5 Tips to Improve Your Child’s 11+ Vocabulary – Even If They Hate Reading

Whilst some children love learning new vocabulary words, the vast majority find studying 11+ vocabulary difficult.

To be frank, if the most intelligent of adults struggle with 11+ vocabulary then it’s no surprise that it’s difficult for a nine or ten-year-old to. 

Most conventional advice recommends reading as being one of the fastest and most powerful ways to improve vocabulary in children of all ages.

Whilst it’s great advice and there is no denying the academic benefits of reading, the reality is that not all children love to read and it can be extremely difficult to get a reluctant reader to read regularly in the bid to improve their vocabulary.

So what can you do to help your child improve their 11+ vocab without forcing them to read copious amounts of books?

Here are five suggestions that will hopefully make things easier for you and your child.

1. Create a word wall or board.

Instead of reading pages of vocabulary words, their synonyms and antonyms, instead try and create a board for either an individual word or a collective group of words. For example, if your child has 10 new words to learn this week, you could make a word board that includes pictures of things that remind them of the meaning of each of the words.

As a rule of thumb, I advise learning at least 2 new words a day but bumping that number up where possible. In terms of word walls and word boards, there’s so much you can do if you use your imagination.

What you’ll need:

a) Felt tip pens/colouring pencils 

b) A3 paper (coloured paper is preferred)

c) Glue 

d) Images of things that remind your child of the definition of each word. You can print these from Google.

e). A list of vocabulary words (see below)

If you don’t have these materials on hand, do what the wonderful S.L. Ager did with her children and simply use a blackboard and chalk to create word boards. Then take pictures of each board and print them. 

2. Listen to the radio.

Radio stations often have debates where socio-political topics are discussed and high-level vocabulary is used. Listening to them with your child provides them with the benefit of understanding how certain words are used in context as well as opening them up to words they’ve probably never heard before.

Once again, you can make this activity fun by incorporating arts and crafts into it or incorporating another activity that your child enjoys.

3. Talk more. 

In this day and age where we’re often glued to our phones or laptops, it’s easy to dismiss our children and to sort of tune out to their needs.

However, in this digitalised age, it’s more important than ever to engage in conversations with children so that they benefit from face-to-face interactions and pick up new vocabulary in a very natural way.

Often enough, they won’t notice that they’re leaning the meaning of a new word simply by talking to you. For instance, if your child needs to learn the meaning of “perturbed,” why not use that word as many times during the day as you can or encourage them to use the word as much as possible?

You could even have a competition where the person who uses the word most within a day wins a prize. Once again, it’s about thinking creatively and outside of the box.

4.  Play Games

There’s an old adage that says children learn through play. Sadly, sometimes as children get older, we forget how important play is in helping to stimulate and enhance their academic skills.

It provides them with so many benefits and acts as the perfect bonding moment for both of you. Games such as Scrabble are particularly great for vocabulary building and to be honest, playing Scrabble doesn’t feel like ‘work.

5. Change The Décor

Don’t you just love a change of scenery? I’m sure you do and your child probably does too.

There’s a really easy way to change your child’s visual environment whilst boosting their vocabulary and that’s simply by decorating their room with things that stimulate their vocabulary or, if you prefer an even simpler choice, stick vocabulary words on the wall of their bedroom.

You can make this activity fun by writing the word on a piece of card paper and adding the definition, synonym, and antonym underneath so that they can see the meaning every time they see the word. It makes vocabulary building fun because you can decorate the cards, add glitter, sparkles, use felt tips or add anything that will help motivate your child to look at the card and learn the word.

Often enough, you’ll find that they’ll glance at the word once or twice a day and over time they’ll pick up its meaning. If you’re feeling fancy, you could even add words to magnetic slates and stick them on the fridge. 

Boosting your child’s vocabulary might seem like a daunting task but if you dedicate enough time and effort into it, it will really pay off.

Sometimes certain elements of 11+ preparation are arduous but the key is to break some of the big tasks (like vocab building) into small chunks (like word walls or word decor) and overtime, things will get easier and your child will start making great progress.

Consistency is key.

That’s it for today. Let me know if the above tips and tricks have helped by leaving a comment below.

PS. Do you need an 11+ vocabulary word list?

If so, check out 50 vocabulary words below. 

