7+, How do you know if a child is ready?

[SofaQueen]

DS1 is in Year 1 and I still am not sure whether or not to put my son's name forward for 7+. I have not even sent out the registration forms, and don't plan on it until September, however (apparently) I need to be making up my mind soon, as the forms need to be turned in in 2 semesters.

I always thought it would be a clear cut yes/no he is ready, but DS1's case is not so easy to call. Ability wise, I do think he is ready. His reading level is currently that of an 11 year old (according to his teacher), and he is going through the Harry Potter books on his own for school with good comprehension. The verbal/non-verbal reasoning questions are a fun game for him, and he has no difficulty with them. He is less advanced in Math than English, but still in the top set.

HOWEVER, the hesitation is due to his lack of concentration and daydreaming in class. He will not finish very easy tasks because he is too busy staring at the ceiling lost in his own world. 1-on-1, he is very efficient, but on tasks where he has to work alone (eg, math workbooks), he is very slow because he is not focusing on finishing the task due to being easily distracted and daydreaming. According to his teacher, he is seriously underachieving in class due to this lack of concentration.

I am happy to wait until 8+, but I am loath to do so because the school which I think is suited best to DS1 is one which promotes individual thought and going on intellectual tangents. This is a setting where learning isn't linear, and where DS1 will thrive. I fear I would be doing DS1 a disservice in keeping him back a year when all the other boys working in his level (or where he should be) will have left. I am afraid that his "boredom" in the classroom will get worse, and he will get intellectually turned off.

The school is hesitant to push him forward as a candidate due to his lack of concentration at school. He can concentrate (will spend hours making extremely complex models), but just doesn't want to do it at school. It is a source of frustration for his teacher and us, and I am not sure what to do. However, the question is whether I should encourage the 7+ for him or not. What would you do/suggest?

I would see whether you can set him a test paper and how well he is able to focus on doing that. If he can sustain his concentration for the required length of time then by all means put him forward. If not then I would wait a year and see whether you can work on increasing his attentiveness.

It sounds as though he gets bored and daydreams when faced with easy tasks so a challenging exam paper may be able to hold his attention for longer.

There are lots of things you can do to help him focus. An easy one is to set him mini-challenges such as 'how quickly can you do these questions?' or 'how many questions can you do in 10 minutes?' and gradually increase the amount of time he needs to remain focused for.

I do have a maths paper which his teacher gave me, but he hasn't covered some of the material (multiplication and division principally) so haven't given it. I was going to wait until summer to try, but I will do it as it will definitely tel me if he is ready.

One of the suggestions I was given was to prod his competitive side (if it exists!) by telling him he will be left behind whilst some of his classmates will be going on to other schools. I didn't like this suggestion (seemed really harsh and mean!), but I do think that if DS1 was more "competitive", it might drive him. I know that DS1 has some competitiveness in him, it just isn't a major part of his persona. Should I stress this to fire him up?

I personally wouldn't stress the competition with other children because that could really damage his self esteem if he doesn't get in and actually make feel like he's been 'left behind' which probably wouldn't have occurred if it hadn't been mentioned. Competitiveness with himself, on the other hand, is a good thing. 'You did 10 questions in 5 minutes yesterday, can you manage 11 today?' sort of thing rather than 'Jack can do 11 questions, can you?'.

Just had an idea. Could you create your own maths paper or use Bond Assessment papers for a similar level so you can save the actual paper for when he has done the multiplication and division parts?

Great idea! My only concern is that doing it alone at home might be OK, but the issue would be for him to do it in a setting where other people are.

Hang on, I have an idea - I think I will make a mock paper and have him do it in a Starbucks. Thanks for the suggestion!

I must be missing something, what is a 7+ ?
Is this an English thing, a test presumably?
We don't have anything like this in Scotland as far as I am aware,

7+ is an examination given in Year 2 for entrance into some Prep Schools. Normally comprises a 40 minute maths paper, 40 minute english paper, a writing segment, a verbal/non-verbal reasoning section, and a surprise section.

