Is your child sitting the exams for 2017 entry into Manchester or Cheshire grammar schools in September? If so, it’s a great idea to start getting your child:
- Familiarised with the range of questions if sitting verbal and non-verbal reasoning papers
- Practising exam technique for some of the more challenging types of questions
- Testing themselves with practice papers to identify areas of weaknesses to work on
- Practising thinking under pressure against the clock
- Reading … lots. Short stories, novels, non-fiction. Anything to develop their vocabulary
- Looking up unknown words. A really fun way to do this is to use Word Hippo
- To be super observant… Get them to spot patterns and shapes in everyday things; write about places you visit together as a family; sharpen their times tables with Squeebles – a fun app
And if your child dislikes reading initially, try instead to hook their interest in words by downloading apps such as Word a Day – or take your pick from these *scrumdiddlyumptious word games!
Finally, try to reward progress and success to keep your child motivated. Too much pressure can switch them off. Always aim to balance hard work required with a sense of fun and challenge.
How to crack 11+ exams in half the time
It’s true: these tests don’t always test ability. They test how to think quickly on your feet – plus expect you to think logically, numerically, imaginatively, verbally and non-verbally within a short space of time.
If your child needs help juggling how to do this successfully, get in touch with us here at 1-2-1 Home Tutors. Our fantastic tuition team of 11+ specialists can offer term and holiday tuition across the Manchester area.
*A Roald Dahl fan? Check out more of his famous, made-up words here.
Tags: Non-Verbal Reasoning, practising 11+ exam techniques, Verbal Reasoning