Tutor or not for age 10?

[TennisFan]

My DS is age 10 and in P6 here in NI. Next year he may have to do some sort of test for entrance to G/School. It used to be 11+ but they havent decided on a replacement.
He is in top set for English & Maths, fairly sporty and taking part in the school play - so a good all rounder.
I have just found out via him that loads of his class mates have home tutors already!

I couldn't believe it until a parent confirmed that after Christmas in this penultimate year all or most will get tutors in order to try and guarantee a pass of the 11+ replacement test.

We couldnt really afford a tutor, as I have heard they are £20-£30/hour/week.

Are there any books or anything we could do at home together?

Any advice gratefully received.
Thanks

[claig]

you don't need to hire a tutor. I am tutoring my DS myself. Look at the great site 11plus.co.uk there are lots of free practice papers on there to download. Also buy the NFER 11+ sample papers in WH Smiths. I think that the "Bond How To Do 11+ ..." books are very useful. You can get those in Smiths as well.

[Hullygully]

What Claig said.

[rainbowinthesky]

I would tutor personally.

[Spidermama]

My dd did lots of practise with the books. They were great. I also got her a tutor just for about four weeks which helped her confidence in maths.

She sailed through the 11+ but couldn't go to the school in question as they were unwilling/unable to give us any financial help.

[releasethehounds]

What claig said, but I would recommend ordering the 11+ papers from Amazon - much cheaper!

Have been through the 11+ with DD1 and I think it's a necessity to do several papers as the test is like no other and they need to get used to it. I didn't hire a tutor though - just did it myself with her.

[claig]

I think that you will be able to help with most of the topics yourself. There will probably be some questions that you can't answer. Some of the maths and non-verbal reasoning questions are tough. But the 11plus.co.uk site has a forum, where you can ask for help, and lots of bright kids and parents are only too pleased to help out. If after all of that there are still some areas that you need help with, then you could possibly have a few top-up lessons near the end. The problem with private tutors is making sure that you choose a good one, you can't just go by what's on the tin. Personally, I would sit in on the first lesson, and have some specific questions I would want answered. If they were unable to explain them well, then I would drop them.

[TennisFan]

Thanks so much for the answers, will the test papers and books cover all 11+ style exams?
In the past the test was ordinary 11+; but this year I think they used something called AQE, which I don't know anything about.

DS will be fine with maths, it would be english type questions i would think that he will have more problems with.

thanks, I am off now to the sites you have recommended.

[claig]

Don't know much about the NI system, but I had a look at the AQE website, which includes sample papers.
www.aqe.org.uk/index.html
It does look different to the NFER GL type 11+.

The AQE test just covers English and maths. There is no non-verbal reasoning and no verbal reasoning. The English looks like it is comprehension based, with no need for composition. I think it is worth getting the NFER/GL English sample papers for the comprehension stuff. I think it is also worth getting "Bond How to do 11+ English" for the comprehension section.

The maths looks very similar to NFER/GL 11+ maths. The AQE stuff does include some different topics such as Venn diagrams, and it looks like the algebra is slightly harder. I would get the NFER/GL maths papers and "Bond How to do 11+ Maths". Even though he is good at maths, I would still make use of some of these materials, rather than leave it up to chance.

The advantage of the AQE is that it is all based on the syllabus that they study at school, whereas over here things like verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and some of the maths are not covered in state schools. Only the prep schools cover these aspects.

Good luck!!!

[friendly]

I'm a looking into finding a tutor for my dd who really struggles with maths. She's 10. I have tried and failed to tutor her myself. I think some kids can be taught and helped by their parents and some just can't. DD was the latter!

[Carolinemaths]

I agree with the other posters that working through workbooks is a great way to support your child's learning. Try to do a little bit every day rather than one long hour long session. Also, make sure you or your son mark the work and he does his corrections, he'll learn more from doing that, than from the ones he gets right.

To "friendly" I've published a free ebook called Yes! You Can Be Your Child's Maths Tutor! I wrote it from my experience of tutoring my (very stubborn at times) 11 year old daughter.