The 11 Plus Exams Are Coming: 3 Signs You're Prepared

As an 11 plus exam tutor, I regularly see the the upside and the downside of the 11 plus frenzy.

  On the upside, there's the excitement of preparing for the exams, the curiosity of whether your child (or student) will pass and the   potential for a child's life to be changed when they obtain a place at their dream school.

However, there's a very big downside.

The endless worry of whether your child will obtain a place. The anguish of watching them go through one of the toughest learning  experiences of their life and the fear that they might not do as well as expected.

It's a roller coaster ride that doesn't end until your answers have been resolved.

At this time of year parents wonder whether their child is ready for the exams and this is usually the period where tutors like myself, receive the greatest level of enquiries.

My inbox is flooded with requests and my waiting list is jam packed.

It's that time when parents, teachers, tutors and students worry constantly about the exams.

So how do you know if your child is ready? 

There are three simple signs that shed light on how prepared your child is.

1. They know all of the VR types.

2. They know the exam entails- they know whether they're sitting the English, Maths, NVR and/or Verbal Reasoning paper.

3. They've done heaps of practice and are scoring at least 85% on average. Scoring less than this at this stage is a cause for concern in my opinion. If your child isn't hitting the 85% mark, it's a sign that they definitely need to do more practice.

For parents who are teaching their child themselves and aren't hiring a tutor, I strongly recommend buying/downloading as many of the 11 plus practice papers as possible.

If you're a parent who really wants to their child to succeed in the exams then I suggest signing up to the early access list for my 11+ success book. The book is a guide for parents who want to learn about what it really takes to get your child into a top school.

In the book, I spill the beans on all of my top tips, recommendations and advice which is all based on years of preparing students for the exams.

Click here to sign up to the early access list (just enter your name and email and click the 'sign up' button). Once the book is complete, I'll email you the link to download it for FREE.

If you'd like to ask a question about the 11+ exams, leave a comment below.

The Tutoress.

On The Green Eyed Monster

The green eyed monster.

No, it's not just something we read about in Shakespeare or see in nightmares. It's real and it's inside most if not all of us.

We look at others and think: How comes they can do XYZ and I can't? How comes their child is topic of the class and mine's last? How comes I'm not the super parent or super tutor that I'd dreamed of being?

When the green eyed monster rears it's ugly head, we feel his presence and it's usually so overbearing that it takes over us!

So what do you do when you're hit by jealousy, envy or the feeling of malice towards others?

You inhale. Take a deep breath and tell yourself that yes, other people might seem like perfect achievers with perfect children or perfect lesson plans but they're not you! You have your own unique gifts and talents that make you special and those are the gifts that you need to leverage.

There will always be people who are smarter, better educated, more skilled etc, but that doesn't mean that you're not a good enough parent, teacher or tutor.

Write down 5 skills that you have and take time to think about how you can accentuate those skills. How can you turn your good gifts into great ones?

Now it's over to you. Have you ever felt jealous of another person's success? Have you ever felt as if you weren't doing things the 'right way'? How did you handle it? Leave a comment below. Don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter for free education and tutoring resources.

The Tutoress

Getting Your Child To Read: 3 Simple But Effective Tips For Boosting Reading Skills

• 'My child refuses to read when I tell him/her to!'
• 'My child just doesn't enjoy reading!'
• 'I don't know how to get my child to read!'

These are three hugely common statements that parents make when it comes to encouraging their child rot read more. As a tutor and educator, I can't stress enough the importance of reading especially at primary level. Reading is crucial- fact.

So why are so many children reluctant to read?

There are a few reasons for this:

For some children, reading is deemed a chore- something that they're forced to do because adults tell them. Comparatively, some children struggle with reading and need that extra bit of care and attention so that they can improve their reading skills. Furthermore, some children are excellent readers but struggle to understand and comprehend the books they've read. The words go in one ear and out the other.

Solution #1: The Mixer Strategy

Make reading fun! Put some effort into combining reading based activities with hobbies that your child genuinely enjoys. For example, if your child loves to sing, could you create or find a reading activity that uses or incorporates music? If your child loves history, why not encourage them to read history-inspired books that interest them (The Horrible History series is a great place to start).

