Preparing Your Child For 11-Plus Exams
So you desire for your child to take the 11-Plus exams!
Before deciding where to begin, a few things you need to be aware of are:
Your child’s age.
Your child’s natural academic ability.
How motivated your child is to learn.
Your own motivation for your child to enter into a Grammar school.
These 4 areas will determine what actions you begin taking right now to ensure success in the 11-Plus exams for your child.
Having taught for over many years, my observation is that children who begin the preparation process early, and by this, I mean latest by the beginning of primary 4, stand the best chance of becoming successful in the exams. This obversation however is hugely dependent upon the child’s own natural academic ability.
Some parents, for a number of reasons prefer to start their children at the beginning of primary 5. There is no problem with this provided your child is very able and he or she is motivated to learn. This is also true for children who start the preparation much later than their peers.
Whatever group you find yourself in, there are a number of things you can start doing immediately to ensure success for your child in the 11-Plus exams.
I will give you a list of things commonly done by parents:
Hiring a private tutor
This can usually take the form of a private tutor coming to your home to tutor your child or it could involve you booking a place at a tuition center near you. As a parent, it is up to you to decide what works for you.
But generally, you will find that a tutor coming to your home for a one on one tutoring of your child tends to be a whole lot more expensive than your child having lessons at a tuition center. There are advantages and disadvantages associated with both.
With one on one tutoring in your home, one big advantage is that there is virtually nothing to distract your child and maximum focus can be easily achieved here.
A common problem reported by tutors however is that, some children tend to lose motivation very quickly and end up applying themselves less to the tasks. This may be due to a number of factors including, boredom and lack of interest, difficulty in grasping the concepts and in extreme cases, plain laziness. This is not necessarily the case with all children who do one on one tutoring but it is something to be aware of and to keep in mind if you choose this route.
If you decide to make arrangements for your child to attend lessons at a tuition center, there are a few things you need to be prepared for. The most important of these is that, you have to make the time to take the child to the tuition place and arrange to collect the child at the end of the session.
Some children may have 2 or more sessions at the tuition center per week and remember these children are in full time education as well. Most 11-Plus sessions are usually held on Saturdays but add-on sessions can be on a weekday usually after normal school hours. The to and fro involved with this can quickly begin to create lot of stress for both the child and the parent. This is something to keep in mind.
Another issue with tuition centers is that, children less able than their peers can sometimes feel demotivated if they find themselves unable to keep up with the demands of the exam preparation.
As a parent, my believe is that, this is where you need to constantly support and encourage your child. You will also need to constantly be in touch with the tutor and be fully aware of your child’s progress as well as his or her chances of achieving success in the exams.
The 11-Plus testing is a rigorous procedure and sadly to say, it’s not the easiest of exams for every child to pass. We all have to remain rational and face the realities. Not every child will pass the 11-Plus!
One thing, I have observed however with tuition centers is that, a spirit of competition can sometimes quickly develop among the tutees who work together and this, if properly controlled by the tutor can result in the children getting highly motivated and striving to be the best they can be. This can only be good.
Also, because the children are working with their peers, this emulates a typical classroom situation and I believe this companionship and the opportunity of seeing their peers doing the same tasks, encourages a lot of children, making them look forward to attending the sessions.
I have only touched on a few realities of the choice between one on one tutoring at home and your child going to a tuition center. As a parent, do your due diligence. Find out all you can about both options and go with the one that best suits the needs of your child and the family as a whole.
Coaching your child yourself
This is another option to consider if you wish for your child to take the 11-Plus exams. There are tens of thousands of resources out there that you can purchase to assist you through the process.
The good thing about this is that, it is the cheapest of all the options available. The bad thing about it is the necessity of making yourself available and responsible. You will have to be there for your child 24/7 if this is the route you want to take.
I mentioned this earlier. The 11 plus exams preparation is a highly challenging and stressful task for the child and if you choose to coach your child yourself, then it’s imperative that you are ready to put in the time and be available to fully support the child.
Another thing to be aware of is that, you will need to get very familiar with the different skill areas of the 11-Plus curriculum in order to effectively coach your child. It can be pretty time consuming to start learning the techniques of Verbal and Non-verbal Reasoning yourself in order to be able to impart this to your child.
Frankly, in addition to working full time and having other parental responsibilities, no wonder a lot of parents choose to invest in hiring a tutor. Very few parents have the patience to play the role of both a parent and a tutor at the same time. Besides, we all know how children can sometimes play up and pay less attention when the instructions are coming from Mum or Dad. That’s just the way children are!
So again, do your due diligence and go for the option that will suit the whole family. You don’t want to end up taking your own frustrations with the whole mentoring and tutoring issue on the rest of the family. You will end up creating more problems for yourself.
Child using online tutorial resources
There are thousands of resources and many websites offering self-tutoring digital packages to support the child in getting prepared for the 11-Plus exams.
Apart from the cost of purchase of the programme, there is basically no other costs to this option. This can be a good option for a child who is already very capable and who is also very self-motivated to put in the work.
If your child falls into this category and you can be certain he or she will not abandon the work for the lure of YouTube and other video games, then this may be a good way to go about the 11-Plus preparation.
It is all too easy and common for parents to begin panicking about what choice to make when it comes to preparing their children for the exams. I have seen many parents getting caught up in all the hoo-hah about the 11-Plus exams and bringing a lot of stress to both themselves and their children. This needn’t be the case at all.
There is a lot of help out there and you can always switch from one option to another. Nothing is set in concrete. The main thing to keep in mind, whatever choice you make, is to ensure that your child is making good progress. So do your own research and choose something that works for both you and your child.
There is a contact form at the top of the page and my phone number is listed there. If you need to contact, you can phone me. If you miss me, I will get back to you as soon as I can. You can also email me using the email address listed in the contact area.
