2013 Sitting Group Hug Anyone

[Araucana girl]

Starting to lose the plot here a bit. There just seems to be so few weeks left of the holidays and so much that I keep discovering dd doesn't quite know (vocab, venn diagrams which I thought she knew, basic ordering of decimals ......aaaagh). Keep wondering whether I am mad to be making her do this it has been the holiday from **** this summer. Please tell me we are nearly there!

[djy76]

I am feeling the same way, so much to do so little time.... I am all for a group hug!

[bravado]

Can an "old lag" give a cyberhug too?

The last 4 weeks are so hard - hang in there. I remember it like it was yesterday - you suddenly find you don't know what to do for the best, whereas previously, you kinda had a plan and a focus.

This "11+ summer holiday" will bring its rewards - they will grow in confidence in their own abilities no matter what the outcome in October/March.

[Araucana girl]

Can an "old lag" give a cyberhug too?

The last 4 weeks are so hard - hang in there. I remember it like it was yesterday - you suddenly find you don't know what to do for the best, whereas previously, you kinda had a plan and a focus.

This "11+ summer holiday" will bring its rewards - they will grow in confidence in their own abilities no matter what the outcome in October/March.

Thanks Bravado, good to hear the feelings are normal

We stopped her tutor last week, have been leaving it every other week for a while now, as he really did not seem to be covering the ground for the modern papers; we think he was stuck in a bit of a rut that had worked for him before. It just means I am now rushing to get things covered and finding more and more gaps that he should have spotted and worked on (rather than giving her sheets of work that she could already do aaaaaaaghh).

We will get there - did a VR paper this morning that is meant to be of an average standard (or so I am told) for Essex and she got 63/90 (could have got more if she had spotted similar and not done opposite for 5 questions!). She did those in 50 mins, had to guess some due to time but I think given the real thing has 80 questions she might have got 63/80 if I can get her to do her best questions first. Just trying to hammer some technique into her now about moving on if questions are taking too long and doing her best ones first

In your experience with your dc, did you work on getting code speeds up and make sure your dc did them in the exam? I seem to remember comments from you about codes in papers. I am torn as she can get them right but takes too long on them - should I just get her to do them last and probably not get to them or get her to do them after her best areas in the test and start trying to find tricks to speed her up?

I need to realise that she has worked so hard and if she does not get into CCHS or WHSG then it is just not right for her.......... maybe a large gin and tonic would convince me........ maybe not at 1pm though

[talea51]

Oh please can I get a cyber hug too! I am a total wreck about this exam, having the weirdest nightmares so can't sleep and freaking out when dd does horribly on a practice paper and when she does well I am assailed with doubts about how difficult that paper really was!

Thankfully dd has her nose to the grindstone, she is calm and focussed. I just hope she stays that way! How I am going to get through the next few weeks I have no idea.

Araucanagirl, make mine a double G&T please!

Dd hasn't had any tutoring this holiday yet simply because we were away the week that her tutor was available and when we are available, her tutor isn't. She will go back to the tutor next week so I am hoping that will help.

I think I need industrial strength valium....

[ahap]

Group hug... group hug.... for all you DCs & parents of 2013 sitters.

[mikedellfarm]

I'm in on the hug.

What a pickle we are all in ! Not only did I have to colour my hair but my eyebrows have started going grey and needed a massive dose of tint.

My DS has got VR and Maths .. well we now have a term known as DUMB ASS.. as when we go over each paper there is always a couple of "DA" answers. Often linked to not realising at times that questions might be simple... oh no, lets over complicate matters !

English we're stuffed. My husband is in the States and my two DS's just gave me a gift, they hand wrapped it and my DS wrote "To our beatiful mum"... I'm hitting the wine !

Hang in there everyone, we're nearly there.

[bravado]

Thanks Bravado, good to hear the feelings are normal

Oh yes, very normal lol! My best advice, is to go with whatever you're feeling at the moment, accept it as temporary and you won't always feel this way

It just means I am now rushing to get things covered and finding more and more gaps that he should have spotted and worked on (rather than giving her sheets of work that she could already do aaaaaaaghh).

