Can I support DS through the 11+ without tutoring?

[GoFishFingers]

Buckinghamshire. No good non-grammars nearby.

DS is 8, coming to the end of Year 3. He is fairly bright, I am academically confident and we have a good relationship/he is willing to listen to me etc.

I just HATE the grammar system and feel terrible about the idea of tutoring. I know it doesn't make sense. DH feels strongly that we need to let DS go to grammar and having looked at some local non-grammars I have to agree but I hate it. I would feel better if he was just studying with me instead.

For a while now I've been doing half an hour a week of maths tuition with him - he is ahead in maths and finding the class work boring so we do a bit at home to keep him interested. A while ago I bought a book ' CGP GL assessments 10 minute test for Maths ' it's for ages 9-10 and i find it interesting - DS has no problem with the majority of the question, say 8 out of 10 though I still discuss his answers with him, talk about ways to double check, ways to work faster and sometimes extend the question to check his understanding. Then 2 times out of 10 he has just never covered that topic yet and sometimes I introduce it and sometimes we just skip it - depends on what else is going on.

Basically I feel it works really well and I'm thinking to just buy similar books for English, VR and NVR and tutor him myself at home.

Anyone done this? Am I fooling myself that this will work? We can afford a tutor so tell me straight...

I think what you are doing is fine. It's been a while since I lived in bucks though, are the non grammars really that bad where you are? When I lived in Bucks (Aylesbury) the secondary moderns there were all good. I don't know much about the secondary moderns elsewhere in Bucks though.

The early comprehensives were very good, before most of 'our' time. I know people who did really well at comps, actually quite outstanding. Then they started to go downhill.

It's wrong, of course it is, and we must work towards change. However we can't sacrifice our children's education because of a principle. Also remember that grammar schools are state schools and the pupils come from all backgrounds.

Both me and my husband were grammar pupils. We came from ordinary backgrounds. The only problems we had resulted from our parents! Because we did quite well aged 11 and went to good schools, they assumed we were brilliant :-)! We were not brilliant, at the grammar we were average. I know husband's dad went mad at him if ever he failed an exam. Told him he was 'lazy', I was also told that: "Maggie needs to work harder". We did well enough in the end but nothing outstanding.

My children went to grammar schools and I had no great expectations of them but they achieved quite well.