Solution #2: The Specificity Technique

Use incentives to encourage them to read more often. When you tell a child to read, don't just tell them 'to read!' What I mean by this is that saying, 'go and read' to a child doesn't communicate a clear goal for them. Instead of 'go and read' be specific! Replace the phrase, 'go and read' with something far more specific like: 'go and read the next thirty pages of Pig Heart Boy.' See how the second statement is far more effective because it tells the child exactly what to do. Be specific. Give your child crystal clear directions so that they know what to do. I call this the specificity technique- try it and apply it to every direction you give your child.

Solution #3: Channelling 

So your child reads a book, you then ask them a few questions about the book and find that the expression on their face is one of bemusement. In other words, your child can read well but has absolutely no idea what they've read! Their comprehension skills are lacking and you have no idea what to do about it. What do you do? Simple. You follow this one simple but effective strategy- one that I've termed channelling. The gap in time between a child reading a story and answering questions on that story can seem quite a while for some children. The channelling technique simply involves asking the child questions during the course of their reading rather than after it. For instance, your child could read one page and then answer questions on that page, read another and answer questions, and so forth. By following this technique, your child is constantly remaining engaged with the text and is far more likely to understand, appreciate and remember what they learn.

Which technique did you find to be most useful? Try the above techniques and tell me in the comments below how they worked for you.

The Tutoress

Do You Need Qualifications To Become A Tutor?

Have you ever thought about becoming a tutor but questioned whether you were 'qualified' enough?I've heard so many people say things like, 'I'd love to become a tutor but I just don't think I have the right qualifications?

I always find it quite interesting when I hear such remarks because the truth is that...

you don't need ANY qualifications to be a tutor! Yes, it's true!

Tutors usually come from a variety of academic and professional backgrounds. Some are Graduates, Qualified Teachers, Retirees whilst others are simply people who are highly skilled in a specific field or industry. For example, a mum who is awesome at teaching primary/kindergarten level maths but doesn't have a qualified teaching certificate or degree. Technically speaking, there's absolutely nothing wrong with her charging money to tutor maths to local kids. In fact, she might just discover that she's actually better at teaching the subject than most teachers.

If you're thinking about tutoring but feel unqualified, you're wrong. The tutoring sector is as diverse as the people in it. They come from all walks of life and many are good at tutoring because they're great educators.

I bet you're now thinking, 'how can I tutor if I don't have qualifications in the subject?' Well, in reality you shouldn't be teaching a subject that you're not confident in. For example, if you love maths and just can't get enough of the subject, then you probably should be teaching it and sharing your knowledge with the world! If however, you have a maths teacher qualification but hate the subject then you're definitely best off teaching a subject that you actually like!

The reality is that qualifications play quite a minor role in your ability to tutor. Your ability to teach, your passion for the subject and your willingness to become a student of the subject (the best teachers are the biggest learners) are THE most important factors in influencing how good (or great) a tutor you are.

So don't let qualifications (or lack of them) hold you back from pursuing your tutoring dreams! Go on and tutor! By sharing your knowledge and passion with the world, you're making a difference to someone else's life! Who doesn't want to do that? I know I do.

If you're ready to take the first steps to becoming a wealthy, high paid tutor, subscribe to my newsletter and get exclusive updates.

Are you a pushy parent?

I used to think that 'pushy parenting' was a fallacy and that all parents shouldpush their children to succeed academically.

Nowadays however, my perspective has started to change.

I was recently teaching a lesson when a parent interrupted and started to moan endlessly about how lazy their child was.

As I nodded my head in approval, something hit me.

I realised that whilst some children are genuinely lazy and really don't care about their learning, this child wasn't one of them. This child did work. They worked incredibly hard and deserved a 'well done' or 'keep it up darling.'

I left the lesson and began to ponder:

Is it okay to constantly criticise children?

Is it okay to push, push and push your child in the bid for academic excellence?

Will constant pushing lead to success or will it just result in broken children who don't feel as if anything they do is good enough?

As a private tutor, is my role to simply nod in acknowledgement or to interrupt when parents are criticising their children?

What do you think?

Is pushy parenting acceptable or is it borderline abusive?

I'm starting to agree with the latter.

Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

The Tutoress.