How to Improve Your Child's 11+ Vocabulary at Home
When parents ask me where to begin their 11+ journey, building a strong vocabulary is almost always my first recommendation. This is because the 11+ is not simply a memory test. It is a reasoning test, and reasoning depends heavily on language. Continue reading
The Gateway Classics: 13 Books That Build 11+ Vocabulary
The 11+ does not test how much your child reads. It tests whether they can read difficult text. That is a different skill, and it needs a different reading list.
This post is the list I share with parents on calls when they ask what to add to their child's bookshelf. Continue reading.
The 500 Essential 11+ Vocabulary Words
The Prudent Problem: Why Children Forget Words They Know
The 500 words that matter most for 11+ success fall into ten predictable themes. Children who learn vocabulary by theme, rather than alphabetically, retain significantly more than children who use random word lists. Below you will find the themed categories I recommend after fifteen years of teaching. Continue reading
The Prudent Problem: Why Children Forget Words They Know
The Prudent Problem: Why Children Forget Words They Know
The Prudent Problem: Why Children Forget Words They Know
One of the most common moments I have seen in over two decades of teaching, from primary right through to GCSE, goes like this.
A child sits a practice comprehension paper. One of the questions asks them to work out the meaning of the word prudent. They get it right. They underline the clues in the sentence, write "careful and sensible" in
One of the most common moments I have seen in over two decades of teaching, from primary right through to GCSE, goes like this.
A child sits a practice comprehension paper. One of the questions asks them to work out the meaning of the word prudent. They get it right. They underline the clues in the sentence, write "careful and sensible" in the margin, and move on. I mark the paper, tick the question, and hand it back. Continue reading.
Building 11+ Vocabulary From Age Two
The Prudent Problem: Why Children Forget Words They Know
Building 11+ Vocabulary From Age Two
When families come to me in Year 4 feeling anxious about 11+ preparation, vocabulary is usually their primary concern. However, the foundations of a robust vocabulary are actually laid years before the exam panic sets in.
Vocabulary development should ideally start the moment your child begins to talk.