11 plus

Person_one

emsywoo123 wrote: »

If it was the best thing for my children.......yup, I'd squash you in a flash

Imagine you were squashing other people's children, that's a better analogy.

mrcow

Person_one wrote: »

Sucks for the kids who have parents that don't actually care that much about them then.

Well there are certainly plenty of them about.

emsywoo123

Person_one wrote: »

Imagine you were squashing other people's children, that's a better analogy.

Totally OT, but yeah, if it was to save my kids of course I would.

But you're not a parent are you?

sillygoose

My son has just started tutoring for next years 11+ he wants to do it as he has been raised to appreciate money doesn't grow on trees and he needs to get on if he wants to buy nice cars and things in the future as they interest him.

We have put no pressure on him, but he knows most the others in his class are doing it and like any healthy kid he has a natural competitiveness and drive.

All the people saying the child shouldn't need help are assuming the school is doing a perfect job - often they are not!

Why should my son miss out? not because he is not bright enough but because he has not been taught well enough?

He has been evaluated and is years ahead of his age in maths (well done school!) but is way behind in English and especially vocabulary (D- school!) so the focus is on that.

An hour and half on Sat. whilst sister is at an activity, its a Kip McGrath centre that has experienced qualified teachers, uses computers to make it fun and has a very small ratio of 4 kids to one teacher. Its not even very expensive.

I failed my 11+ due to lack of prep by my trendy left wing school who detested anyone going to a grammar and detested the 11+ so we all went to the local comp. I survived and did well but bl@@dy hell it was hard! - I want better for my kids.

Person_one

emsywoo123 wrote: »

Totally OT, but yeah, if it was to save my kids of course I would.

But you're not a parent are you?

Nope, therefore nothing I say is ever valid and you can ignore the ethical implications of your choices.

Carry on.

Cash-Cow_3

bhatti3000 wrote: »

hi friends

how are you going to prepare your children for the 11 plus?

my children will take the 11 plus in October 2013, i have one year (i know i have left it late), i would like to know what other parents are going to prepare their children.

i dont have enough money to get tuition for them, so will be doing much of the work with them myself. i have bought an online 11plus preparation website account and they use it once a day for 45 minutes.

i am from Buckinghamshire but have moved to Luton, Bedfordshire. my children find Luton Schools rough, every second word from local Luton children is a swear word. i really want my children to be educated in Buckinghamshire, i think there is more respect in there schools. for this reasons and others the children MUST pass their 11 plus.

Any help/advice will be very welcomed.

thanks you

If you cannot afford the tuition how are you going to afford the travel costs from Luton to Aylesbury (I assume it is Aylesbury)?

bhatti3000

Cash-Cow wrote: »

If you cannot afford the tuition how are you going to afford the travel costs from Luton to Aylesbury (I assume it is Aylesbury)?

thats a good point, one i have already sort.
i'm going to car share with another family i know, who's kids go there. the kids will also be able old enough to get the bus, if they get into Aylesbury. i will most likely get tuition for them during the summer holidays, 1-2hours a week but i dont think it will be enough, im glad ive started now, this way, we will avoid the last minute pressure rush.

bhatti3000

sillygoose wrote: »

My son has just started tutoring for next years 11+ he wants to do it as he has been raised to appreciate money doesn't grow on trees and he needs to get on if he wants to buy nice cars and things in the future as they interest him.

We have put no pressure on him, but he knows most the others in his class are doing it and like any healthy kid he has a natural competitiveness and drive.

All the people saying the child shouldn't need help are assuming the school is doing a perfect job - often they are not!

Why should my son miss out? not because he is not bright enough but because he has not been taught well enough?

He has been evaluated and is years ahead of his age in maths (well done school!) but is way behind in English and especially vocabulary (D- school!) so the focus is on that.

An hour and half on Sat. whilst sister is at an activity, its a Kip McGrath centre that has experienced qualified teachers, uses computers to make it fun and has a very small ratio of 4 kids to one teacher. Its not even very expensive.

I failed my 11+ due to lack of prep by my trendy left wing school who detested anyone going to a grammar and detested the 11+ so we all went to the local comp. I survived and did well but bl@@dy hell it was hard! - I want better for my kids.

thank you for your post, im glad to hear you have also started now. i think it wise to start early as we will not have the last minute pressure stress.
my kids are doing 1 past paper a day but it will reduce to 2 past papers a week when they return to school.
i recommend sign up to an online 11plus website, when the kids are working on the computer, it doesn't seem like real homework to them and they enjoy it.
like your boy, my kids, does have the natural drive to want to pass (i didnt). some days i dont even tell them to use their online account, i do it themselves.
my cousin spent £1,700 on 11plus tuition for her son, i dont have that amount of money to spend, but i will get them some tuition in the summer holidays.
keep in touch
best of luck

sillygoose

bhatti3000 wrote: »

thank you for your post, im glad to hear you have also started now. i think it wise to start early as we will not have the last minute pressure stress.
my kids are doing 1 past paper a day but it will reduce to 2 past papers a week when they return to school.
i recommend sign up to an online 11plus website, when the kids are working on the computer, it doesn't seem like real homework to them and they enjoy it.
like your boy, my kids, does have the natural drive to want to pass (i didnt). some days i dont even tell them to use their online account, i do it themselves.
my cousin spent £1,700 on 11plus tuition for her son, i dont have that amount of money to spend, but i will get them some tuition in the summer holidays.
keep in touch
best of luck

We plan to do the practise papers a bit later as part of technique coaching.

Gave up some stuff up to afford it - really pleased with Kip McGrath place, its very calm and by block booking he gets 80 minutes with a teacher with 15 years experience (including getting them in the local schools) for just over £22 a week. He also get some optional 'homework' and can log into the Kip McGrath websites from home. He really enjoys it, this week he was doing a maths challenge on the computer that has high score tables worldwide - he was 4th in his age range which he loved!

No way is he not going to a good school just because his teacher finds spelling tests too boring!

Anyway, anything you can do will help and level the field so best of luck to you and your kids.

Sally_A

sillygoose wrote: »

All the people saying the child shouldn't need help are assuming the school is doing a perfect job - often they are not!

Why should my son miss out? not because he is not bright enough but because he has not been taught well enough?

He has been evaluated and is years ahead of his age in maths (well done school!) but is way behind in English and especially vocabulary (D- school!) so the focus is on that.

So your son has a natural affinity with numbers, but not with English Language, why is this the fault of the school? I guess his science is pretty good too.

Puzzle books, word searches, basic comprehension etc. can all help a child to think laterally, and prepare them for such tests.

I was a complete English language duffer, much preferring numbers; however passed the 11+, and scraped a C grade in O Level English, so even though I thought I was rubbish at English, I was still in the top 20%.