Has anybody successfully tutored for the 11+ completely by themselves(need reassurance)

You might be in the same area as me, op

As your primary school is below par I would be really aware that there might be massive holes in your sons knowledge- both in maths and English...despite ds being in top sets of these at his (below?) average primary school, when he first saw the papers, he didn't have the knowledge to do hardly any of it...

For now get him to read as much as he can - good luck he sounds v motivated...

Be absolutely sure that you are using the right books and past papers for your area, they do vary. Try the regional section of the 11+ forum to be sure.

And try not to make too big a deal out of it. And make sure that you sell the school he will go to if he doesn't pass as hard as you can. There are no guarantees.

Yes he'll be fine if he wants to go. In ds2's case I made it clear to him that I had no expectations of him heading to grammar but if that's what he wanted then I was happy to help him. It WAS like pulling teeth at the time because although he knows what he wants & sort of understands that he needs to work for it, actually surgically removing himself from the computer at times to do a practice paper was painful! He got there though :)

Well I think the clue is in your DS wanting to do the work and wanting to go to a grammar school. I think you may find that, regardless of his attending a poor-performing school, with your help and his motivation he will achieve his goal!!

I think that is a major issue! DS was very keen to go to a grammar school although he didn't exactly show a lot of motivation when doing his practice papers .

I do think that a lot of parents think that if you throw money at a tutor any child can get in. I personally do not think that is always the case.

It sounds as if your DS has all the attributes, with your support, for achieving his grammar school dream so good luck to him. I think your support is key. The role of the school is secondary (so it essentially makes little difference whether it's a really good or really bad one) as most schools are entirely indifferent (if not downright against) to 11+ exams and won't help aspiring pupils anyway. The only thing is to ensure that there are no gaps in his basic Maths/English knowledge which could be his undoing in competitive exams. But that's where your help kicks in!

Good luck and you can certainly do it!

I see that another poster has reiterated what I said about not starting too soon. Really, a bright child should not need more than about six-eight months of practice. They really do reach a peak with their 11+ learning journey and you want to ensure that they reach it at the time of the exams, not the beginning of the Summer hols or earlier!!!

Are you sure it isn't the mock in July? Ds2 had a mock in July, real thing in September.

OP - I just picked up on the fact that your DC is in Year 4. We didn't start home tutoring until this time in Year 5 so chillax :)

As for the friend that has started tutoring now, she will probably find that in 18 months time she will have one bored, unenthusiastic and over cooked DC.

I have done this twice, with DS1 and DS2, both times at their insistence rather than mine (they asked for a tutor and I explained that it wasn't financially or logistically possible but offered to prepare them myself). This is what I did:

I researched the subjects, papers and formats used in the test I was preparing them for. So for example, I knew it was standard format rather than multiple choice, how many questions in how many minutes etc.

I assessed them to find out where their strengths and weaknesses were. DS1 wasn't confident with algebra or averages, but was strong on vocabulary, for example.

We then did one Maths topic / question type each week. Plus a ten minute test or two each week that they did without my help.

Closer to the test, we worked on exam technique, time management etc and worked up to doing full-length papers.

In the month before the test, they did some timed papers in the quiet section of the local library.

Look for a tutor by all means but no need to put things on hold until you find one. Find out if your school provides pass papers. If they do then get your DS started on those.They tend not to ccome with answers so you'll need to do them yourself first else you won't be able to mark your DC's work.

Bond papers come with answers so although they won't be exactly the same as your school's format it is a good introduction to such exams.

Basically, the sooner you start the better.

Yes. It was like pulling teeth at times (ds1's choice to do the exam). Lots of past papers/Bond papers/bit of story writing and discussions about what he could write for various titles.

I got my DS through the 11+ last year-he actually ended up getting the highest score in his year. It can be done, you just need to be consistent, focused and determined!

Most of DS's close friends had tutors at £20 an hour, once a week. None of them passed. In my opinion, they just assumed their child would be ok because they'd hired a tutor, but they (the parents) switched off and weren't really involved themselves.

Bond papers are fine for maths/English but very little use for VR in most areas. Check what your area covers.

Korma - your DC needs to be familiar with the format of the test. Sitting down on the day with no knowledge as to what to expect is not ideal. Your DC also needs to work at speed and not to be fazed by the ticking clock.

It will take a few weeks to familiarize your DC with the format. Thereafter its just practice, practice and practice. All this before July is a tall order but it is achievable.

Korma-Im sure he will be fine. Make sure he can do a timed test and get him familiar with vr/nvr.

I think a lot of the 'tutoring' is more about exam practice and working within a certain time slot than actually 'teaching', especially with things like vr and nvr which some children may not have done before and it helps if they have had some practice at those types of question before.

We found the bond online really really good, we could check dd1 progress so knew which areas she needed to work on.
It was good for her to see where she had made mistakes with some questions and as she could do 10 questions on each subject she could dip in and out if had any spare time during the day but not enough to do a practice test.

Virtually straight away she was getting 100% with literacy (has always been her strongest subject) and by the time she did her exams maths (her weakest) was up to 70-80% which for her was very good as she really doesn't find maths easy.
We did also get a couple of the bond books as extra practice for vr and nvr, started off with ones for much younger children as I wanted her to grasp the basics and find it easy to begin with and she was very quickly up to speed with it.

Most of dd friends had tutoring each weekend and one friend had it every day 9-3 throughout the summer hols which made me think dd wouldn't stand a chance.
Luckily the school also did interviews and group activities/assessments so they had lots to base their choice on.

but if the child is bright enough, why tutor?
if the child is not bright enough, why bother ?

I was tutored to move up a year at private school - I'd never inflict it on a child of mine

thank goodness I live in a non selective county : my children are measured in each subject every year rather than on random subjects on one day.

Talkin - the OP is after advice on home tutoring so let's not turn this into a pushy MC mom who buy GS places thread please.

To start things off we brought a few Bond books but we soon realised that a lot of schools have past papers available to download for free from their own website. Usually each has about 5 years worth available online. 5 years multiplied by 15 schools = a lot of free mock papers :)

We did hire an English tutor for about 10 sessions though. Maths, VR and non VR had right/wrong answers so tutoring our DCs was relatively straightforward but English is more subjective. Hence the tutor.

With regards to other parents hiring professional tutors for a prolonged period, IMO after 6 to 9 months the child will plateau so the 'secret' is to time it such that he peaks in January. A parent that keeps their DCs at it for years isn't doing that child any favours.

I must be very thick.
I thought the 11+ was about innate intelligence in the child
not motivation to tutor from the parent.
silly me