Why reading is important?

If your child is clever enough to pass 11 plus exam, you have to make sure he reads lots. Reading cannot be left till the last minute, let's say a year before the exam, but love for reading has to be nourished from the early age.

I do not recommend encouraging comics. Start with ordinary books (any books, in any language) and introduce different genres to your child later on, once he is a proficient reader. Classics are important to know, as English exam often involves texts from classical books. If your child cannot comprehend classical Shakespeare, try simplified versions. They are fun to read and may encourage young readers to read more classic.

The truth is: if the parents read, the child will be brought up among books and he will read. Reading helps to widen vocabulary and to carry on an interesting, word rich conversation. Plus it really helps while doing Engish exam papers.

I am so proud!

Today, business as usual, some more 11-12 maths. We came across two types of difficult questions. They seemed tough, because my son did not cover this part of material yet.

So I explained to him how to subtract fractions if you have to make mixed ones to be able to perform the operation:

e.g. 3 1/7 - 1 2/7 =
(3 and one seventh minus 1 and 2 sevenths)

I know this kind of subtraction is covered in secondary school, but my child was more than happy to learn it now. Why should I stop him?

Another question went like this:

Three friends, called them: A, B, C had altogether £1.70
Once A gave 2p back to B and C gave 3p back to B, they discovered that B had twice as much money as C and A had twoice as much as B.

So how much money did they have each before and after?

My son surprised me. He thought he would not be able to solve this problem himself, but he applied ratio (I had explained it to him 4-5 months ago) and voila!  he got the right answer!

Equations

Equations are not taught or are taught in between everything else. Understanding of them is desperately needed for any child attempting 11plus exam. So far, I have not seen my son coming back home with any problem relating to equations.
Once again, I explained them to my son ages ago, but more practice is needed. As it is with any part of maths...

I will be posting some exercises on my private site: http://www.joannafoss.com/ Check it out.

Poor maths again

I posted my thoughts on the way of teaching maths (division in particular) at http://www.joannafoss.com/

I still think maths is made far too complicated than it needs to be. My son did a Bond Paper today for 11-12. He only made 4 mistakes, but some of the questions like translation he has not yet had explained. Once I went over this material with him, he carried on on his own.

Ratio came in handy for another question: picking up aces from a pack of cards. If it wasn't for the fact, that I had explained ratio ages ago, he wouldn't have a clue. Instead, he was able to solve the question.

Maths again

Bond Papers 11-12, Maths. My son solved every single question without any problems. 100% right.

Am I good as a tutor or what?

Motivation

It may seem daunting for your 9 year old child to work towards something he does not see. It was the case with my child. I was saying one thing, encouraging him to study and we had constant arguments about 11 plus preparation.
Finally, at the beginning of year 5, I took my son on touring around secondary schools. We went to see the buildings, talk to the teachers, hear the headmasters and get "the feeling" for  schools. We also collected brochures from each school. After the visit, my son finally saw, what I was trying to tell him. He understood, why he needed to study; he saw a reward at the end of his work. It was a turning point for him. Our arguments stopped. I no longer had to remind him of his studies.

Walsh-Verbal Reasoning 2

96% achieved! So what does it tell you? Read, do some more maths and practise, practise!

Vacant = empty
disc + over = discover

Words closest in meaning:
recount=relate

I highly recommend this book. It's as good as the first part.