11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi

I'm a Mum of an 11 year old girl and a 3 month old boy. Having recently gone through a grueling year of preparing my daughter for the eleven plus and unfortunately just missing out on a place in a lovely school I sat back and wondered - could I have done more in her early years?

To be fair we did a great deal of reading, playing, and general teaching outside school but one thing that I struggled with was getting her to like reading material that wasn't comical or girly. Don't get me wrong, she loves reading, but is very particular about what she likes to read. Poetry was also a problem. Consequently, her vocabulary is good but I'm confident that she would have a wider vocab if I had varied her reading from a younger age.

I'm wondering whether anyone has any ideas for how I might be able to gently ensure that my young baby develops a strong vocabulary,an interest in books plus good mathematical skills. I'm not a pushy parent as such, I recognise that play is an important part of childhood, but I still want to ensure that I am working to prepare my DS for school and to continue that throughout the school years.

We integrate reading into his bedtime routine, and he seems to love rhyming poetry. I also talk and sing and play with him as much as I can, whenever I can. Is there anything else that I can do now and as he develops?

Thanks
Sam

Seems like you are doing all the right things

It's not about what you should have done, it's about who they are up against. Don't beat yourself up.

read books to him, , we went to story sessions and looked at lots of picture books, we also talked a lot about our day, sang songs etc.

counting songs, pairing socks, laying tables, how many slices of bread will we need..all those types of activities reinforce language and maths evelopment from from a very early age..

just enjoy being in their company and the rest will follw

andyb wrote:Seems like you are doing all the right things

Ahh thank you

Waiting_For_Godot wrote:It's not about what you should have done, it's about who they are up against. Don't beat yourself up.

It's hard not to but thank you

In the last few years it has become increasingly difficult to get a grammar school place, I'm not sure what the future holds and I know it's a number of years away but it's unlikely that we will be able to afford to send our DS to a good private school and a good comprehensive is so hard to find.

yoyo123 wrote:read books to him, , we went to story sessions and looked at lots of picture books, we also talked a lot about our day, sang songs etc.

counting songs, pairing socks, laying tables, how many slices of bread will we need..all those types of activities reinforce language and maths evelopment from from a very early age..

just enjoy being in their company and the rest will follw

Thank you, as he grows I will definitely incorporate things like going to story sessions and more counting songs and activities.

Everything that Yoyo says plus go and see Nursery Schools now so you have maximum choice. Find one that you like the ethos of, they do vary a lot, and get his name down now. Then sit back, relax and enjoy your child.

I'm in a very similar situation to you, DD1 is 12 and thankfully the horrible 11plus experience is now behind us, and like you, I questioned everything in the aftermath. She likes to read, but certainly not the high brow material I used to wish she would! But then, her pals are all reading the same.
DD2 is almost 3, and like you, I wonder if we should upgrade our approach..but in reality, they are two very different children. Whereas DD1 loved books and reading, but showed little interest in puzzles and numbers at an early age, DD2 has shown less interest in books, but has an amazing ability for numbers, puzzles and games.
On that basis I intend to go with the flow, encouraging and giving space for her natural interests to develop, and hopefully giving a helpful nudge, in the direction of her weaker interests and abilities. One thing I have learned from DD1, is that your instincts should always be trusted. Having questioned over the years, what seemed to be a difficulty with phonemics and her ability to break words down..her teachers always dismissed it on the basis that her weekly spelling tests were almost always full marks. But that was because she was great at memorising them, and as seems to be the case with state primaries these days, spelling in her written work was never corrected...that used to drive me mad
So she never actually knew how to properly break a word down. This was picked up by an ed profile done last year. And when I requested the breakdown of her 11plus papers..low and behold, it was the word segment questions where she lost her marks She's now happy & thriving at a lovely independant, and in that sense we are delighted with the outcome..but when DD2 starts school next year, I will be watching her very closely...and I won't be swayed from my perch, if I think something is not quite right

doodles wrote:Everything that Yoyo says plus go and see Nursery Schools now so you have maximum choice. Find one that you like the ethos of, they do vary a lot, and get his name down now. Then sit back, relax and enjoy your child.

I was thinking about this just yesterday, thank you doodles