Maths tips

[Candel]

I just posted this in Birmingham but thought I'd spread the advice net wider and make my first trip over here to the wider CEM world. Hello!

Dd really wants to take the 11+ so I've been encouraging her lately to do some cgp and bond stuff. She's a good & keen reader and I think she'll do ok on the English/verbal side of things, which is great - except that she completely freaks out when asked to do stuff under time pressure. This especially affects her maths and nvr, which she's weaker at.

I know that time pressure plays a big part in the cem exam and wondered if anyone else had had this problem with their dc. How can I encourage maths speed without knocking confidence? She's a pretty capable mathematician as long as there's no clock ticking!

[Guest55]

Time her secretly and just stop her after the set time. Speed does come after accuracy and I would not worry yet.

[Candel]

Thank you for your encouraging words.

I like the idea of stealth timing - I'll certainly try that one!

[StowMum]

When we started CEM I would tell my DS the allocated time but would give him an extra sneaky 10 mins to ensure he got the paper done. Once he grew in confidence I started decreasing the extra time so now he gets it done within time and no stress
You could give it a go.....

StowMum

[Daogroupie]

Is she in Y5?

Has she not done timed papers in class at school?

Perhaps you could start with double the time and then gradually reduce it but the whole point of CEM is timed sessions where you cannot go back and the sooner she get used to that the better. DG

[Guest55]

DG - sorry I completely disagree. In Maths, confidence is important and 'feeling rushed' does not help you to do well. Speed comes later and it is only April.

Are you a trained teacher?

[Candel]

Hi DG
Yes, she's in year 5 and no, they don't do timed maths at school.

Thanks stowmum - I'll try that too!
I'm going to lay off anything timed for a while and concentrate on confidence. Hopefully the speed will pick up naturally with practice.

[yoyo123]

Look online for games to improve her speed.
Sheppard software has quite a few.
They are particularly good for quick recall of facts which will help her speed up, giving her more time to work on the problem.