The 2014 thread - slow and steady wins the race ....

[littledippy]

Hi there,

Good morning to you all!!!

We started with Bond 9-10 Maths. Suddenly new subjects introduced. Percentage, Mode, median etc. We have really slow down because we need to cover these areas before doing the papers. My DS school haven’t covered them yet. Is that normal or is my DS school is really behind?

We really haven't done much NVR, but doing OK with VR. No one really mentioned S&S English spring board here. We are doing the book 7. We found them very interesting. Not hard, but introduce lots of new words, occupations with pictures etc, so it sticks in his head. We will try and finish the book 8 as well.

Apart from Bond English, are there any other books you are using? Looking for some ideas as I feel he is weak in English.

Have a good day!!!
Little Dippy.

[mystery]

Level 4 does not contain much to do with mode, median, mean, range, percentage .... It covers some bits but more in level 5. Every school and teacher is different in kent, some counties e.g. Bucks seem to be clearer about what is covered when.

What does your 11plus require?

[hopefulmum2]

For my lad's English I am working my way through the KS2 Comprehension books from Schofield and Sims as I think his English is weakest. They are quite quick and give us something to talk about. I know that he hasn't covered lots of maths yet and we will probably need to supplement his Maths over the next year. Our greatest problem is getting him to slow down and actually think about what he is doing. So much to do!!

[littledippy]

What does your 11plus require?[/quote]

Our (his and mine) to get him into QE or Bucks. I am aiming him to get to level 5, but he is currectly in level 4C/B so we have a long way to go.

[littledippy]

Hi Hopefulmum2

Thanks.. Yes, we have S&S Comprehension books. We started with book 2 but he found it a harder, so we went and bought the book 1. We only done couple of papers... May be I should look to speed up a bit.

Little Dippy.

[mystery]

Sorry don't know those schools. Do you they require those particular maths topics in their entrance exam do you think?

[SleepyHead]

Hi LittleDippy

Yes I have bought s&s springboard but not used them yet! as we working on Bond 9-10 maths (book 1). The topics you mention (percentages and averages) are on our school's curriculum in year 5, so I guess we will cover them in due course (or I will try to introduce these topics over the summer). I am just concentrating on the topics done at school for now.

For English, I am focusing on story writing (so we haven't done much comprehension yet.) I have used story titles from this (wonderful) website and various other resources, namely past papers and also the Tutor Master Series which sets out the story title with a beginning/middle/end plan to help with structure and flow.

The A and E creative writing books (set of 4 I think) have been mentioned on another thread on this website, but personally I find the lay out a bit overwhelming for DD and the page is almost too busy.

Hope this helps
SH

[littledippy]

Hi SleepyHead.

Ok, they actually year 5 topics ... thanks for confirming it.. (Percentage and mode etc!!). I have taught him already and gave him the Peter Robinson's book 1 to practise. He was OK.. We have to see how much he understood once we start doing the book 9-10 bond again.

Creative Writing... Oh.. dear.. We should not put it off for longer, even though my DS hates it. Yes, I also have the Tutor Master Series and I must start using them.

Thanks
LittleDippy

[mystery]

Any luck now with Bond 9 -10 Littledippy? A tutor who is giving me some advice has given it to me and said my year 4 should be able to sit down and do it on her own .... I'm not convinced. She was 4b last time school tested her (don't know what the test was) and since then I've been through a level 4 CGP book with her (a very quick book) and have started to look at some topics in the Level 5 CGP book. She gets a smattering of level 5 stuff at school in a mixed age booster group - but it seems to very hit and miss (or hit and run). Is this the right time to start the Bond book I wonder?

Also, any tips for getting them to sit down and do stuff like this on their own ... she doesn't really like doing much on her own except at school and I don't want to start with a battle particularly as we do have a long time to go.

Would you start timed or untimed --- she can work fast when she really wants to, but most times at home will take ages over something that could be done quickly ( not just maths - anything!) unless there's something she really wants to do afterwards and she is told "do this then that". It's not always easy to think up what she might want to do afterwards though to provide the incentive (bribe). Oh dear, I suppose TV is the obvious one.

Apols for all the questions - I've done this with another child but this one is more of a challenge!

[fatbananas]

My DS has been doing Bond 9-10. We hit a problem with fraction knowledge, so I've stopped for the moment, going back to basics, which seems to be working, and then we'll go back to Bond again. He wants me to be there with him - for supportive company I think! He tends to leave the 'harder' (usually more wordy) ones. I tell him he'll get extra reward points (our incentive system!) for looking again at the ones he's left. That usually deals with a couple more questions and then we go over the ones he feels he can't do. Of those, it's more he doesn't understand the wording and, as with the fractions, occasionally, he simply can't remember what he has to do.

Bond 9-10 English seems much more straightforward. I do leave him to do those on his own, but I think he lets me because he's much more confident with that subject. Main stumbling block seems to be knowledge of terms - he was confusing prepositions and verbs for a while - but largely ok.

I have to say, that doing the Schofield and Sims book 3 mental maths, which I remember you saying that book 3 was level 4, DS is finding it much harder than the Bond 9-10 maths. Again, I think it's the word problems. I'm really (REALLY) hoping it all comes together as his confidence with worded questions grows.