11+ 2014 What are people doing over the hols?

[SeagullsAndSand]

Just realised we only have 3 weeks until they go back.

Trying to keep things calm although dc is starting to talk about the exam itself.

Have kept things pretty low key(odd VR paper)wondering if we should up it a gear.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

We have independent school 11+ in early November and have been doing 60 minutes Maths, 30mins English, 10mins verbal reasoning and 30mins Science each week - this roughly what school recommends.

[MinimalistMommi]

I'd step it up!

[Taffeta]

My DS is doing a paper of c.50 minutes x 5 per week.

[alwaysdoinglaundry]

Well I have no personal experience of the 11+ except that people are generally pretty tight lipped, so whatever they tell you they are doing I would mentally double it......you sound quite laid back

[Chewbecca]

Started yesterday with 1hr per week day of Maths and English. Maths is practice papers from a book and English is a mixture of comprehension, creative writing and some exercises. (Reflecting the content of 11+ papers round here, no discrete VR).

He had a break from school work before we went on holiday and during our holiday.

I would never normally have him work in the holidays and am sad he is, however, he sits on 20th September and I was concerned he'd barely have time to recover from his summer slump.

[SlightlyJadedJack]

We've started doing a practice paper a day of between 30-50 mins. I can't teach DS much more now so it's practice time as far as I'm concerned.

I am stressed but trying not to show it.

[MrsMinton]

We are doing nothing. DS has seen an example of the paper and we have talked about what might happen at the exam and that's it.

[SeagullsAndSand]

Ok upped our game.

Went through some Eng he hasn't done in school and a maths paper today.He's really quick on VR so not the priority but will do 2 weighty things a day.

Not sure of the point in anything more than 90mins a day,would you agree?

There is a lot of screen time going on after as a reward.

[RaisinBoys]

90 mins a day? Every day??? Blimey

[SeagullsAndSand]

Um 90 mins max,rest assured not every day.Just not organised enough aside from anything else.

[MinimalistMommi]

I think that's fine OP, there are 24 hours in a day after all. I'd get it done first thing in the morning so it's over and done with and he can relax rest of day.

[aubreye]

DS is taking 11+ a year early. I said that maybe practising two or three papers a week would be fine but he's getting through six practise papers a week at the moment and is having tuition with some boys in the year above. He's really nervous I can tell but he's already bought new pencils, a sharpener and a rubber for the test. We've done everything we can for him and we are confident that he is capable of passing (sounds a bit snotty but he's very bright). He said that if he fails this year he's retaking it next year!! Good luck to everyone else's DC, let's hope all our little bright sparks will pass!

[ohtobeanonymous]

Teaching my child that if she wants something, she needs to be self motivated enough to go for it because I am too lazy to try and force excessive study down her throat confident that self-motivated children learn better in the long run.

Have provided some books, practise papers (never used from her older sister!) and apps and offer friendly reminders that if DD wants to do her best in the exams she will be taking, she needs to be using them ?? strangely, she actually seems to enjoy the mind numbing tasks and wants to do them quite a lot (I.e more than once a week!)

Our school doesn't believe any more than 4-6 practise papers in VR or NVR actually result in improvement, and DD is already achieving the maths and English results that her heavily tutored friends are, so am pretty confident she will end up in the right school for her.

Having wonderful holiday outings and lots of outdoor activities in the fabulous weather and enjoying galleries, museums, baking, sleepovers, time with family, theme parks, movies, reading, drawing, exploring the countryside in parts of the UK we've not previously visited etc..etc...
Nice that she is actually getting on well with her sister ATM so they are enjoying some happy playtime together for a change!

[areyoubeingserviced]

It depends
It can vary from 1 hour a day to. 3 hours a day.
Tbh, dd is very driven and puts pressure on herself .
She said that she was prepared to do five hours a day, but I refused .
I am not nervous , if she passes brilliant , if she doesn't so what .

[SeagullsAndSand]

I wonder if there is truth in the once they hit a good level(80-90s in VR ?)there is little improvement beyond however much you do view.Can really see how that would be so.

First time we've done this though so really don't know.Trying to keep him ticking over and cover any gaps not done in school just incase.

[aubreye]

SeagullsAndSand his older cousins (18 and 19) are helping him with his tests as we are staying with them at the moment and they said that it's nothing like anything they learnt at school. I agree. If you look at the test papers they are doing alphabet sequence type th

[aubreye]

type things and I'm not sure they even do verbal-reasoning at school!

[RaisinBoys]

1-3 hours a day Really?? At 10. I'm hoping that's a wind up areyoubeingserviced but if not I am staggered & thankful that my 10 year old is not "very driven".

As my DH has just commented; "driven? Over a cliff maybe." No wonder we have the unhappiest teens in Europe.

I wonder, if 1-3 hours daily practice of test papers is required ON TOP OF OFTEN YEARS OF TUTORING, ON TOP OF REGULAR SCHOOL, how will these children get on when they actually get to desired school?

Good luck to all your children - hope they achieve what you they desire.

[Taffeta]

What are yours doing RaisinBoys? I see you have commented on what others DC are doing but not told us about yours.

[antimatter]

I wonder if there is truth in the once they hit a good level(80-90s in VR ?)there is little improvement beyond however much you do view.Can really see how that would be so.

improvement can be done in timing and going over the gaps but for obvious reasons is slower

I remember my DD scored 80% in June in her mocks and over next 4 months we definitely took her into mid 90's. So you can say that there was 3-4% improvement a month. I remember it wasn't linear but as time went by she was more and more consistent in scoring near 100% most of the time, but always over 90% for the last month or so.

[MrsMinton]

Raisinboys my DS hasn't had any tutoring and isn't doing any practice. He is sitting the exam because he wants to, not because we want him to go there. If he gets a place he will be pleased. I will be happy if he enjoys his school as much as his primary. Not every child is going to try because of what a parent wants.

[antimatter]

MrsMinton - no disrespect but has your son seen format of exams and how the papers look like?

[MrsMinton]

Yes he has antimatter (no offence taken don't worry) he has seen the format of the test to understand the symbols/ layout and we did one of each type of practice paper to see what we needed to practice. He scored highly on all (91% for non verbal reasoning which he had never done before) We've discussed what to expect when he goes.

[antimatter]

we found my kids were scoring highest on nvr - sadly local grammars didn't include those only Tiffins in Kingston

IMHO teaching how to use watch during exam and timing questions helped them to stay calm during exams because they weren't pressurizing themselves

[MrsMinton]

The paper here is four elements, two tests, and covers a range of schools. We will get his score and the threshold for admittance last year and can then make a decision to try for a place. I don't know if that's how it works everywhere?