Practice paper Disaster !
Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2011 12:36 pm
Hi there
This is my first post, so forgive me for asking what I am sure are old questions, and I do accept each child reacts differently.We have returned to the UK after leaving before my son was of school age, so this (year 5 ) was his first taste of UK schooling, and my first introduction to the 11 plus at all, as I am originally from elsewhere. Suffice to say, I have slipped into the role of Obsessive 11 plus parent quite nicely, and he has had tutoring for the entire year, I have lost oodles of sleep and hair, but was receiving feedback that his schoolwork was above average, his work in the Bond books was up to scratch, and that tests at school were achieving around the 125 mark.
So I looked forward to easing him into the mood over the summer, culminating in a last burst of Gl practice papers.
However, I decided to find out where I was ( or rather, he was) over the last week, and bought 2 of the GL multi-packs. He has since done the Verbal reasoning and the Maths ones, both of which were total disasters with him leaving out so much due to time that he only answered about 70% of the questions, achieiving excellent results for those he finished, around 90-95%but averaging out to 60% score, obviously not enough.
So finally, the questions.
Am I wrong to panic and run around the house screaming "we're all doomed" , or accept the feedback from his teacher (who is also his tutor) that this is normal, and that they never seem to do as well at home than at school, and that we have over 2 months to go? Did any members have the same experience but find it panned out in the end. Please tell me its OK, I have so little hair left, and its ALL grey now !!
How much is too much ,or too little over the summer? We have planned to go away early for the first 2 weeks so he has a good break, and then for the last few weeks have a couple of hours 3 times a week to keep him alert to the concepts, finishing in the last 2 weeks with lots of practice papers.Is it too much, or would you consider that a reasonable preparation?
His vocabulary is somewhat limited occasionally, as he lived his early years in countries where English was not the first language, so while English was spoken at home, and by most of his school friends, there are gaps. Are there any aids specifically aimed at added vocabulary rather that the obvious route of reading which he does by choice every day?
Thanks
This is my first post, so forgive me for asking what I am sure are old questions, and I do accept each child reacts differently.We have returned to the UK after leaving before my son was of school age, so this (year 5 ) was his first taste of UK schooling, and my first introduction to the 11 plus at all, as I am originally from elsewhere. Suffice to say, I have slipped into the role of Obsessive 11 plus parent quite nicely, and he has had tutoring for the entire year, I have lost oodles of sleep and hair, but was receiving feedback that his schoolwork was above average, his work in the Bond books was up to scratch, and that tests at school were achieving around the 125 mark.
So I looked forward to easing him into the mood over the summer, culminating in a last burst of Gl practice papers.
However, I decided to find out where I was ( or rather, he was) over the last week, and bought 2 of the GL multi-packs. He has since done the Verbal reasoning and the Maths ones, both of which were total disasters with him leaving out so much due to time that he only answered about 70% of the questions, achieiving excellent results for those he finished, around 90-95%but averaging out to 60% score, obviously not enough.
So finally, the questions.
Am I wrong to panic and run around the house screaming "we're all doomed" , or accept the feedback from his teacher (who is also his tutor) that this is normal, and that they never seem to do as well at home than at school, and that we have over 2 months to go? Did any members have the same experience but find it panned out in the end. Please tell me its OK, I have so little hair left, and its ALL grey now !!
How much is too much ,or too little over the summer? We have planned to go away early for the first 2 weeks so he has a good break, and then for the last few weeks have a couple of hours 3 times a week to keep him alert to the concepts, finishing in the last 2 weeks with lots of practice papers.Is it too much, or would you consider that a reasonable preparation?
His vocabulary is somewhat limited occasionally, as he lived his early years in countries where English was not the first language, so while English was spoken at home, and by most of his school friends, there are gaps. Are there any aids specifically aimed at added vocabulary rather that the obvious route of reading which he does by choice every day?
Thanks