Hi all

My family and I are based in Saudi. I have been told by Bucks CC it is possible for my son to sit the exam here. He is cuurently in Year 5, and will be sitting the exam in Sept/Oct 2012.

We have already started practicing, but he seems to struggle more on vocabulary questions rather than numbers or alpahbet codes. He does seem to get disheartened when he tries so hard, but doesn't see the improvement. Do you recommend a particular way of approaching these questions, especially the (fingers are to hand, as toes are to ???) ones? Sorry, cannot recall the type.

We are using, Walsh, Learning Lab, AFN, Bond and GL Assessment pratice papers. Currently, he is averaging 80% on most papers. Is that a good sign given we are in Jan? I don't want to make him sick at the sight of an 11+ paper, so am trying to use many different approaches. Running out though......!

In addition, what is the best way to improve his speed.

Best Regards
Wiqar

Hello,

Have a look at the Type 15 questions video (link to videos on this website) to explain the VR question you were trying to describe. All the videos of the 21 question types are very useful for practising VR – watch them with your son. Try to help his vocabulary by improving/increasing his reading and using exercises that require him to find synonyms or antonyms for given words. There are some ‘Synonym Finders’ in COAsT. Some parents and tutors work through vocabulary lists.

Using lots of different preparation materials/workbooks is good and given it is only January now; he will have plenty of time to improve his speed and accuracy. A mark of 80% would probably not secure a pass in the real exam but is a good indication that he is definitely heading in the right direction.

Sometimes it is counter-productive to start using too many actual timed Practice Papers (instead of practice exercises and assessment papers) early on and there is a danger that your son may become unmotivated. I should also say that other children seem to benefit from this. You will have to decide what is best for your son.

Keep the learning fun and do little and often rather than long sessions then you can build up to lots of timed Practice Papers in the final months before the Bucks exam.

All the best.

The Chuckra 11+ Playing Cards are a great resource to help keep preparation fun.

There are 3 packs which have many games in each pack to boost vocab, improve arithmetic speed and enhance memory.

The cards are also part of the VR Super Bundle

Here is a link to more advice on building core skills