Mental maths

As far as I can see, children don't practise much mental maths. They may do  a few papers, but they don't practise performing calculations in their heads. On top of this, there is no need for them to do shopping (not saying anything about the danger aspect), so they are generallyt not used to quickly adding/subtracting.

To boost my son's performance, I ask him to add/subtract a string of numbers. I add multiplication and division. I tend to perform this kind of exercise 5-10 minutes per day whenever possible. It helps a great deal.

Some more vocabulary

scanty- barely sufficient
meagre-lean, scanty
interrogate-to ask questions
impede-hinder, retard
sincere-true, honest
frivolous- unworthy of serious attention
insult -oposite word- flatter
serious- opposite word-frivolous
meagre-opposite word-generous
disparage-depreciate, bring discredit on
infatuated-affect (person) with extreme folly, to fall in love deeply
prodigious -marvellous, amazing

Revision, revision

The break is finished, but revision should not finish yet. In the morning I managed to talk my children into doing some work before school: time tables and another verbal reasoning test. There is nothing better than the feeling of an achievement and some good work. No matter how much time is going to be wasted at school, the work was already done. We moved forward another step. Every little step counts.

You do not necesserily need a tutor for your child to pass the 11 plus exam. Even the best tutor won't give your child any more brain he was born with. But even the most clever child needs to practise.

Easy process to learn time tables

Have you been tired of trying to teach your child time tables? Forget oral repetition, try something different:

Write 20 questions on a piece of paper (let's say for 6, 7, 8,9 time tables). Ask your child to solve them in the morning. Do the same in the afternoon.Repeat the process. You should see an improvement within a week. Keep on doing it until your child gets to 12 time tables. Once they are learnt by heart, ask him a question at random.

I had to apply this solution once my daughter announced she would be tested in time tables after the break. It works wonders!

Athey Educational-English Papers

Another English test done and 97% achieved! I can see an improvement.

Some new words that my child learnt, though he was able to figure out the meaning:

• accomplice -associate
• salutation = greeting
• earnest= serious

Today's test was said to be very easy (I didn't tnink I would hear it!)....

By the way, any test that is being done is always timed. Time to complete any test shortens the more your child practises. It is obvious, yet reassuring.

Time tables

My daughter needs to know her time tables after she goes back to school. Her class was doing time tables for quite a while, but when I checked her knowledge, I discovered that she still needed more practice. She is too slow and has to think too much about each answer.

I explained to her, that unfortunately, she has to learn them by heart, whether she likes it or not.

To speed the process, I prepared her 24 questions to be done in the morning. Another sheet will be waiting ready for her in the afternoon. It takes a bit of effort on parent's side, but it won't last long. It is a boring way of learning, but you don't need computers to learn time tables. You just need practice. As soon as your child sees you are strict about his maths, he will learn it. Without time tables your child will not be able to carry on with any maths.

What do you need to succeed?

Over the last few days, my son improved tremendously: for the first time he reached 90% in his English test. What's more he also achieved 99% in Verbal Reasoning and well over 98% in maths. I am not writing to boast about it ( or maybe a bit:-)), but to prove, that practice makes perfect.

Half a year ago, he was moaning that he would not be able to solve the tests. Now, he is flying through them.

The key to success is consistency and practice. Don't be disheartened, if the beginnings are tough for both you and your child. After a few months of work, you will see the results. Good luck with your studies.