11 Brilliant Books For 11+ Boys Who Hate Reading

Click the play button below to listen to the list of recommended books as well as additional tips for helping your son with his reading.

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Happy bank holiday weekend!

I hope you’re having a wonderful Monday and are enjoying the warm weather.

As we prepare for our 11+ summer course, I am inundated with messages and calls from parents asking for tips on how to help their sons with reading. 

Generally, it seems that reading is the domain of girls and I’m always amazed by how much my female students tend to love reading whilst the majority of my male students hate it. There are so many potential reasons for this but if I start on them, I’ll be writing forever.  

As a proud bookworm, I’m constantly looking for the best books and stories for children aged 8-12 and always become incredibly excited when I stumble across a great undiscovered book. It’s like finding a hidden gem.

If you have a son who absolutely hates reading, then hopefully this quick list of 11 of my favourite reading books will be helpful. It’s not a definitive list but it should act as a starting point and hopefully inspire you and your son to keep hunting for more great stories.

Without further ado, here we go:

1. Storm Breaker by Anthony Horowitz 

2. HIVE by Mark Walden 

3. The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins (this trilogy is especially great for helping children to come up with clever ideas for cliffhangers, inspire their creative thinking skills and improve their story writing structure. I’m a huge fan!)

4. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

5. Shadow jumper by JM Forster

6. The Maze Runner by James Dashner 

7. Thieves Like Us by Stephen Cole

8. Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks

9. Traitor Series, Andy McNab

10. The Door or No Return by Sarah Mussi

11. Sure Fire by Jack Higgins

There are a few other great finds such as The Cherub Series by Robert Muchamore.

Has your child read any of the above books? Which was their favourite? Are there any other great books that you love?

Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Private Tutors- Are They Worth It?

are tutors worth it

Do tutors make a difference? Are they worth the cost? Should you hire a tutor for your child?

These are just some of the questions that millions of parents ask themselves each year.

In today's guest post, written by Biljana Dimovska, we'll address some of these questions and concerns.

What is a private tutor?

Private tutors are teachers who are hired to help children individually with their school work. A tutor may help with math, English, or any school. If your child is currently dealing with difficulties regarding certain subjects in school, then consider looking into getting a private tutor. However, just like most parents, you are probably worried about your child's grades and if a tutor is really worth hiring. There can be both pros and cons of tutor hiring, and sometimes it is hard to be certain they are really doing their job right.

Are Tutors The Right Choice

The biggest question among parents is if a tutor can really help their children with their math, science, history, or any other  subject. The truth behind all of this is that math tutors for example, are very much worth hiring. If they are professional and helpful, they can really help your child. Their job is to make the child understand a certain subject much better. Teachers usually do not have the time to always help each individual child to learn well all that is required, so a tutor can help with the learning process. Some kids may need extensive help while another kid may need just a quick brush up to understand how to solve a certain math question. Professional tutors do their job well. When the child and the parents are cooperative, then success is the outcome.

First of all, tutors are usually just coaches and/or motivational speakers. They can help motivate your child to learn more, understand more, and get better grades. If your child has a teacher that does not focus on his or her education enough, then a tutor can help them feel more important in the schooling world. Sometimes, a young kid just needs a slight push from a teacher to help them learn with confidence. Tutors do more than just teaching; they can pave the way for a child to develop more skills that can help in the future education ambitions.

Benefits of private tutors

The main benefit is that private tutors can help adapt the teaching process to your child needs. If your kid needs to be taught in a specific way, a professional you hire can adjust the learning process to fit. You can also find math tutors and other teachers who can help your child with the subject they are mainly failing at. There are so many benefits, ranging from your child getting better grades at school to having your kid simply "get it" when they are learning. It is truly a wonderful way to help him learn and enjoy the teaching process along the way.

Hiring a professional tutor is simply the greatest favor you can do to your child if he's are just not succeeding at school. All tutors, including  math tutors do more than just teach; they can inspire. Finding the right tutor doesn't have to be hard. There are some online sources for professional tutors in your area of living and others that are in your child's school already. The only thing you have to do is read their references and maybe talk to other parents with similar issues and ask for recommendation. Your child will thank you later.

Biljana Dimovska

Biljana Dimovska is an online writer and a researcher investigating best steps a parent should be taking towards improving his or her child education. She has been researching the online sources of information for suitable professional tutor services worldwide and the quality of service they provide. You can find updates of her recently published work on her Google + profile.

Move Over Beyonce...Boys Really Do Run The World

A level results have just come out and thousands of teenagers across Great Britain are either screaming in horror (because results are at a record low) or rejoicing because they've actually passed (congrats!) For the first time in 21 years, results have fallen and the cost of studying a three year degree in now a lovely £53k.

To top it all off, boys are actually doing better than girls by a whooping 0.1%. Whilst that figure doesn't sound high, the fact that boys are doing better for the first time in donkey years, says a lot.

What does it say?

• Firstly, it suggests that whilst girls might out perform boys at primary and secondary level, boys start to shine after the age of 16.
• This indicates that there's something very wrong with the current system. Is it favoured towards seeing girls succeed in the early years? Perhaps.
• Finally, it reflects the beginning of the end for girls. I know that sounds melodramatic but the reality is that whilst girls are encouraged to succeed in education, all we're really expected to do (in the long run) is bare children.

And it doesn't stop there. No matter how qualified, educated or talented we are, the reality is that almost all of us reach an age where we realise that we have to choose between being mothers and careerers (yes I know that's not a word)

The point I'm trying to make is that no matter how well girls do in our education, we're still fighting the same battle. It's career vs motherhood. This isn't a battle that starts at 25. It starts at 16 or 17 or 18 when we make that ever-so-pertinent decision to go into further education and eventually to university.

Boys are therefore doing better than girls because by the time they reach 16,17 or 18, they realise on some level that they are in charge!

They run the world. Their innate inability to bare children puts them in a far more fortunate position in terms of their careers, in terms of status and in terms of power.

Of course they'll out perform girls, they have no reason not to.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that girls can't succeed in education & career life (millions of us have and will continue to do so). Rather, I'm saying that girls are still to an extent disadvantaged when it comes to educational and occupational success. In a PC world where no one wants to talk about it or admit it, we're keeping our mouths shut and ignoring the fact that women still have a double burden and that burden is a difficult one to bare.

Think about it. Let me know if you agree/ disagree in the comments below.