Nice people thread 2 - now even nicer

nanto3girls

lostinrates wrote: »

I just have to tell you all this. My room is absolutely thick with the scent of rose from the roses growing around the window. The whole house and garden is like being in a perfumiers atm (apart from the boiler room where we have had a diesel leak!) but my room is so densely yet lightly filled ith the clovey, myrrh-filled, floral scent of English rose that you cn almost see it.

Sounds heavenly

1984ReturnsForReal_2

fc123 wrote: »

*sigh*......I'll go find one.....seeing as it's a Friday, DD has gone out, OH in London and even the cats are both out....in fact I don't even have a spider for company tonight.

It just hasn't got the same cutting edge to it...

1984ReturnsForReal_2

fc123 wrote: »

Chatting to LIR about horse training.

Don't tell WS but she (and others here) has inspired me to do P/T night school writing course.

I do wonder how much her posts are valued at as she get's serious wedge for her writing.:)

Wow.

Best of luck, hopefully it may become a bit of a passion for you.

Ellie2758

Hmm apologies for butting into the Terribly Nice People thread but it has to be said, AW looks more like a famous TV chef.

Can you guess which one?

Aspiring_Writer wrote: »

Besides, I've got to be a writer, I look like one! I even have my glasses on a cord, I listen to Radio 4, read loads of books and nod sagely when Grumpy Old Men are pontificating on the subject of the day!

OK, the last one is because I am of a certain age, nothing to do with writing at all. In all seriousness, I have been writing and studying the art/craft of writing for years.

Davesnave

fc123 wrote: »

I don't what Davesnave thinks but I felt many times over the years, with my kids education, that they were in a sausage machine sometimes.
Dextrous skills are equally as impt as memory or math skills for example....the trick is to combine them all....but very few posess excellence of all of the them.

Davesnave thinks he was very lucky not to have any grammar schools in his area!

I had no problem with the local private schools' exams, which my pupils usually seemed to cope with OK, and as a Dad who believed in state education, I was also fortunate in having generally sound comps around me, albeit mainly single sex ones.

I was also able to miss much of the 'sausage machine effect,' thanks to a Head who resisted it, and later, when it kicked-in, to 'demoting' myself by taking Year 4 for the last few years of full time. It was after that when I observed something worrying happening to former pupils, because when I supply-taught them later, in Year 6, there was often a notable dulling of the spirit. This was at the height of the SATs and Stats madness, when every child had become a blob on a chart and the only thing that mattered was their value-added score. I know what I blamed for their lack of enthusiasm and creativity!

I believe things have improved somewhat since that low point, but I'm a bit out of the loop now.:o

We aren't going back to the heady days of 70s laissez faire, I'm sure, and that's no bad thing. However, it would be nice if this government could trust primary schools to get on with the job they do best, which is to instill in kids the desire to learn & stretch the abilities they have, and to praise the things they can do, regardless of their 'value' on a point-scoring basis.

Davesnave

fc123 wrote: »

Don't tell WS but she (and others here) has inspired me to do P/T night school writing course.

Respect! :cool: ...but will you have the time?

I think this would be absolutely right for you, though.:j

carolt

silvercar wrote: »

A lot of kids are tutored for these exams. Private schools give children a lot of practice in exam technique and teach in advance of the state year 6 syllabus. A relatively high proportion of children from the local private prep schools will sit these tests as that means access to a very decent and free secondary education. Schools refuse to give exam practice for these tests and won't even cover everything that is examined.

If we are allowed to get slightly political on the nice thread, it explains why so few kids from challenging backgrounds get into some schools. If you are not tutored or don't have parents able and willing to teach you for the exams, you will be hard pushed to get the required test score.

Very satisfying to be able to teach your own child for these exams. Enjoy it carolt, it creates a special bond.:)

Very true. After a slightly frustrating start, where she spent more time messing about than studying, our maths time is quality time, albeit with a maths focus.

It's a good thing I can tutor her too, given how much ground she has to cover in a short time; I realised last week that there was no way I could afford to pay myself the going rate (ie what I'd charge anyone else) for the hours I'm putting in, so it's a good thing I can do it. Although I have no knowledge of the 11+ bar what I've gleaned off the internet now and my own experience of sitting 11+ exams nearly 30 years ago, I'm fairly confident no-one could tutor my DD better than I can, because I know her and what she's capable of; also know when she's just being lazy , not concentrating etc.

I hope the skills she's learning (not just maths, but study skills, how to set a learning goal and achieve it, how to set work out neatly and legibly , how to accept that occasionally other people - even your parents! - may know better than you and have valuable information to impart; and dare I say it, how to swot for exams) will stand her in good stead longer term.

I may write an 11+ maths book - have been surprised by the poor quality of materials out there.

That's if I have time - just been offered a Chief Examiner role, which I think I will take up on top of existing commitments - it's only part-time (new qualification), but will eat up a bit more free time...

carolt

fc123 wrote: »

To Carolt; is DD having any tutoring? My DD went to a school that was totally against 11+ for the grammars in the next borough.

