Yr 6 student struggle with basic maths

[Spacedhazed]

Asked DD to convert 100 hours into days and hours and she X 100 hours by 24.

Asked her to convert 32 days into weeks and days and she did 32 x 7.

Is this normal?

DD is now in year 6 and goes to a decent primary school. The school haven't raised any concerns and she is working to the expected standard, across all her subjects.

She has been preparing for the 11+ for the past 1.5 years, with a experienced tutor. I am not expecting her to pass but we have continued as she doesn't want to be the odd one out with her friends, who are all taking the exam.

The tutor has recently suggested DD may have some learning disability: she will misstate simple words, muddle up sentences, read a text and not really understand anything.

The tutors statement came as a shock, and I don't know what to do now.

I am abit over the place, I feel I've failed my daughter because I wasn't providing her the type of supports she needed, and preparing for the 11+ has been a massive waste of time and money. I could have gotten her the help she needed.

Are the type of maths errors she is making indicative of something? There is something missing for her basic maths understanding. What should I do next? Ho can I help her?

I am trying to arrange a meeting with the SEN lead at school.

They don't seem like huge Maths errors to me?? Those questions can sometimes be confusing with how to word the equation. But if she is struggling with that, then it is unlikely she will pass the 11+. Is it likely her friends will get in?

You haven't failed your daughter and there is plenty of time to get her the help she needs ready for secondary next year if she does require it. Although I hope she is not going to be hugely disappointed if she does not pass! Spending a lot of money on it when you didn't think it would lead to anything is slightly silly tbh.

She was keen to sit the 11+ because the majority of the class were sitting the exam.

I thought it would help build a solid foundation for her, even if she didn't pass, and considered the money an investment.

If the tutor had raised this issue earlier I would have done things differently. Now, I am viewing it as a waste because she hasn't really learnt anything.

Could she do the calculation when you pointed out her mistake? Lots of children get confused about when to use multiply or divide. The tutor should be used to this and be able to help her learn which operation to use.

Did the tutor not do some type of baseline assessment before accepting your DD? Did her class teacher consider an academically selective secondary appropriate / achievable?

Looking at the questions you've mentioned - on the positive side she did know that there were 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week.
The mistakes she made were common and I think you would find many adults who would do the same thing. It comes from just looking at the numbers and not really thinking about what the question means.
I would see how she in with times tables and non-word questions - students who know their times tables up to 12 x 12 will do better than those that don't and a lot of students struggle with word questions as they have to 1. read the question 2. understand the words 3. imagine the situation that's going on 4. come up with the correct maths question 5. solve the maths.
Sounds to me like your tutor has realised your dd won't pass the11+ and is now trying to make an excuse for why she won't pass so you won't blame them (if they noticed this problem with words it would have been obvious from the first few sessions and they should have pointed it out to you and worked on it with her over their time.

The 11+ process of English and Maths would help build a solid foundation for secondary. The tutor pointed it out but how many hours per week for 1.5 years did you use for their service? Please don’t blame yourself, if anything I will blame her primary school who had your DC for nearly 5 years x 6 hours daily for not teaching your DC or bringing this up for your support. Maybe DC was not taught the concept and embedded with practice? This would be a school issue and her friends maybe have families that gave extra worksheets from year 3 since they may have seen the school teaching not up for 11+.

11+ tutoring should be a solid foundation for maths. Not something that’s different or detracting from the school curriculum. Is this a new tutor? You say she has been being tutored for over a year? And this is the first time they’ve raised concerns?
The example you give is not that basic and the mistake she’s made is common and easily corrected. Something I’d expect to see with my year 6 that’s sort of an average child. Converting time is quite a specific topic that many kids find hard. How is her basic calculation, place value and times tables?
Is she aware that she is very unlikely to pass the 11+? Or is it going to be a demoralising shock?

How was the question phrased. “Convert” is a very specific term that she might not have grasped. If the question was phrased as “how many days and weeks are in 32 days” would she have understood the question better.

I do think you are being shortsighted, and somewhat cruel, by putting her in for the 11 plus knowing she won’t pass and won’t even cope with the questions. Sitting in a room with other children busy filling in their exam papers and turning over pages while she is puzzling over the first few questions is very demoralising. I have invigilated 11+ and seen this happen. The last thing any child needs to feel is inadequate, especially coming into Y6 which is a year of huge pressures. you need to be building up her confidence and self esteem in every way possible, not undermining it by presenting impossible goals.

No, there wasn't a baseline test. Around here the tutors will acccept anyone.

Sounds to me like your tutor has realised your dd won't pass the11+ and is now trying to make an excuse for why she won't pass so you won't blame them (if they noticed this problem with words it would have been obvious from the first few sessions and they should have pointed it out to you and worked on it with her over their time.

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I think so as well, but she does tend to muddle up her words whilst reading. I really tired to gentle push her towards passing the exam. I feel terrible for asking her do something she couldn't do, through no fault of her own. I thought a grammar school would give her more opportunities, and she would have to struggle.

I have asked her if she wants to stop the 11+ and she doesn't because so many of her friends and classmates are doing it.

I should have pulled her out ages ago, you're right.

It is great she wants to do it. The prep would help in secondary school so not wasted. It would be good to know areas of weakness, is it fractions or areas etc. English is it spelling or punctuation etc.