hard and so did not have enough time to finish the section.
I would recommend a lot of reading and freerice.
For Maths the Bond books and SS mental maths are good for building a good foundation. They are not great for the word problems that appear. So far there are not many NR books on the market. My DS used the NR book advertised on this site and said that it was not particularly good preparation for CEM maths.
He found that he could not complete the nvr in the time allowed. Or to put it another way he found it hard and so did not have enough time to finish the section.
I would recommend a lot of reading and freerice.
For Maths the Bond books and SS mental maths are good for building a good foundation. They are not great for the word problems that appear. So far there are not many NR books on the market. My DS used the NR book advertised on this site and said that it was not particularly good preparation for CEM maths.
Re: Very quiet in Warks
I got very little out of my DS, but he did say there was nothing in the maths sections that he hadn't covered at school.
JD
JD
Re: Very quiet in Warks
Some of the independent school 11+/13+ papers you can find on the web with a bit of judicious googling have example questions you can use. Many don't come with answers though, so you need to be reasonably competent at maths yourself - you can't just set a paper and then count up the correct answers afterwards.Optimist wrote:For Maths the Bond books and SS mental maths are good for building a good foundation. They are not great for the word problems that appear. So far there are not many NR books on the market. My DS used the NR book advertised on this site and said that it was not particularly good preparation for CEM maths.
