Advice on Preperation - For Parents not the Kids

[OverEagerDad]

Hello All,

My DD is moving into Juniors next year, so I am starting now to think what I personally need to do to prepare for the 11+ preparation (lancashire)!! So any suggestions gratefully received.

What I have done so far.

* Checking out local tutors - I've made a start researching the local tutors, pricing them up and started putting a bit of a saving account together so I am not stung by costs in a couple of years (will also keep this going I think so that I can have a fund for the trips to New York etc that they seem to go on?)
* Understanding Age Standardisation - My DD is young, late July, so I really need to understand the impact of this!!
* Date Management - Getting some key dates together and setting up reminders
* Hiding from my wife who thinks I am getting a eager on this (hence the name)
* I've also downloaded a few fun apps for maths (I wont post the name), got a whole heap of book sets for reading (Horrible History for Non Fiction, Enid Blyton, Worst Witch, Dahl for fiction)

So, any more tips to help me on the path to get ready for her getting ready would be gratefully received.

Thanks

OED

[scary mum]

Hello All,

My DD is moving into Juniors next year, so I am starting now to think what I personally need to do to prepare for the 11+ preparation (lancashire)!! So any suggestions gratefully received.

What I have done so far.

* Checking out local tutors - I've made a start researching the local tutors, pricing them up and started putting a bit of a saving account together so I am not stung by costs in a couple of years (will also keep this going I think so that I can have a fund for the trips to New York etc that they seem to go on?)
* Understanding Age Standardisation - My DD is young, late July, so I really need to understand the impact of this!!
* Date Management - Getting some key dates together and setting up reminders
* Hiding from my wife who thinks I am getting a eager on this (hence the name)
* I've also downloaded a few fun apps for maths (I wont post the name), got a whole heap of book sets for reading (Horrible History for Non Fiction, Enid Blyton, Worst Witch, Dahl for fiction)

So, any more tips to help me on the path to get ready for her getting ready would be gratefully received.

Thanks

OED

I may be with your wife on this one! However, I can reassure you about the age standardisation. It is used so that your DD will only be compared with others born in the same month as her. Each month is usually standardised separately - this means that theoretically the younger children may require a lower raw score to achieve the same stadnardised score as an older child. This is entirely dependent on the cohort sitting the test, and in theory it could be the other wat round, if the July born children were scored very highly that year. In other words it makes it fair for everyone - older children have had a year longer to be exposed to different words etc, so may score more highly (raw scores) than younger children.

[walidal]

Here are some hints to get you started. Albeit, I am not in your area

1 Start soft tutoring from year 4, with a local tutor and/or at home. Concentrate on 8-9 and then move on to 9-10, as your child progresses. In my own experience, 1 hour with a tutor and 1 hour with a parent in year 4 has been found sufficient.
2 Find out if child will be tested on CEM or GL
3 Start the child with Bond books and work through them until one can establish where child needs more or less work. If child is found to be excellent in say NVR at the age of 9, then do not be afraid to reach 10-11 before end of year 4.
4 In year 5, work focus shifts with the intention to complete this level with the use of Bond, CGP and Letts books by Easter. Thereafter, past papers, local private exam centres and extra lessons are needed to focus on weeknesses and until exam day.
5 In the mist of the final preparation, take child on holiday for a few days to recharge battery.
6 In Aug, one month before exam, focus on timed exam papers.

This is the recipe I used for my Daughter who is stating grammar school this Sept. Using the same formula for younger daughter who will be sitting exam in Sept 2020.

[OverEagerDad]

@scarymum - thanks, I think I agree with my wife, she is generally right all the time but please dont tell her I said that, but when I get into something I have to see it through until another Shiny thing takes my attention
@walidal - Thanks, we are in Lancashire, so it will be CEM. I think I might spend the time this year pottering around with the study books making sure I know what to help with the year after!!

[Octsmum]

You're very keen!

In terms of parent prep...I wouldn't stress on it at all too much...my DD was a summer (August) born and she didn't come into her stride until year 4...so don't panic about 'being grammar material' too early. Teachers often don't know much about the grammar school application process.

Think about starting prep in year 5. Tutors round here tend to get booked in the summer of year 4 - I don't know what it's like in your area. Until that, I'd just let your DD & you enjoy being a child & a parent without pressurising yourself too much. The whole prep / exam / school choice thing can be stressful...don't subject yourself to it too early. Just make learning enjoyable / fun (reading widely, maths time tables secured). I did do a 'scan' of our potential schools in late yr 4 as I wasn't prepared to take DD to any school I wasn't personally happy with. A scan of school websites / transport options might also be worthwhile - in case you can't physically get your child to the school you have in mind each day for the next 5 or 7 years...

Keep your options open - life can throw some curved balls....

[jearund]

I agree - don't start until the beginning of year 5. A year is quite long enough, otherwise you run the risk of burnout!

[Ricky74]

My advice is not to start until year 5. Mine only had an hour's concentration at best, too.

I would always advise your child to read a range of texts. Mine aren't big readers and I do wish we'd done more (it's still like pulling teeth sadly).

[RedDevil66]

My advice is not to start until year 5. Mine only had an hour's concentration at best, too.

I would always advise your child to read a range of texts. Mine aren't big readers and I do wish we'd done more (it's still like pulling teeth sadly).

Welcome to my world

I spoke to a very experienced tutor who advises that reading what they want as long as they're happy will be far more productive than forcing weighty tomes upon them and expecting them to read.

At any rate, exam bodies are choosing more contemporary texts these days so there's bound to be some good stuff about: Horowitz, Pratchett all the fantasy stuff etc

[OverEagerDad]

Thanks everyone for the advice, I have chilled out on the subject a lot, but still lurk on this forum to try and see if there are any gotchas that people going through the process now are facing!!

Times tables are sorted now, she took to this like a duck to water and has rapid recall of all of her times tables up to 12 x 12 before going into Y3 with no stress whatsover. Books is the hard one, getting her to sit and read for 15 mins before bed at least is so hard, but she will crack it Im sure.

Thanks all again

OED

[yoyo123]

Could you read them together?
Take turns to be different characters eg she could be Sophie and you could be the BFG.
Talk about the stories, what will happen next etc.

How about the local library, you could go and choose books together, ours has comfy bean bags and seating to sit together and read.