11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi All,

Sorry for the Newbie questions, I just wanted to gather you thoughts and feedback on some belief that 'too much' Verbal or/and Non-Verbal reasoning (practice) is not good for kids?

I need help on defining too much?

If too much VR/NVR is not good for the kids, why do publishers like Bond/letts have age related VR/NVR books starting at 6-7 years or 7-8 yrs etc?

Does teaching all the techniques and doing the practise papers constitute too much practice?

My DS is in year 4 (8.8 years old), he enjoys doing NVR, by his insistance, he has covered all the letts NVR books (Y3, Y4, Y5, Y6) (with good marks) without me teaching him the techniques. is this too much?

Is it safe to do the same with Bond Books?

Is it worth me going through a techniques book or will this confuse him?

Your feedback and comments will be highly appreciated

Thanks and Kind Regards

Motion

If he's happy doing it, let him go. It's good for pattern spotting and aiding abstraction. It can't hurt for future years if entrance exams are the way he wants to go.

One of my pupils' mothers was also concerned about obsessively practising NVR and VR papers for an hour or more a day, which is of course ridiculous.

Ironically, she would have been less concerned if they were "obsessively" playing computer games or watching TV for 2hrs a night.

Hi motion!

The child needs to do enough to get through the NVR/VR tests on the day. I would say better too much practice than too little. Variety of questions and books is good; just make sure that only one technique is taught for a particular type of question, to avoid confusion. ...You will never feel that you've got it just right in terms of amount of practice.

It's all mental exercise and will be handy for them just as physical exercise is.

Incidentally, I have now seen the volume of work, breadth and depth expected of my DD (now at the end of Year 8 at Henrietta Barnett School in North London).

WH

Isn't it that some study(ies) have shown that once you've done so much practice on (I think) NVR, you don't improve; your scores stay the same? So, it's just that further practice doesn't necessarily benefit the child, rather than that it is 'too much'.

As you can see, I don't know the 'facts' behind these studies but that is what I've been told.

motion wrote:If too much VR/NVR is not good for the kids, why do publishers like Bond/letts have age related VR/NVR books starting at 6-7 years or 7-8 yrs etc?

To exploit the hopes and fears of otherwise sane parents and to make as much money as they possibly can.