DD yr 2 - would like grammar 11+ best route?

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My DD1 is in a state primary and now we have moved her to another state...close to home. I am now thinking that perhaps it is better to move her at 8+ to independent school which prepares for 11+? We have a tutor coming home to do math and English but I see that she needs an environment at school geared towards 11+? She feels she is not stretched at her school , I spoke to her teacher and they are differentiating the lsssons, but children in her school not aiming for grammar

She's 6, 7 at most do you think she will cope with grammar school if she needs 5 years tutoring to get there? If you want to move her because school aren't stretching her enough that's fine but please don't put the grammar school as the reason right now and certainly don't tell her that!

Just concentrate on reading and essential skills maths, including tables.

Tuition only needed in Y5. This is what I did. Ds2 just passed and will join his brother at a super selective (ie no catchment) grammar school. Read, read and read.

Having just gone through it (with Year 6 children) whilst I can understand the aspiration, and considering your options for her, I think you are massively premature. I also have a year 2 child and the thought of trying to start any kind of additional "work" with her whether it be a tutor or anything else is quite frankly ridiculous (sorry, don't mean to offend). I agree with a previous poster that your child needs to be intelligent, self motivated, capable of independent learning at grammar and if you think she needs tutoring now - 4 years before she takes the exams, then I'm sorry but she is really going to struggle at a grammar school.

In answer to your question about changing schools - its about the school not necessarily whether it is a prep school or not. Don't assume that an independent school will be better. Some of the entrance tests are changing (they have in our area) to be more aligned to the national curriculum (which independents don't have to follow), rather than say Non-Verbal Reasoning - aimed at getting the "bright" children rather than those who have been hot-housed by tutors / preps. So do your research.

I would say read with her. Do word games (Scrabble), get her to make up stories, practice times tables, do fun things together like word searches etc. As I said, having just gone through it, I think the one thing that makes a difference is vocabulary, comprehension skills etc so I agree with the previous poster that the best thing you can do is read, read, read. Develop a love of books, go book shopping or to the library.

sorry did not mean to hot house from Y2. just thinking to choose a good school for Juniors ( 7+ entry) which would help with the preparation for the grammar...WHat is the difference between child preparing for 11+ in prep school and a child who is preparing through the state primary? Thank you!

My DD has just gone through the whole process and got great results in recent 11 plus. We started preparing in Y5 but quite low key as she is very able. Do not make it the be all and end all as otherwise the stress is horrendous and coping with failure or passing with consideration for those who don't is a major life skill that can't thrive with a myopic outlook (not saying that you do OP but I've seen it happen).

DD is currently in an independent and they actively discourage preparing for state grammars so do beware. Those independents that do prepare are often all ability and so may not suit all children, at least that is the case in our area.

Personally (and my experience is different to PettsWood) is that our local prep schools are all about passing for the entrance exams, and not much else. In Year 5, potentially other areas suffer because of the time children spend preparing for the tests. They brought children in during the school holidays and did practice paper after practice paper. The end result perhaps is that children could pass the exam, it didn't necessarily mean that they would have been bright enough to get there without that intensive preparation. Disclaimer - just my personal experience and local perception.

There has been some debate in our area over the last few years about the impact this has has - children struggling once they get there which has led to a change in the entrance exam format as previously mentioned.

Strictly speaking, state schools are not allowed to prepare for the entrance exams in terms of specific prepping, doing practice papers in school time etc, they simply follow the national curriculum, ensure children are good all rounders with the foundation in maths, english etc. Does mean (in our case anyway) that people sometimes use private tutors (or tutor themselves) for say 6 or 8 months to get exam technique etc but arguably it leads to a less pressurised environment - chidren in Year 5 knew they had exams coming up but it wasn't the be all and end all - and means actually the results tend to match the children who are most able, not necessarily those who have just been intensely prepped. In various conversations with senior school open evenings, I've had conversations with teachers at those schools along the lines of 'children from (my DC's state school) tend to do very well here' or words to that effect.

Obviously area to area / school to school (whether independent or not) varies so like I say, this may be an anomaly in my competitivearea.

No personal experience but I don't think state schools prep specifically for the 11+ so if you wanted to do exam familiarisation in the last year you would need to do that outside school. Not all indies prep for 11+ either if they are all through or aiming for 13+. You need to look carefully at the exam in your area and tailor prep to that. In superselective north London lots of the exams are CEM format which means that maths is to national curriculum but vocabulary/comprehension goes well above the NC. Have a look at old threads in the elevenplusforum site. Good luck