Fifty 11+ Vocabulary Words

1. Brook

2. Quintessential 

3. Calibrate 

4. Pessimistic 

5. Optimistic 

6. Pillage 

7. Figurative 

8. Formative 

9. Shrill 

10. Disturbance 

11. Synchronise

12. Countenance

13. Prudent 

14. Gist 

15. Obscure 

16. Foolhardy 

17. Homogeneous 

18. Surreptitious 

19. Verbose

20. Succinct 

21. Concise 

22. Brevity 

23. Plausible 

24. Enigma

25. Vigorous

26. Pallid 

27. Tremulous 

28. Labyrinth 

29. Rutilant 

30. Loquacious 

31. Taunt 

32. Becoming 

33. Cunning

34. Manipulative 

35. Perturbed 

36. Underwrite

37. Sly 

38. Conceal

39. Overt 

40. Covert 

41. Apex

42. Zenith 

43. Conservative

44. Waffle 

45. Meticulous 

46. Knotty

47. Mariner 

48. Tufty 

49. Infiltrate

50. Iteration 

11+ Creative Writing Example: (A Must-Read For Students Who Want To Score Full Marks)

As a tutor, I can count on one hand the number of times a student has written a story that has blown me away or left me wanting more. It’s so rare in fact that I hardly award marks of 90% or more. When I do, it’s usually because the student’s work meets the criteria of excellent or outstanding writing.

Now, every child has a different writing style. Some children write very descriptively, others include a lot of dialogue, and some use a mix of devices. I believe that children with naturally unique or quirky writing styles should retain as much of this as possible as it helps to set their work apart from others. One of my students (who’s now at Harrow) is a prime example of this. His writing is very descriptive and I’ve always encouraged him to keep and foster his natural love of descriptive language and expression.

Although I’m sure you’re eager to download the writing example from one of my students, but before you do, I want you and your child to pay attention to the notes underneath the example. They contain key tips that reflect the criteria that examiners and admissions tutors base mark allocation on. It’s key that you read this section with your child and encourage them to follow the tips mentioned.

Furthermore, it’s vital to write on a daily basis. Even if it’s just for 10 minutes. In fact, if your child is pressed for time, encourage them to simply spend 5 minutes coming up with a plan for a story or composition title. In doing so, they’ll improve their ability to think quickly and come up with story ideas in a few short minutes.

This is vital as students often struggle with creative writing in the 11+ exam because they can’t think of a story idea or can’t think of a way to start their story and they therefore end up stuck. This slows them down and costs them marks.

I’ll be sharing my best tips and tricks for creative writing success in a future post so keep an eye out for more details by checking the blog regularly.

Here’s to your child’s success!

Victoria, The Tutoress.

My child is struggling with comprehension. Do you have any ideas of how to help them improve?

Comprehension is one of the areas of English where students struggle the most.

There are several reasons for this such as:

• Not understanding the passage

• Having a limited vocabulary 

• Not using the right techniques

• A lack of interest in reading 

And more.

These days, schools place a huge emphasis on Maths which is great but the unfortunate effect of this is that an increasing number of children dislike Literacy. Quite often, when I’m teaching, I ask my students what their favourite subject is and Maths is always the preferred choice.

To combat this and help your child increase their enthusiasm for English and comprehension, in particular, there are a few things you can do.

These include:

Taking them to the library and making it a proper day or afternoon out where you choose books. You could even organise a trip to a famous or large library that’s outside of your local area. There are some beautiful libraries across the country and they’re great for helping children to ignite their passion for reading.

Help them to use comprehension techniques when doing ‘fun’ things. For instance, while watching a movie, you could ask them who the protagonist is. That’s a big word but if your child is a student of our Clever Comprehension Academy programme, they’ll know what it means. You could also ask them to write a summary of what happens in the film as this is a great way to check their retention skills. 

When it comes to reading passages and understanding them better, here are some great tips.

Visualise the text.

When reading, it’s important to create images of what’s happening. This enables you to paint a picture of the story and to answer questions more easily. Visualisation is really powerful!

When reading, ask your child to picture what they see.

Focus more on the questions than on the passage or text.

Students often make the mistake of focusing heavily on the passage and it causes them to worry about big words they don’t know the meaning of, events that don’t quite make sense and tiny little details that are confusing.

Often enough, the questions in the exam don’t always assess these things and students who focus on the passage too much can find themselves losing marks. 

Instead of being passage-obsessed, focus on the questions that are being asked. Read them carefully and find the answers in the passage. 

Think like a detective

Instead of worrying about understanding the meaning behind every detail within the passage or text, focus on thinking like a detective who searches for answers.

Highlight and underline the answers as you find them in the passage; some students choose to write the question number next to the answer or highlighted word/phrase which is another great thing to do.

The key is on shifting your thinking from worrying about understanding everything to focus on finding the answers.

Be mindful of inference.

Examiners are constantly checking to see if students understand how to infer. What does this mean? It’s testing their ability to read between the lines of any text and draw conclusions. 

Inference is about thinking strategically and using the clues within a text to understand what’s happening on a deeper level. For example, if in the text it says that the character beamed with joy, we can interpret that the character is happy. 

If on the other hand, it says that a character hung their head and dropped their shoulders, we can infer that they’re sad, withdrawn or possibly even ashamed.

Do you see how inference works now? It’s a wonderful skill to develop.

