How do you encourage your child to prepare for the SATs exams? (Part 1)

The SATs exams are around the corner and many children struggle with preparing for these incredibly vital exams.

As a parent, it can be difficult to motivate your child to study, read books, complete practice papers or take small steps towards being prepared for the exams.

It might feel like mission impossible to get them to do some form of work.

However, there are 3 things you can do to help them to take action and get ready for the exams.

These steps will not only help your child with the SATs but they can be used to motivate them whenever they're feeling unmotivated.

In this 3-part series, I'll be discussing the essential steps that you can take towards helping your child with the SATs exams.

Step 1.

The first step towards encouraging your child to prepare for the SATs exams is to allocate time in your schedule to talk to them.

Often, parents are used to yelling and shouting at their children in the hope that it will get them to be more obedient. However, it often has the opposite effect and causes children to be more closed and less responsive to instructions.

Rather than yelling, shouting or scolding them, schedule 1 hour in the week to sit down with your child and have a firm but gentle conversation with them.

During this conversation, talk to them in a calm and caring manner. Remind them of how much you love them and how important it is for you to see them succeed. Let them know that you care about them deeply and remind them of how important exam success is in helping them to fulfil their future goals, dreams and desires.

The purpose of this is to establish or rekindle a bond with your child and to help them to see that studying isn't for your own personal benefit but for theirs. Sometimes children feel as though their parents are drilling their own personal desires onto their child but by speaking to them, you'll enable them to see that their success is for their own good.

Your homework this week is to complete step 1. If you had success with this step, leave a comment below to share your success story with other parents. 

Till next time,

Victoria.

Founder, The Clever Comprehension Academy & TheTutoress.com

Should My Child Study During The Summer Holidays?

As a parent it can be difficult to know whether to allow your child to simply enjoy the summer holiday break or encourage them to keep a regular academic routine.

It's natural for most children to want to play, have fun and sit in front of the TV all day. However, doing these things can also negatively affect their academic progress.

So how do you as a parent strike the balance between allowing your child to have fun whilst also encouraging them to study?

Here are a few quick tips to help.

#1. Treat the summer as a time for progress and rejuvenation. 

The summer is a time for you and your child to recharge and unwind and it's therefore essential that you give your child at least some time to have a break. Do your best to have a positive mindset about the summer months and think of it as being a time for progress and rejuvenation. 

#2. Schedule fun time and work time.

One of my favourite quotes is, "if it's not scheduled, it's not real." This simply means that if you don't schedule things then they're never going to happen. To maximise your child's progress during the summer months it's pivotal that you carve out specific times for work and for play. You could for instance have study time from 11am-2pm and then fun time from 2pm-7pm. This will help your child to follow a routine and it will ensure that they study without feeling over worked. It'll also ensure that they wake up at a decent time each morning as many children have the habit of waking up in the late afternoon when they're not at school.

#3. Create a curriculum.

Which subjects or topics is your child struggling with? Is it 11-plus verbal reasoning, trigonometry or writing compositions? Make a note of the areas that they need to work on and create a curriculum that will cover all of the key areas that they need to study in more depth. Use the summer as a period where they can make progress in areas that they were previously struggling with.

If your child is struggling with English you can enrol them in an online course such as The Clever Comprehension Academy so that they can go through subjects like reading, inference and vocabulary in a way that is convenient. Furthermore, the course can be accessed 24/7 so your child can study in their own time. Click here to learn more about it.

Expat Children and the 11-Plus Exams: Advice For Expat and International Parents

Many of the students that we teach are from expat, diplomatic and international backgrounds.

As the child of an ambassador, politician, CEO or public figure, you're often expected to move from country to country, city to city with hardly any prior notice. It isn't an easy life and it becomes harder when you're expected to sit some of the most challenging school entrance exams in the world.

If you're the parent of an expat child, it's important that you understand many of the complexities that your child may be facing. 

These include:

• Feeling lonely (because your child's friendship circle changes every time they move schools)
• Feeling as if they don't belong
• Lacking in confidence about their appearance, accent or mannerisms because they are 'different' from that of other children.

However, it's important to note that your child's unique international upbringing has many benefits that make them unique and therefore, you should encourage them to embrace the following qualities.

• They have an innate ability to get along with people from every culture because they are a third culture kid.
• They might speak multiple languages to a fluent or conversational level.
• Your child might be more confident because expat life has given them the chance to see more of the world and use public speaking speaks on a regular basis.
• Your child is likely to have a more varied and diverse perspective of the world because they have visited and lived in a variety of places. This also means that they have wonderful stories to tell; stories that make them stand out from the crowd.

To help your child with the 11+, SATs and other important exams, instil pride and confidence in them. Let them know that they have some incredible gifts that are unique to them because of their third culture background. Encourage them to embrace every aspect of who they are.

The National Tutoring Conference presents: The 11 Plus Conference

The National Tutoring Conference presents:

The 11 Plus Conference

1pm – 4pm, Wednesday 1st April 2015

Nutford House, University of London, Brown Street, London W1H 5UL

Bringing together teachers, head teachers, examiners and education industry experts in the area of the 11 plus preparation

Providing a platform for discussion and debate in the future of the 11 plus

Raising money for the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust. 

Contact: Cleo Watson

Tel: 07870559780

Email: info@nationaltutoringconference.co.uk

Confirmed speakers:

The sciences and humanities - is the 11 Plus too limiting in what it tests and prepares pupils for? - Harry Mount - The Telegraph

The Kent 11 Plus test was changed to make it less susceptible to coaching. What happened next?  Peter Read - Kent Advice

Fairness of pupil premium priority at lower scores in "tutor-proof" tests or tests that examine innate ability.  Mark Maclaine - Tutorfair

When education is reduced to astonishing absurdity. Dr Chris Ray - Reporting Inspector, Independent Schools Inspectorate and Member of the UK International Education Council

Are there advantages to private primary school education for the 11+? - Dee Francken - deefrancken.com 

Comment from - Philip Alexandre - Touch-type Read and Spell

The full agenda and schedule for the event can be found at www.nationaltutoringconference.co.uk with regular updates posted to Twitter, via the hashtag #11plus