Entrance exams Good Luck

[DivaMum23]

Just want to say Good Luck to everyones DD/DS taking entrance exam in 2012
My DS will be sitting his entrance exam first week in January.

Same day under the same conditions. Just the joy of going to school on a Saturday!

We have one third week in Jan and another the following Saturday.... We are so not ready, and like you said, the amount of time arguing, I just can't take it, but I guess its my job.....

Four hours a day minimum up until Christmas. VR, NVR, English essays, comprehensions and old maths papers.
Now in the slow runup, we are doing every other day just to keep his hand in, so he hasn't had too long a break as these are BAD.
So currently doing a VR (last in the book - hooray!) and about to do a Maths paper today.
Day off tomorrow and I think on Monday we might have our last day and do some NVR and English.
Mine is best at the VR, English Essay and Maths, how about yours?

four hours

Even my Angel Child DS1 didn't manage that. I have more hope of growning an extra head than I do of getting DS2 to do anywhere near that amount :o

lol DoesntChristmasDragOn. I told dd that other children were having to do 4 hours and she should count herself lucky ! Still had a tantrum over doing a comprehension this afternoon English seems to be more variable. Roll on 2 weeks' time !

We have managed 3 of the Bond 10 minute tests over the course of the last 3 days. Oh and a comprehension though that was pretty disasterous. I'm fairly sure that in part this process is to ensure that only vaguely compliant children get through.

Mine is not compliant at all, just I am determined he will do them. I apply dog and horse firmness to children. ie you should not let them get away with anything small, then they will do as they are told over big things. I am just firm, kind, but determined. Of course I get the tantrums, sometimes, but I just ignore them.
I've seen too many spoiled horses and dogs to let that happen to a child of mine.

Firm, kind and determined and also shocking ignorant. Did you mean to sound so rude and judgemental?

I used to think like you until I had DS2.

shockingly ignorant

You comments have really pissed me off.

What schools are these - London ones? Genuine question: are the 11+ entrance tests for these schools significantly harder than those for the London grammars? I'm shocked by four hours, even a bit at two. But four? These exams sound like tyranny - are they worth it?

I like the sound of the DC who tries to find the shortest word and sentence :) Smart boy.

Yellowstone, the ones I recognise here are for selective independents within M25! tbh I do think there is such a thing as over practising and those who have been schooled will be self evident to those marking. dd has been doing these sort of exams annually/twice a year at school since Year 3 so is used to working to time , similar format and conditions. However many schools (especially state) won't have hence the 4 hours per day and/or tutoring. It is a fine line between complacency and pushing too hard which can be counterproductive.

I know that at at least one of the schools DS1 was interviewed for weed out over tutored children at the interview stage.

FWIW, DS1 did no where near the amount of tutoring talked about on this thread. DS2 has done less and has so far performed batter than DS1 had (ie passed one of the highly competitive grammar entrance exams)

Thanks LIZS. I'm still being dense with the initials....

I know that SPGS has a parental declaration which has to be signed re. tutoring. DoesntChristmasDragOn, would you say then that these schools are as hard or harder to get into than the London grammars?

Does MN give a false picture of the levels of tutoring/ competition up in the SE or is it really like this? There seems to be a massive geographical divide. It seems as though there may be an educational divide at primary level too, though I may be generalising from my own experience on that (DD4 is at a particularly challenged state primary, with Y3, 4, 5 and 6 all taught together by a single teacher in one room).

The local grammars (neighbouring borough) are traditionally seen as harder to get into because of all the privately educated boys sitting the exams for free secondary education. e.g. DS2 passed but something like 340 boys passed and there are, I think, 120 places.

Obviously the independents are still highly competitive

"Does MN give a false picture of the levels of tutoring/ competition up in the SE or is it really like this? "

I think it is really like this for some people. Certainly some of DS2s friends are made to do ridiculous amounts of work (if DS2's reports of this can be trusted). I don't know what proportion are overly tutored like this though.

My DS is NOT at a prep school and I can't afford to pay for tutors so I am doing it myself. Prep school children have an immediate advantage over non prep school children as they will have been prepared for these exams for ages. A state primary school child might, if you are lucky, have been prepared for 11+, but at best for SATS type tests. Not for Indie entrance exams.
Why should we let children who already have an advantage over our own children KEEP that advantage without doing anything about it?
What on earth is offensive about telling you how I raise my child?

If you have to do preparation, then knuckle down and do it, as it is the ONE chance you have and you need to be at your best. My DS understands this and knows that after the exams he is getting a nice long rest.

I certainly don't want afterwards to be thinking I could have done more to help him - I want to think I did my utter best to help him as much as possible. Then, if he doesn't get a place, it is neither his nor my fault. We will have done our best.
And in my DS's case it would be a mistake to slacken off for two weeks over the Christmas holiday as he is always less prepared after a break of that length, even a one week one. It takes him a while to get back into work cycle.

What is offensive? Your judgmental smugness about how your child does what you tell him because you would never allow a child of yours to be "spoilt". Superior smug shit. My child is stubborn and defiant because of his character, not because of how he is parented.

After reading this thread I am so glad we don't live in the SE - up where we are if you want to get into one of the two private schools all you have to do is turn up on the day! Oh and FWIW your DCs seem to be doing more work for these entrance tests than my DS's are doing for their mock GCSEs!

How old is your oldest though Idratherbemuckingout? :) I don't think it's ever wise to be smug because you never ever know what's coming. Won't four hours a day put him off learning though? It really does seem hugely excessive - though fair enough that you feel you want to be able to say that you've done your best.

I think I may have stubborn defiant ones because I am myself....

Why is what I said judgemental? I don't follow your reasoning here.
Did I say anywhere that you were doing something wrong? I just said how I did it myself. Of course my child is stubborn and defiant - I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm like that myself. Who said anybody's child on here was badly parented? Not me.

I'm sure your child/children are very well parented.
Why should saying I have seen spoilt dogs and horses be interpreted as "smug shit"?
There is nothing worse than a horse that has been treated like a spoilt pet.

I am very puzzled by your attitude.

Why is four hours a day excessive? How long is the school day where you are? Obviously less than four hours.

fwiw dd's prep school goes through to 13+, therefore there is little incentive for them specifically to prepare kids for 11+ entrance to other schools. dd has had about 4 extra half hour sessions in English and Maths (looking at past papers) and 2 sessions on VR/NVR - far less than when her brother took 13+/CE. The rest is left to us/her (or to tutors in some cases!). Don't assume that entrants from private schools automatically have a big advantage. I'd agree with Yellowstone that perhaps you are overdoing it.

As you have absolutely no idea for how many days we have done 4 hours a day, I think you and Yellowstone are quite unqualified to comment.