Year 6 workbooks

[It's a small world]

Hi

DS is in year 5 at school he is very bright and been noted as gifted at school. School want to further his education and help him develop more and asked if we could encourage him at home. He loves school and happy to do extra work at home. School want him to get up to end of year 6/ beginning of year 7 level before the end of the year but I dont want to push him to much as he is quite young for his school year. Therefore I thought just aim for year 6 grades. Does anyone have any children in year 6 and tell me if they have any workbooks or something that they use as thinking of getting DS some workbooks to help him. Please don't think Im being a pushy mum Im not. The high school DS wants to go to is very hard to get into and he knows that he has to work had to acheive this and is happy to do the extra work. so any help is most appreciated.

X

[FussyElmo]

Hi

DS is in year 5 at school he is very bright and been noted as gifted at school. School want to further his education and help him develop more and asked if we could encourage him at home. He loves school and happy to do extra work at home. School want him to get up to end of year 6/ beginning of year 7 level before the end of the year but I dont want to push him to much as he is quite young for his school year. Therefore I thought just aim for year 6 grades. Does anyone have any children in year 6 and tell me if they have any workbooks or something that they use as thinking of getting DS some workbooks to help him. Please don't think Im being a pushy mum Im not. The high school DS wants to go to is very hard to get into and he knows that he has to work had to acheive this and is happy to do the extra work. so any help is most appreciated.

X

Whats the thinking of having him so far in advance of his years?

Im for encouragement but im not one for workbooks so unable to recommend any. The school did send out some for key stage 2 in year 6 and I think you can buy these in whsmith etc.

I know you say your ds is happy to do this but how about doing something different at home as compared to school. Have you considered the Muzzy language program. Not sure if your primary school does languages but its still educational and useful to have.

Does he do any sports/musical instruments perhaps thats something to look into as well :thumbsup:

Be careful how far advanced you get your ds it can be a soliditary life being so far ahead of his peers.

[Bananabrain]

Hi Small World, my son is also on the gifted register [and finds this highly amusing:laughing:]
We did struggle a bit at the end of primary as he was bored and I don't think school pushed him as much as they could. For example, I asked for more challenging reading matter. It never materialised. I ended up just getting books for him to take into school!
When he was in yr 6, most of his peers were having extra tuition. My son didn't. I asked school what I should do and from memory he did practice 11 plus tests [verbal reasoning etc] I think they mentioned 'Bond' papers as being good.
My son is now in yr 10 and doing very well. I really understand where you are coming from with regard to pushing your son. It is hard to know what to do for the best.
The one thing my son has always been concerned about is being seen as a 'geek.':laughing:
I don't think he is a geek, I think he rocks! It has taken a while for me to be able to 'big him up' though. Didn't want to be seen as bragging so always played his achievments down.

[It's a small world]

Whats the thinking of having him so far in advance of his years?

Im for encouragement but im not one for workbooks so unable to recommend any. The school did send out some for key stage 2 in year 6 and I think you can buy these in whsmith etc.

I know you say your ds is happy to do this but how about doing something different at home as compared to school. Have you considered the Muzzy language program. Not sure if your primary school does languages but its still educational and useful to have.

Does he do any sports/musical instruments perhaps thats something to look into as well :thumbsup:

Be careful how far advanced you get your ds it can be a soliditary life being so far ahead of his peers.

He is aged 15 in Spelling and aged 13 in reading (He was 9 end of August) . Just been graded a 4b in Maths (Not sure where this is on the chart. ) Him and a few friends are being encouraged to further themselves not 100% sure why-not sure if its to help them get good grades in their SATS or just to challenge them ? They want to further his writing grade. He has no interest in sport- (which dh isnt happy about but respects his choicen and continues to hope for the day this may change) . No I don't want to push him but he does enjoy writing and is always doing stories hence wondering if any workbooks might help him with his grammer etc. Been looking at guitar music books but trying to find a good one- he's not the best but does enjoy playinng so wanted something which has songs he will enjoy playing .

Thanks for reply

[Bananabrain]

Forgot to say that in my area the entrance exams for 'good' schools focus alot on verbal and non-verbal reasoning tests.
Alot of children find these tricky, so might be worth doing some.
I'm guessing entrance exams are similar countrywide?

[QualityCare]

You can get a variety of entrance test/11plus practice papers in WHSmiths or Waterstones he could try doing some of those but don't put pressure on him to do them to a time limit yet also why not get him some general puzzle books sudoxu, word search, code words and logic puzzles are all good for literacy and mathematical skills and perhaps won't put so much pressure to do well.
The expected SATS levels are; at the end of key stage 1 level 2 a,b or c is average, some will be level 3 the odd few level 4 at the end of key stage 2 most will be a 4 some a 5 and a few 6.

