Parents are always looking for ways to help their children prepare for the 11+. Below are a few of our tips, outlining a number of things that you can do at home to help your child prepare for the 11+.
Free material
Download the free GL familiarisation practice papers (https://www.gl-assessment.co.uk/products/11plus-series-11-plus-practice-papers/). Whilst these are not exactly what will appear on the test, they are a great way to help familiarise your child with some of the content that they may see on the test.
Reading
Ensure that your child is reading for a minimum of 20 minutes per day. They should also be reading a wide variety of material (both modern and classic books, as well as a mixture of books, magazines and even online articles). A wide vocabulary and being able to read quickly have been shown to be the main determiners of pupils’ success in the 11+.
Analytical skills
Play fun games which will develop your child’s analytical skills: Sudoku, Cluedo, Guess Who, Articulate, Hangman and Scrabble are all great for this. Crosswords, word searches and jigsaws are also good at developing deductive skills, which are needed for the 11+.
Critical thinking skills
Help your child to develop their critical thinking skills whilst doing general activities. Some suggestions include; getting them to add up the shopping as you go round the supermarket, suggesting synonyms or antonyms for words they hear on TV, getting them to add up / multiply the numbers on car licence plates, or getting them to spell out words.
Make it fun!
The key to all of this is to make learning as fun and interactive as possible. If your child is enjoying themselves then they are more likely to see learning as a positive experience, thus in turn making them more willing to engage in 11+ practice.
More information
For more information of how we could help your child as they prepare to take the 11+ please visit our website at www.headstart11plus.co.uk or contact us at headstart11plus@yahoo.com
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