11+ Self Tutoring

[JustKeepSwimmingJustKeepSwimmi]

we live in a v selective Grammar area and we cant afford to tutor. I used to teach but not primary/11+ material.

What do I need to do to help my child with the 11+? Did anyone else do this?

I was thinking the 9-10version of the 11+ booklets initially (weve started one of these) for my year 5 child. We have 3 subjects. Presumably we need to move onto the 10-11 version before they have even finished year 5 material in school!?

How much prep should I be looking at. An hour a weekend initially and the 10min a a day books in summer?

My child does sport and other extra curricular so we dont have tons of time but she is quite geeky and superbright so the grammar would probably be a good fit.

I don't know if it's still going but I joined the 11+ forum. Like mumsnet for the 11+ obsessed. there were some fantastically generous people on there who helped with exam technique and NVR VR tips - they were tutors, giving advice freely. It had a lovely atmosphere back then. Hope it's still the same now.

Ah thats where its got confusing Hidden the 11+ revision books in the GL series we have are for 10-11years on them. Im doing the level one below ( so in effect 10+!)

The eleven plus forum is very helpful & people will give advice freely. Ignore the cynical old timers who jump on everything. They exist on every forum, but if you can get past that you will get a lot of help.

OneStep . I might do that, thankyou. Particularly after Easter when we are more exam focussed, thankyou.

A few years ago I was considering stepping into the world of tutoring 11+ myself, but I'm ideologically opposed to the amount of pressure and prep some parents put on children. Its a fine line isnt it!!

JustKeepSwimming - I know what you mean! The Bond 10-11 are a level below. Which isn't entirely obvious, given they do the exam at 10-11! But they have an 11+ level which is just above. The 10-11 bond papers verbal and nonverbal are rather easier than the sample 11+ papers we have looked at. But I should add, I'm no expert. Just a parent trying to work it all out (my DD is the same stage as yours).

Im not using Bond at the moment. Im using CGP and there isnt a level above the 11+ (which has 10-11 on)!!

The blurb for the 10min practice tests for the 11+ (10-11) CGP is that they are 11+ questions. Certainly the ones I'm using appear to be similar to the past papers.

There doesnt appear to be a level above the 11+ (10-11) in the series I'm using. The practice books prepare for the tests, the 10min books are short versions of the test.

In teaching I tend to use actual practice papers sparingly until towards the end, as it isnt nec to spend a whole 45/50 whatever it is minutes each day to revise. Its also not nec to do the whole test each time (hence 10min practice books). I have bought actual past papers from GL rather than any other brands version of them as for that stage I want the real thing!

Im sure if people started before year 5 the children might be already familiar with the style of questions and could spend more time on the 11+ material, but certainly what we're doing is currently working in terms of spotting sequences etc for verbal reasoning. It seems a small leap to the next stage which she could now comfortably do a lot of having practiced the easier skills. Hopefully the same for maths and English! I know for Maths in particular there were whole areas our school hadnt taught by the end of year 5 that were then tested on as they are part of year 6 curriculum, just not covered yet!

Im planning to introduce some actual timed 11+ tests after Easter, giving over 4 months with them.

My DD2 just passed the 11+ with a high enough score to be guaranteed a place at the grammar school. I did all her prep myself with Bond Online and past papers but in the few months before the exam I booked her a course of mock 11+ exams at Chukra and Susan Daughtrey. I would really recommend the mock exams as it’s all about getting their timing right and building confidence in exam conditions.

Another thing we did was paired reading. I bought two copies of some classic novels and we would read together, taking it in turns to read aloud and then I would ask her questions about what we had just read as we went along. It really helped with her comprehension.

Look for schools publishing past exam papers and mark schemes (Manchester grimmer school for example).

Snapped - I might do that, there are places locally that offer this. It feels easy money for those offering them, but i dont think I can create the same feeling of going somewhere else for exam conditions in my own home and with me!!

I do have some GL assesment and markschemes (the grammar in our area uses these).

Im reasonably good at teaching GCSE and A Level exam prep /reading the question/facing nerves in first few moments and self confidence/timing but will need to get up to scratch with the 11+ requirements. I will join the 11+ forum next year I think!!

Where are you based? I don't think CEM & GL assessment are the same,are they? Aren't the exams one or the other? Disclaimer: not an expert!

No they arent the same. We are GL.

Dd us in superselective. The best bit of advice I had was for her to do practice papers in McDonald's. Loads of distractions and as it happens in the real thing there were a lot of things going on around her.

Genius Hercules12!