The week before the test

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RedPanda
Posts: 283
Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2015 10:56 am

The week before the test

Post by RedPanda »

It has been a long 12 months of training. 1 or 2 hours a week which have now ramped up to 4 or 5 in this final month. DD has worked hard and should be in good shape for the test at the end of the month. Given she doesn't need to cram, I have suggested she takes the final week off and gets some rest. I think she deserves it. What will be, will be.

I'd appreciate any advice and suggestions for the final week. Activities, brain food, you name it.

Good luck to all.
JRM
Posts: 301
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2012 7:32 pm

Re: The week before the test

Post by JRM »

The annoying thing is that they are back to school so not enough time to rest and chill. I think I'm going to get DD to look at one past paper mid week just to keep her brain ticking over 'in that way'. I think getting plenty of sleep is the main thing to focus on - or maybe it is just in or household that that is a challenge.
The more that you read, the more things you will know.
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kenyancowgirl
Posts: 6738
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:59 pm

Re: The week before the test

Post by kenyancowgirl »

Load up on Vitamin C - my boys aren't doing the 11+ as they are already in GS but they have been on Vit C tablets for the last week, anyway, as there is always a plethora of coughs, colds and sneezes at the beginning of a new school year!
Yamin151
Posts: 2405
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 8:30 am

Re: The week before the test

Post by Yamin151 »

Do absolutely noting towards the test for the last week or two. It worked for us x 2.

Also, try to get reasonable nights and good nutrtion but try not to worry too much. When the chips (scuse pun!) are down, we all 'pull it out of the bag' based on adrenalin on these occasions, its really not an issue if your dc doesn't sleep well in the lead up etc. Don't stress it, they will be fine in the test, then they will collapse and be vile afterwards!!

Relax, you have done all you can

Good luck
guest201
Posts: 484
Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2009 4:04 pm

Re: The week before the test

Post by guest201 »

Brilliant advice from Yamin. I would add, as a parent don't get stressed, or if you are already stressed hide it from DC, if they see you are worried about it they will get more worried. Through the eyes of a ten year old child anything that worries their parents must be pretty serious, try not to talk about it. I know some of us (and I include myself in this category :oops:) can become a bit obsessed with the whole process, don't let them see that, use this forum as an outlet for your worry!!!!
RedPanda
Posts: 283
Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2015 10:56 am

Re: The week before the test

Post by RedPanda »

Thanks all. Sound advice.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: The week before the test

Post by mystery »

Just do whatever is least stressful for your child - which might be lots of work, a bit of work or no work at all, a great diet or stacking up on what you consider not to be the best food --- after all, even if adults are feeling a bit nervous they tend to go for the less worthy foods ....... any food is better than not enough calories to feel good at this stage .

And yes, aim for lots of sleep (in a secret way - as otherwise they might worry if they can't get to sleep) but don't worry if it doesn't happen. My child suddenly started to worry about the test big time after her first day back at school and cried in bed about it every night and lost sleep as a result.

Unusually, she never had really worried about a test or the elevenplus before this. I finally got to the bottom of it - I'd always said it didn't matter how she did on the day - that it as was the effort that counted far more than the result and that would pay off in the longer term. After seeing other worried children back at school she then started to interpret this as meaning that some children panic on the day and can't answer the questions properly so she started panicing about panicing on the day ....... I can't remember how I got out of that one but she calmed down a bit the day before the test, came out on the day saying it was fun and easy ( my heart sank at this but again had to hide it other than saying not to say this in front of other children who might be feeling in a sweat about it) and got a superselective score.

So just go with the flow in your family and try to have a weekend which is relaxed and absorbing for everyone. Life gets in the way despite your best efforts but, even if your plans go wrong, your child's inner resources will most likely enable them to pull it out of the bag on the day - adrenaline etc as others have said.

Good luck.
Bob1892
Posts: 1186
Joined: Sat Sep 14, 2013 10:14 am

Re: The week before the test

Post by Bob1892 »

I've got to the point of thinking what will be will be...
There's probably not a lot one can do with their dc at this very late stage except make things more stressful than they might already be.
So we've decided to lay off the work now and take things easy. 'No talk of the test is best'!
We did this with our dd three years ago at this stage and it paid dividends.
loobylou
Posts: 2032
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2014 5:04 pm

Re: The week before the test

Post by loobylou »

I concur with everyone else. Here we had not too much discussion, lots of "I know you'll be fine and the right school is the one you get into", no work once school started, as much chilling as possible (for her this meant reading). The other thing I did was that I bought her presents and wrapped them and gave her one after each exam. I'm not talking big presents (for example one was a cool 99p pencil case, another was a "voucher" to a swimming pool with slides that she'd wanted to go to for ages as a family). She had 5 exams so had 5 things to open each time when we got back to the car. It worked really well to convince her that actually we did value her for her own sake and we respected her effort, regardless of the result. (If you subscribe to the Love Languages theory, hers are gifts and quality time so this was effective for her).
RedPanda
Posts: 283
Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2015 10:56 am

Re: The week before the test

Post by RedPanda »

Thanks again. Great ideas here.
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