Motivation and Attitude
11+ Preparation can take a long time and can become pretty dull. Your child would have schoolwork too, so it’s vital to keep them encouraged and confident about the 11+.
The 11+ should be a Positive Experience
The time leading up to the 11+ tests can be worrying, specifically if you or your child feel strongly about your selection of school. If your child is devoting a lot of their free time practising for the tests, they might become exhausted and uncooperative. Keep a close eye on your child’s attitude and anxiety levels. Know that your work plan is flexible — add breaks, activities and games into your child’s learning time to break up their work.
Try to add time off and rewards into your work plan to keep them driven. Choose little rewards to suit your child — things like sticker charts can help.
It’s essential to stay optimistic about the 11+, but be realistic about your child’s probability of passing. The tests are very competitive, and there’s always a chance that they may not pass, no matter how brilliant they are. Don’t forget school is what you make it, and an uplifting approach is significant in ensuring that your child is cheerful and effective at whichever school they go to.
There are Fun Things your child can do to Improve
It’s imperative that 11+ preparation doesn’t start to feel like a task, specially if your child is starting to prepare for the test early. There are lots of games and activities that you can use to help your child continue to advance skills they will need for the 11+. These might include:
Verbal Reasoning
• Crosswords
• SCRABBLE®
• Reading lots of fiction and non-fiction texts
• Logic games like Twenty Questions or CLUEDO
Non-Verbal Reasoning
• Logic games
• Tangrams
• Jigsaw puzzles
• Spot the difference puzzles
• Match the pairs games
• Brain training games
Maths
• Logic games and puzzles
• Times tables quizzes
• Brain training games
• Games that involve counting, e.g. darts
• Weighing out ingredients and following a recipe
English
• Playing word games
• Keeping a diary
• Reading lots of fiction and non-fiction texts
• Writing stories, newspaper articles inspired by interesting headlines or letters to friends