Learn to PEE.

For students sitting multiple choice exams such as the CEM, they don’t have to worry about this but for those sitting standard exams such as those popularly used by independent schools, learning to PEE is really important.

What’s PEE? It stands for point, evidence, explanation. Put simply, when answering questions, students need to be able to write detailed answers where they firstly make a point (which answers the question), back that point up using evidence from the text (such as a quote) and finally, explain the relevance of the quote to the point and the answer that’s been set. 

Here’s a quick example.

Question: How is George described in the passage? (3 marks)

Answer: George is described as being a tall, baby-faced man who is highly likeable. In the passage, he is described as “having the countenance of a King” which suggests that he is naturally likeable and commands respect in the same way a king or monarch would. 

In the example above, the first line focuses on making a point that answers the question. The second line provides a relevant quote and the third provides the explanation which is linked to the question to show relevance. 

I hope this article helps you and your child to see that comprehension doesn’t have to be difficult.

It can be broken down so that it’s easy to score higher marks. The key is in focusing on building inference skills, knowing what examiners are looking for and learning to search for the answers rather than worrying about understanding every little detail in the text.

Do you have any other comprehension tips you’d like to share? We’d love to hear them.

Leave them in the comments below. 

Ps. If your child still needs help with comprehensive, check out our online course which can be accessed 24/7. It’s called Clever Comprehension Academy.

Here’s to your child’s success!

The Tutoress Team.

Here’s How Travelling Can Boost Your Child’s Academic Results and Social Skills

One of the joys of childhood is that it’s a time when we’re naturally creative and imaginative.

Children have an innate desire to learn new things, see the world differently and are naturally inquisitive.

For most of us adults, when we think back to our childhood, we have fond memories of exploring, running, walking, climbing, screaming and getting into all sorts of trouble.

It’s easy to dismiss such precious memories, however, those moments of play have actually helped to develop a variety of skills that we use each and every day. 

You might be wondering how playtime, travelling and ‘fun’ activities have anything to do with education but they play a vital role and research shows that children who engage in a wide range of activities outperform those who don’t.

Travelling with your child has several long-lasting benefits and enables them to adapt more quickly in the globalised world we live in.

The importance of this really sunk in for me recently when I attended The Language Show In Kensington, London. At one of the talks, the panel shared the impact that living abroad and being exposed to other languages had in their lives.

One of my big takeaways from the talk was that language exposure (which often comes through travelling) enables people (young and old) to connect with a wide range of people, understand other perspectives and be more open-minded.

This is incredibly important when it comes to various elements of education - especially creative and discursive writing. For instance, discursive and persuasive writing pieces often require students to show their understanding of other perspectives and acknowledge different viewpoints.

Children who have been exposed to other cultures and ways of life through travel and exploration are more likely to acquire the skills needed to write compellingly. 

Travel also helps children on a deeper level. For example, it enables children to appreciate other customs, religions and cultures which means they’re less likely to be prejudiced and are more likely to show compassion to vulnerable individuals or those who are marginalised.

These sorts of qualities are imperative in helping a child to develop the skills needed to differentiate themselves from others and eventually stand out in the workplace.

Travelling with your child can also enable them to soak up interpersonal skills such as the ability to problem solve, engage in teamwork and negotiate with a wide range of people.

You might not realise it but whilst you’re handling what might seem to be small negotiations such as the hotel room or transport, your child is watching you and is absorbing all of the skills you use to make decisions, talk to others and handle complex matters.

Travelling with your child adds colour to their picture of the world and provides them with the inspiration to think imaginatively, write creatively and persuasively and incorporate some of the experiences they encounter into their academic work.

It helps them to stand out from the crowd and opens their minds to the endless possibilities that life has to offer.

It teaches them to think critically and problem solve. Furthermore, it doesn’t feel like work. It’s fun! Travelling has so many benefits so never feel as though it’s a waste of time. The key is in how you use your opportunities to travel to enhance their learning.

Here are some tips for doing just that:

✔️ Visit museums whenever you’re abroad and encourage your child to take pictures. Use these pictures as tools for writing stimulus. For example, they could write a story based on one of the photos. When I visited the Anne Frank Museum, I took photos and used them as inspiration for diary entry pieces for my students. They really enjoyed it and it enabled them to feel as they they understood her story better.

✔️ Take a sketchbook with you to art galleries and encourage your child to draw pictures of the art or write words that describe what they see. Bullet points are perfectly fine.

✔️ Turn trips to the beach, parks into adventures. You could for instance, have a treasure hunt at the beach and then ask your child to write a poem or story about their adventure.

✔️ Visit family and friends. This is a great way to expose your child to other languages and encourage them to ask questions about what life is like in that particular country.