[loocyloo]

He is aged 15 in Spelling and aged 13 in reading (He was 9 end of August) . Just been graded a 4b in Maths (Not sure where this is on the chart. ) Him and a few friends are being encouraged to further themselves not 100% sure why-not sure if its to help them get good grades in their SATS or just to challenge them ? They want to further his writing grade. He has no interest in sport- (which dh isnt happy about but respects his choicen and continues to hope for the day this may change) . No I don't want to push him but he does enjoy writing and is always doing stories hence wondering if any workbooks might help him with his grammer etc. Been looking at guitar music books but trying to find a good one- he's not the best but does enjoy playinng so wanted something which has songs he will enjoy playing .

Thanks for reply

i asked this last summer. someone recommended the 'bond' no nonsense books. i got them for the year DS had finished - to consolidate what he had done, and then the next year, and he had done alot of that work too. i was really impressed with them, they are not full of pictures and stickers, just work! ( and an answer sheet in the middle :D lucky for me! )

as far as guitar books, i would either ask the guitar teacher if he has lessons, or ask in a music shop. i find generally the staff in music shops do know about what they are selling!!! ( rather than staff in other shops who just work there IFKWIM )

[silvermist]

Please dont take this the wrong way but having worked in a primary school for 11 years I would say he should definately be on the schools gifted and talented register and that it is the school who should be working harder for him in school time. They should be making sure he is extended and working towards goals that you all set together. Im really pleased to hear your son is doing so well but I am a little wary of spending too much time at home doing school work if you know what I mean. I have seen many kids move onto high school feeling too much pressure is on them at such a young age.

I would be asking the school how they are going to support this clever little boy. :)

[It's a small world]

Thank you for all your replies. Yes we are very proud of him and sometimes forget he is only 9 (He is 31st August - so baby of the year) We tell him he is not a geek too and do not brag about how clever he is but tell him he should be proud of how well he does at school and not to let anyone put him down or anything else because he is bright.

I think school are not fullfilling him to his potential now (not keen on his new teacher) They expect him to produce high standard work but just mark his work down rather than encouraging him - has parents evening in a few weeks so will discuss this with them then.

He loves Sudukos and puzzles etc (unlike most of his friends) But I will not discourage him from continuing to do these and silvermist we certainly do not pressure him into doing work at home (but know where you are coming from) If anything he comes to us with an idea of a story or writing an article etc . In fact he wrote a story and sent it to Blue Peter and received one of their famous badges for it.He does this work in his own time and not to a schedule which is why I thought a workbook he can do as and when he wanted.

Will look into the guitar books and see if his music teacher can recommend anything.
Thanks again for your advice and opinions and I don't take anything said the wrong way . xx

[silvermist]

I think schools feel that once theyve put a child as gifted and talented it leaves them open to failure if they dont encourage and support them. Plus its quite involved too and they (teachers)have to work a bit harder!

I certainly dont think youre pushy, I think its brilliant your son likes to write stories etc...I used to love doing this and once asked for an extension on some homework as I hadnt finsihed the 'writing a thriller' homework that had been set, turned out I filled an entire exercise book with a story about a murderous hand! My english teacher swore it gave her nightmares but I did get an A for it:laughing::laughing:

Have a word with the school at parents evening, ask them what theyre going to do xxx

[lizduncan72]

Keep putting pressure on the school to support him-our son is three years ahead in maths and got so much support from his primary teachers, really can't speak highly enough of them, but when he started secondary we had to really fight to get them to give him appropriate work-they wanted him to do the same as his peers which he had done in P5! Took a lot of effort on our part to finally get the school in board but they eventually listened to us and he sits his Standard Grade exam this year 2 1/2 years early :)

[k1rstie]

My daughter was on the g@t register at primary school, and at secondary school they call it G&T - it always makes me chuckle!!

I think that she does get harder work, but for her the best part is that the G&T kids are often going out on extra trips. If there is a event that only a mini bushel of kids that can go, these are the kids that usually go . I suppose they can afford to miss a days schooling!

She has been to Microsoft head quarters a few times, on a water sport day out, even had golf lessons at the local golf club. She will be doing something with the bbc and news round in a few weeks.( a journalism thing)



It is interesting to note how schools decide who goes on the lists. I was told at a G&T conference , that the children on the list are in the top 10%, and that gifted is for the academic kids and the talented part is for kids who are great at art , drama, sport etc. The school does not get any more money for the children, and the school sets the percentage.

My daughter is tag at her school, but if she were to move to a more brainy school, she then may not be in that schools top 10%!


Being on tag, has given her loads of brilliant opportunities. She is doing her options this term, so it will be very interesting

[LauraS]

Can highly recommend the bond books, we used these for grammar school entry tests - dd use these to get into a very competitve grammar school and we'll use them again for her sister.

I agree with the suggestions for extra curricular stuff too - dd plays a musical instrument which stretches her mind a little too