11 Plus Exams Forum

With 11 plus behind us (regardless of the outcome) my dc suddenly found himself having too much time on his hands and doesn't have ideas what to do with it. We agreed that after the exam he doesn't need to do ANY learning and will have a relaxing year 6 (considering he is more than prepared for the coming sats and way beyond what he needs to know in year 6) but now I keep finding him kind of bored (the last time I found him standing upside down on the sofa to which he replied that he is not at all bored and has too many things to do).
I would like him to find a hobby, something that interests him and will help him occupy the time constructively, may be gain a new skill, do something that will both entertain and enrich him. He does some cycling, he has been into reading before but now kind of, perhaps as a reaction to all the learning of last year, he chooses it as a last resort, so I think he needs a change. Well, playstation would be his choice and idea of a 'hobby' but I feel it is such a time stealer and cannot make myself let him play for too long. (Or am I being a nasty controlling mum who should instead let go and let her dc waste some time ). Help please! Any ideas?

Musical instrument?
Model making?

What kind of model making do u mean?

All sorts.
Airfix type, mechanical, wooden

Please do not let him spend his time on the playstation. If you lose control of this now it will be even worse in secondary school. I used to work in an outstanding secondary school where some students came to school shattered after staying up all night on it.

Organise some fun things for him to do with his friends, rafting, hiking in woods. Take up a sport that has local clubs like hockey or basketball.

Start him reading First News so he learns about the world about him. Start reading a book series like Philip Pullman His Dark Materials or Narnia or The Roman Mysteries series by Caroline Lawrence.

DG

We read His Dark Materials around the same time. I say "we" because I finished it (read aloud) when it got abandoned mid way. It takes a while to get going and the words (many made up) can be difficult to pronounce consistently, at least for me. Worth the effort though. Good story.

Join the local junior football team?

Y6 is a peculiar year after all the 11+ stuff. We actually home tutored for the last term of Y6 and created opportunities that we couldn't do in a classroom based setting. DH was at home and I saved up leave to help out too and also reviewed work in the evenings and weekends.

• - DD got some one to one tutoring in her favourite sport which really meant she rounded off rough edges in her technique.
  - Loads of London walking tours are amazing if you are nearby, we did things from Brunel (DD likes the idea of Engineering when she is older) to the less educational of Harry Potter.
  - For reading the Week Junior is a great publication, DD never got to grips with First News
  - We took friends up on offers of touring things that meant something to them or associated with their work
  - Gardening
  - Designing and making a den
  - Measuring and planning for a household project (in our case a loft conversion) used a lot of maths and accuracy and creativity
  - Visits to National Trust places - planning questions for the room staff beforehand
  - Writing a diary
  - Reading - lots

Please do not let him go into school with the idea that now he has taken the 11+ he 'doesn't need to do ANY learning'. If you genuinely feel that way, at least do his teachers a favour and take him out altogether and home-educate.

In year 6 ds got into Bear Grylls books - there are some for slightly younger readers, others for around 10-12 and others for adults but that are quite content-appropriate as long as they don't mind suspense. He also got into his non-fiction books which have been good for sparking his interest in getting out and about (with friends or alone) to local woods/fields etc.
Now he is in year 7 we have just found local sports clubs that we didn't know about before (eg kayaking) and I'm wishing we'd discovered them in that year 6 too-old-for-primary-and-not-sure-what-to-do phase.
He did enjoy his Xbox more in year 6 than other years. However he doesn't even ask to play on it now unless it's a Friday night with no other plans or maybe Saturday afternoon when homework's all done...
Also he learned to cook more things (previously he only really liked making bread).

I was in the same situation with DS - I foolishly told him that once he has done his hard work for the 11+ preparation, he can spend Year 6 relaxing. To him, this mainly meant spending inordinate amounts of time on his iPad. One day last week he brought home a worksheet on fractions and to his (and my) horror he realised that he has forgotten how to divide fractions (he had to quickly 'google' it ). How quickly they forget - it's only been a couple of weeks!! He has now agreed to do a couple of his 10-minute CGP books (maths and English/verbal comprehension) every day to keep his brain functional In addition to all the sports and music activities he has, this keeps him nicely occupied whilst leaving him enough time at night on his iPad.

PS: I do wonder if these 10-minute 11+ CEM CGP books can help some way with his SATS? Or do I need to purchase the SATS versions?