✔️ Ask them what the differences are between the country you’re visiting and the country you currently live in. For example, do they drive on the left or right side? Do people wear hijabs or let their hair be loose? Are siestas common? There’s so much you can do.

Do you travel with your children? If so, leave a comment below sharing where you’ve been to and where you’d like to go next. 

How To Start Preparing For The 11+ Exam

“My child’s 11+ exam is next year, how do I start preparing for it?”

This is a great question and one I hear often.

In fact, I wrote a guidebook on this very topic almost a decade ago. It’s rather dated now, especially as the CEM was only introduced in 2013, but I’m hoping to produce an updated version of the book in the nearby future.

In the meantime, here are some tips to help guide you through starting your child’s 11+ prep. These tips are also somewhat applicable to the 7+, 8+, 9+ and 10+ exams.

Be Honest

I know we all think our children are perfect but the unfortunate truth is that not every child is suited to the 11+. Some children don’t have the drive or determination to study for what can feel like hours on end. Some would rather watch TV all day or take part in tons of activities after school than to spend their evenings or holiday periods studying for an exam. Before you even begin to consider the 11+, think about whether your child is naturally bright and be honest with yourself. Does your child have natural academic potential or are they lagging behind academically? Does your child want to sit the exam? Do they want to go to a grammar or independent school? Think about these things and be honest with yourself. Don’t hesitate to ask your child questions and discuss whether they’d like to go through the 11+ process.

Start early

I know that not all parents are fortunate enough to have discovered the 11+ early, but as a general rule of thumb, early preparation makes a tremendous difference. If you can, start laying the foundation for your child’s educational success as early as possible and avoid leaving exam prep to the last minute. Even before you begin working through 11+ books, strengthen your child’s academic foundation by teaching them new vocabulary words and help them to build their English and Maths skills. For instance, it’s a great idea to pick up books that cover topics such as SPAG, arithmetic, mental maths and comprehension.

Begin with research

Research which schools you’re applying for and if possible, consider visiting them as early as possible. Sometimes parents start 11+ preparation and then find out months later that the school they’re applying for doesn’t even test a certain subject so it’s best to know where you’re applying to first. Then you can plan accordingly. It’s also worth reaching out to your target schools and confirming which format their exams are in and which subjects your child will sit exams in. For example, some schools require students to only sit exams in Maths and English, whilst others assess Reasoning as well. Generally, the main exam types are the CEM, GL Assessment, ISEB, CSSE or the standard exam (for independent school entry).

Start small

The Bond books are a great starting point. Start with the lower age bracket (e.g. 7-8) and then work upwards. Go through questions that your child is struggling with most and check the ones they got wrong so they don’t repeat mistakes.

Get focused

Focus on improving your child’s overall vocabulary, English and Maths skills. These skills aren’t just important for the 11+ but for life. The stronger their English and Maths, the more likely they are to do well.

Find a routine

Get into a routine. This is important so that it becomes a habit for your child to study every day and it helps them to manage homework alongside 11+ work.

Don’t solely D.i.y

Although you don’t have to hire a tutor for long periods of time, it’s definitely a good idea to book a few sessions or at the very least, an assessment. Ideally, if you’re thinking about hiring a tutor on a long-term basis, it’s best to see which tutor your child clicks with and then to join their waiting list early so that your child can have a few lessons with them closer to the time of the exam. Some parents don’t use a tutor at all and that’s fine, but it’s good to have a second opinion from someone who has a strong track record of getting children into the particular school(s) you’re applying for. If you don’t want regular lessons, just book a few sessions or assessments with them and they should be able to give you a report of their observations.

Stay calm

Stay calm and don’t panic because children pick up on these things. Try to encourage your child to have a positive mindset about exams and education in general.

Recommended 11+ Revision Books & Resources

When it comes to preparing for the 11+ exams, it can be very daunting figuring out which materials and resources are best. Here are some of our favourites.

For Early Preparation (Ideal For Years 3 & 4)

The Bond 11+ Bundle (Ages 6-7) - The bundles include all four subjects (English, Maths, Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning)

The Bond 11+ Bundle (Ages 7-8)

The Bond Bundle (Ages 8-9)

The Bond Bundle (Ages 9-10)

For Generation Preparation and Revision (Years 5 and above)

The Bond Bundle (Ages 10-11)

Practice Papers For CEM

Practice Papers For GL Assessment

Quick Practice Tests For GL Assessment

Bond No Nonsense English

Rapid Tests NVR

For ISEB & Independent School Exam Preparation

Bond Verbal Reasoning (age 11-12)

Galore Park (English) (ISEB)

Galore Park (Maths) ISEB

Recommended Vocabulary Books

The Cadwaladr Quests by SL Ager (Tangled Time)

The Cadwaladr Quests by SL Ager (Race For Gold)

Vocabulary Flashcards

Here’s to your child’s success!

The Tutoress Team.