11+ preparation

[belgina]

We thinking about starting to prepare our DS for the 11+ exam. (We live in one of the few counties that still has a grammar school system) DH wants some mock exam papers with similar questions as the 11+ exam, but aimed at younger children to try and get ds used to the exam format. We were wondering if they exist and if so where to find them. Thanks

ring up the school and ask them

How old is he ? Bonds do assessment papers from roughly aged 7 - check out WH Smiths and Waterstones

I've bought papers from Waterstones for DS to practise non verbal and verbal reasoning and have also downloaded old papers from the school website.

but not all bonds oens are right
ring the school

True but she'll look slightly cuckoo if she rings up for past papers and the child is only 6 !

You need advice specific to your area Try this site

My ds is 8 at the moment. We want something that's more at his level, because if we give him actual past papers now (which we do have) he'll struggle and lose self confidence IYKWIM.

Thanks for the tips re bonds.
Oh and Lemonmeringue thanks for that link. This will prove very helpful I think. We didn't realise that the 11+ was different in every are. We're new to the whole thing, having just moved to where we live now from somewhere were there were no grammar schools at all.

dont do it.
8 is way too young
much better to start reading more books together expanind vocab
our area has an essay section too for borderlines

10 is the right age
not 8
he will lose the will to live

i speak from eperience

Agree with SuSylvester!

Agree as well with suSylvester and bellissima.
8 is ridiculously young.

But if DS1 had started preparation at 10 he'd have had less than a term till the grammar school exam. Year 5 is the right time for an exam in the first term of Year 6, isn't it?

Another one agreeing with SuSylvester.

If you must do something, get him into word puzzles and sudokos.

We did some familiarisation with DD in the summer hols between yr5 and 6. (Her friend had some tutoring at this time.)

We went to the grammar school open day during summer term yr5 and they explained exactly what form the test was - I think they gave some sample papers.

Also, for many kids you can't really tell whether they are likely to pass 11+/thrive in a GS until they are yr5.

Grimmathenome, that's very interesting. As someone with a DS in Yr1 and all the hot contests even now between which set someone's child is in or not in, it makes the mums, me included, incredibly anxious. If the kid is in all the top sets in year 1 won't they still be there in year 5? Why can't you tell GS potential before year 5?

Apols for slightly hijacking thread.

squashpie - well, maybe its just me who couldn't tell . It seemed to me that some of the kids who seemed 'advanced' at the start of KS2 plateaued, while a late developer could surge ahead. 'Hot contests' in Yr1 can look quite silly in retrospect when the child who was then struggling to read at all outstrips the one reading Harry Potter.

But anyway... the 11+ exams are supposed to be of the sort you can't pass by cramming. Yes, familiarization is essential, and there are certain tricks which you (or a tutor) might be able to point out to your child. But doing these tests for years ahead of time really shouldn't be necessary. Much better learn and do real stuff when they are 8 and 9.

Honestly too early to start. He'll be bored and switched off the whole deal by the time of the test if you start now.

Read to him - vocabulary is important, and get him a brain trainer thing for his Nintendo DS. Brilliant for getting speed up - and it's speed that most of them lack. But don't do actual proper practice til year 5.

Oh, and work on tables. Up to 15 times if you can. Makes a huge difference, and useful whatever school he goes to!

My ds(8) and dd (5) do the bond no nonsence books for their ages at home. I am not looking at pushing towards 11+ but do know it will def help them long term

We have just moved and the new school, despite it's fab Ofsted report and great open day visit is not as we hoped ds is starting to show signs of lack of interest and these really have brought his spring back

Of course if your kids find these books fun at an earlier age then by all means use them at their own pace. But zero pressure to do them till near the time.

Seeker is right about getting times tables (multiplication and division as apt for age) ingrained. Makes general maths work less onerous.

Sorry, was away at work today. All this is very interesting. It's DH who wants to do all that work. Personally I prefer a gentler approach, because I also think that putting pressure on now will lead to the dcs not being interested in school when they're older.
Ds does lots of reading already. He's turning into me: a bookworm , but being bilingual his English vocab is currently not at the same standard as his peers IMO. So looks like we'll have to work on this with him.
We're already doing the times tables and ds knows most of them, but "only" up to 12.
Thanks again for all the info.

My neice has English as a second language and she did find the verbal reasoning part of the 11+ hard. But she only came to this country in year 5, and had been educated entirely in her first language til then. She passed though, and yoru ds has a couple of years head start on her!