I found out too late that she wasn't being 'taught' how to do certain parts of the exam. We chose not to tutor at the time as I thought her natural ''brilliance'' (she's an average kid) would be enough. Not so and she failed her 11+ by a few marks. It probably didn't help that we didn't make a big deal out of it so she wasn't primed on the day of the exam.
She then had an exam for a private school set up in Jan and we panicked and she had a few tutor sessions. Stuff like the puzzles....meant to spot genius but a bit ???? if you haven't ever seen them before (as happpened to her)...I think it's called non verbal reasoning. .....so she passed the private school exam fine.

The whole exercise was a bit of a non starter as we moved in the August anyway....but....my sis has her kids absolutely honed in and her eldest was tutored for 2 years prior to his 11+ and went to an amazing primary. He got in fine to the Grammars in the next borough.
What is funny is we will take him to some shows with us when we move back as he really wanted to go to drama school (and has already acted in some big stuff and auditioned for mega roles) but she wishes him to do the school 'thing' until he's 18.
You can't stop someone being who they are going to be though. He always reminds of the kid in Ugly Betty.


What is it about maths though? My dad is a top mathmetician and an Emeritus Prof (comp science)...and it was only reading bits and pieces on MSE that has made me realise that he could be on a spectrum of sorts. His people skills aren't amazing...but he has practised hard over the years.:o


Photographic memory..I've got one of those for pics, colour, shape...it's dead handy in my job.

All these different skills individuals have...it's what makes the world work.
I don't what Davesnave thinks but I felt many times over the years, with my kids education, that they were in a sausage machine sometimes.
Dextrous skills are equally as impt as memory or math skills for example....the trick is to combine them all....but very few posess excellence of all of the them.

Agree with you about the importance of mix of skills - I really try hard to get my kids to develop non-academic skills, because I have none! - my parents focused 100% on academic skills, which is why I'm an adult who can't ride a bike, drive a car, play any sport half-way decently, etc etc - I want my kids to have a broader focus, because in real life, 'pure' academic skills count for less in most areas than the full package. Not to say social skills and emotional intelligence.

I also agree that kids (at least at state primaries) do need some sort of tutoring, whether it be paid-for or not, to help with 11+ exams - like your DD's, my kids' school is v against kids applying for selective secondaries, does no exam practice, actively discourages kids from even applying. :eek: And will no way have covered all the yr 6 curriculum in time; quite possibly not even the year 5 curriculum. :eek: All the other kids at DD's school applying for selective secondaries have paid-for tutors (though to be fair, they don't have mums who are teachers, albeit in the wrong discipline ). I only found out at the beginnining of May how much DD had to learn in a short time when we did a practice test, and was shocked at what she hadn't covered! In 1 month since then we've covered half the entire maths curriculum up to the end of yr 6 (and in some cases beyond); we'll have finished the entire curriculum by the end of this term ie 23 July. Then we can relax and consolidate it, practice sample papers etc.

She only has 2 papers to do - maths and verbal reasoning - the latter she'll be fine on, as she reads v widely and is v quick on the uptake. Unfortunately, there's no English paper as she'd excel on that - can't be helped. No non-verbal reasoning, so we don't need to worry about shapes, etc.

It does really annoy both of us though that supposedly 'neutral' intelligence testing is nothing of the sort - whatever they claim, the reality is that if you're asked to give the perimeter of a room say, and you've never learned how to calculate perimeters or even what a perimeter is, you're not going to get the question right. And that if you've never done a timed test, you're going to be at a disadvantage against those at prep schools or with tutors doing it week in, week out.

carolt

SingleSue wrote: »

I have seen an absolutely perfect job.....16 hrs a week at the high school eldest goes to (but will have very few courses at from September for his A levels), school office receptionist.

My qualifications tick the box, the hours are not too excessive which means I should be able to work the appointments around work time and the money, although not the earth, is better than nothing!

And a very big plus, it is only a 5 minute drive (on a good day) from home and closer to the school that the youngest two go to, so if there are problems, I can get there pretty quick.

Now, do I take my current slight lull time with appointments as maybe a positive step forward and go for it?

Don't know why I am asking, I am going for it anyway....

Good luck Sue! Sounds ideal!

Aspiring_Writer

misskool wrote: »

Go for it Sue and good luck


we have the first female courgette, I can now stop paying extortionate prices for food. Peas looking good and I'm eyeing up broad beans. Now just for the tomatoes and cucumbers to join the lettuce leaves in being ready.

Morning all, well,good afternoon to be precise. Misskool, your post made me smile, and with a slight hangover, thats a good thing. I am showing my ignorance here, but female courgettes? que?

You are probably out eyeing up the broad beans as I write this, but I would be interested in the courgette question, they obviously arent sexed, so? ....

Could you explain gently whilst patting me on the head?