Unfortunately, barbaric though it is, it is difficult to escape in the London private school sector.

And then you can sit and have a nice latte and read! Win

I hardly ever post, but DS1 just went through the 7+ (we're from outside the UK so the system took a bit of getting used to). We kept it really low key, didn't tutor except to cover material we knew would be tested but wasn't covered at his school yet and said it didn't matter if he stayed at his current school or not. He was totally unfazed by the whole thing. I think you should have a go, lots of schools like the one you describe can see and recognize potential rather than concentration. No harm in trying as long as you don't make it a hugely important deal.

definitely give it a go. Agree with frakkinaround, his lack of concentration may be due to him getting bored with easy tasks. Competing against the clock in timed exams will probably get him fired up. When he starts seeing how his scores are improving, he will want to continue to improve. Doing timed exams will eventually become second nature to him, so he will perform as well in them, whether he does them at home, at school, or in an examination room with other candidates.

Random thought but does your son play chess? There are all sorts of online chess games and electronic chess boards that allow a real opponent to play against the computer and many of them have a timer function i.e. speed chess. Aside from requiring concentration and problem solving it has the advantage of requiring the more simple moves to be completed early on before the game gets interesting... it might be worth a try?

Thank you for the replies. My gut feeling is to let him have a go (in a non-pressured sort of way). It was just the school's reluctance which really made me think that I shouldn't.

DS1 does love to play chess, and I have thought about on-line chess/computer chess, but wasn't sure which was a good one. There seem to be so many, and I'm not certain which one is better than others as I am not a chess player. Any suggestions?

Whereabouts in London are you? In Greenwich there's a fantastic games shop called Compendia and I think they sell chess computers - they offer brilliant advice. I'll ask my DH about online chess as that's his domain.

Having to finish very easy tasks before moving on to something you can 'get your teeth into' must be quite demotivating, especially if you are doing it every day of the school week. A more experienced teacher would set work at the appropriate level from the outset. Some maths workbooks are very dull colourful and are possibly off putting to your son if he is happy with tiny text and black and white.

You do need to explain to him that he needs to whizz through the easy stuff if he wants to move on to something more difficult. Either that or speak to his teacher and try to negotiate another way of doing things that will suit him.

For example, could he be given all the maths work that he might be expected to complete in a session, including extension work, and be allowed to do it in whatever order he wishes. This approach is more likely to result in easy work being done quickly towards the end of a session, leaving less time for daydreaming.

Another approach might be for the teacher to give him a tight time limit for the less challenging work, thus leaving less time for daydreaming. I am surprised at how many simple maths problems DD can get through in 3 minutes.

It seems to me that your son does not have a lack of concentration. It is under stimulation that is leading to his underachievement. I have been through this with my DD when she was in a class of 10 .

I think that tighter time limits (currently there really aren't any) is key. I gave DS1 a test (more for my benefit) of having to do one of the Bonds Math test in 15 minutes (they say to allocate 25 minutes) with the bribe that if he finished in the time limit he would be allowed one sweet. He finished it in 7 minutes with only 1 wrong (a multiplication question and he doesn't know multiplication). I will tell his teacher of the results of my experiment, and give her a timer to put on his desk - unfortunately, she cannot implement the sweet bribe.

I'm on the other side of London from Greenwich, but I will give Compendia a call to see what they suggest (thank you for the info!).

great news. You'll need to stock the house up with sweets, sounds like he is on his way

SofaQueen, although the teacher may not be able to implement the sweet bribe she may be able to give him a raffle ticket/something that he ca bring home and exchange for a sweet...?

Go for it. Nothing to lose (as long as you are relaxed about it) and everything to gain. If they are ready, it takes very little to cover the material required to sit the 7+ papers. Just regular homework to keep getting through the year 2 syllabus in time for the assessments. My DS has just done it and I am really glad he is going on somewhere where he will be challenged and stimulated. That and the fact his schooling is now decided until he leaves at 18!