Dip in scores

[Sez]

The tuition centre have said this but he hasn’t just been going there since October, he’s been there since July 2015 as he wasn’t being challenged enough at his previous school.

His school teacher has also said that he could have taken his SATS at the beginning of this year and achieved the expected level, if not slightly above that.

And his writing at the start of the year was assessed by his school teacher as already being that of a midway through Year 6 pupil.

School have commented that he excels across the curriculum and is working beyond their extensions. They actually suggested we should try for GS, although it was already in our plans.

In Maths he is working on algebra, pi equations, Fibonacci numbers etc

Having said all that, I know the competition for GS is fierce so I don’t want to have unrealistic expectations.

The tuition centre has a results centre that you can log onto which gives an overall standardised score which compares to the whole of the 11+ study group. He’s currently on a score of 95.

What kind of places do mock exams for comparison?

[kenyancowgirl]

Sorry but imnot surprised your son has dipped if you have been making him do tutor work since 2015.

Poor boy.

Why did you not just let him be a child?!!! He has missed that chance completely now and how bad will he feel if he does not make the grade for a GS after all this?

Sorry but this makes me really sad that parents are doing this to their children.

[Sez]

I haven’t *made* him do tutor work at all. There was no homework for it and he participates in plenty of extra-curricular activities that are all his choice and are purely for fun. They are a mixture of sports, arts, computing etc. He also has a lot of time with friends and relaxing with Lego, XBox, model railway, TV, YouTube etc

He was bored with the work at school & relished learning new things. We gave him the option at any stage to stop going and he didn’t want to.

I can assure you that he *is* a child and will remain one for lots of time yet.

He knows that we will be proud of him regardless and that wherever he goes he will do well with a continued good attitude and work ethic

[kenyancowgirl]

In my opinion being bored is part of life - what will you do if he gets bored in secondary school - take GCSEs early, or A levels....and then a degree? There are ways to extend learning without going to a tutor from yr 2. Any child at that age is going to do what they think their parents want - whilst you may not have made him go, simply by suggesting it, at that age he was likely to agree and, if it pleases you, continue to go. His dip in scores is either because he is burning out or perhaps that he does not actually have depth of understanding, in the race to be years ahead. Tutor centres are known to tell parents this sort of thing as it is good business for them.

However, you are, obviously happy with the choices you made three years ago and, I am sure know your child best. Let us hope I am wrong and he doesn't burn out at any time in the future. I wish you luck but would suggest that you maybe give him a good break. I am not sure whether the school you are targeting is a super selective or not - if it isn't, you do not have to be superbright to get a place.

[Sez]

Absolutely, I couldn’t agree with you more about boredom, generally. However, at that point in Yr 2 it was causing some issues. Rest assured, we will not be continuing with tuition past this next stage.

I understand your point about the depth of understanding, but we are certainly not in a race. We have been led at every stage by suggestions to us and he has only moved on when his results, mastery & retention have merited it.

Thanks for your advice, I will make sure he gets some time to switch off from prep and be led by him.

[scary mum]

Why not give him a break for a while? Maybe he is a bit fed up with it all & stale & will come back from a break refreshed. When I say a break, I mean not even mentioning it or going to the tuition centre.

[Guest55]

He is learning inappropriate maths for his age [algebra, pi and Fibonacci] rather than extending his knowledge with suitable problems from NRICH and the Primary Maths challenge.

Stop the tutoring - he is bored of it!.

[Sez]

We will have a break for a while to let him refresh, thank you.

The algebra & Fibonnaci aspects were actually covered in the 11+ sessions and have come up on a couple of progress papers, which I was very surprised by!

I really like the NRICH website, they seem to have some excellent work on deepening knowledge of primary maths so I will utilise that when we pick things up again, thanks for the suggestion.

[Guest55]

There is no 'real' algebra in Primary NC nor Fibonacci - simple sequences don't need either.
Use NRICH by looking for the curriculum map to tackle prpbelms linked to what they are learning in school:
https://nrich.maths.org/12632" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Primary maths challenge here: http://www.m-a.org.uk/primary-maths-challenge" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;