Secondary School Entrance Exam prep

[icnw]

I have gone through 11+ and independent school prep with my DS and DD. I feel I have learned a lot about the process and so have many others. Why not share this. The commonest pitfall is to leave preparation too late which just increases the stress. Hence staring this thread in the primary school section. My first suggestion is to look at as many as possible local secondary schools no later than the beginning of year 5, a year earlier would be better because you might want to consider to move house.
Sorry, I have to go but will continue later. Hope many of you will contribute.

[allag]

very early in my case (just starting primary) but would love to hear more. am left so traumatised by the 4+ admissions that am determined to start early this time and would like to know what to expect!

[Idratherbemuckingout]

I am in the course of preparation for my DS. We began two years ago, when he was in Year 3, and now he is in Year 5.
We don't hammer it, just reinforce everything that he has any doubts about. The joy of it is that you can take time to go over subjects brushed over in school and really make sure your child actually knows and understands it. You can also take it a tiny bit further.
I would say it is better to over prepare than under. If you need your child to be a good level 4, make sure he is capable of a level 5. If he should be a level 5, cover subjects in level 6. That way he will feel much more confident and able to work easily at a level just below the one he is actually capable of.
To pass, you need to be better than you need to be, if you see what I mean.
You can download past papers on the net, buy Bond Books and work through them, maybe one a week if you start early enough.
You can get worksheets for free off countless good websites.
You can join forums with other parents trying to get their kids into the same school as you.
Definitely start good and early.