I felt the same and wondered if I'd ever get through the overwhelming panic of feeling that I was only just keeping my head above water. I truly used to wake up in a cold sweat, worrying about topics that may come up, that we possibly hadn't covered in enough depth

We will get there - did a VR paper this morning that is meant to be of an average standard (or so I am told) for Essex and she got 63/90 (could have got more if she had spotted similar and not done opposite for 5 questions!). She did those in 50 mins, had to guess some due to time but I think given the real thing has 80 questions she might have got 63/80 if I can get her to do her best questions first. Just trying to hammer some technique into her now about moving on if questions are taking too long and doing her best ones first

You will get there and so will she Practice, practice, practice, that's the key now. Chat to her about some "what if" scenarios, then you can find out if she's taken on board the tips you've given to her about exam technique.

In your experience with your dc, did you work on getting code speeds up and make sure your dc did them in the exam? I seem to remember comments from you about codes in papers. I am torn as she can get them right but takes too long on them - should I just get her to do them last and probably not get to them or get her to do them after her best areas in the test and start trying to find tricks to speed her up?

Oh golly, it's a difficult one and a huge dilemma. I think that more practice can be the key to identifying what aspects of technique she needs a bit of help with - for example, is it exam/speed technique or is there another way for her to tackle/solve the codes? Have you looked at the tips and tricks in the VR section? Have you sat down with her to watch how she processes those codes? Doing that can often really help?
Some people do advocate leaving the difficult or "time-munching" questions until last, whilst other say process the paper as it comes. It's all down to how she looks at it, in her own head.

Have you tried papers, or shorter tests where she's left the codes until last? If you did, how did it go? Did she perform better, did she feel more comfortable with this strategy? With some children there's the danger that they may forget to go back, or may get confused where they are - some, however, cope well with this approach and happily note the missed question numbers and go back.

Is it a lack of confidence on her part, that causes her to take a long time, or does her exam timing and decision-making skills need some tweaking?

I can't say that this approach will work for everyone but DD2 found one particular type more challenging: we kept practising and practising, breaking it down etc. We trained her to be constantly and acutely aware of the clock and to leave a question if it was taking too long (my tips for dealing with this are in the locked thread ). However, we all discussed whether she felt leaving out a chunk/section that she found challenging, to the end, would work for her and she felt it wouldn't - she said it would have made her panic/more anxious to do that. Everyone's different and you still have some time to tweak and investigate.

I need to realise that she has worked so hard and if she does not get into CCHS or WHSG then it is just not right for her.......... maybe a large gin and tonic would convince me........ maybe not at 1pm though

Yes, never forget that "plus" factor in the 11+ - it means that no matter what happens, something amazing has been added to their lives: confidence, enhanced life skills coupled with the ability to take on a challenge and come through the other end with more Maths and English knowledge than they had before No-one can ever take that away from them and for a 10 year old, that's a pretty amazing feat!

As for G&T at 1pm, well, my Aunt used to say, "If the sun's over the yardarm, it's fine!" - to be honest, the sun's always over the yardarm somewhere in the world I found "Rescue Remedy" to be a lifesaver.

[bravado]

I'm in on the hug.

English we're stuffed. My husband is in the States and my two DS's just gave me a gift, they hand wrapped it and my DS wrote "To our beatiful mum"... I'm hitting the wine !

Hang in there everyone, we're nearly there.

You made me laugh! Yesterday, DD2 decided to unexpectedly stay at her grandmother's and sent me off with a list of things to bring back. Being the well-organised, super-helpful girl that she is, not only did she write down what she needed, but wrote where I could find each object. There were some mistakes in her list as I know she'd written it in a huge hurry - I telephoned her and said, with a huge dose of tongue-in-cheek, that I couldn't bring a few of the things as I didn't know what they were: ie " Black Beaty", pjamas, deoderant" I know she can spell those words

[cetaylormade]

Yes please to the cyber hug My dd is doing her best to make me age prematurely She is completely reluctant to do the work - to the point of literally throwing herself on the floor in a fit of tears because she didn't 'feel like' doing a test at that moment Obviously left it and then an hour later came bounding in said she was ready now and aced it - don't think she'll be able to do that in the real thing somehow?!!!!!!!

As for the work - her tutor went on holiday for 4 weeks during the summer term and doesn't do tutoring in the hols so down to me and yes feeling very stressed!!!!