How to offer 11 Plus support at home

What can you do at home?

Children come to 11 plus tuition classes with varying levels of confidence and competence and leave with enough knowledge and skill to be able to sit the 11 plus successfully. Much of that is seeded in class, but your help at home will make all the difference to how they feel about the exam. It is worth remembering that there is no one tactic that suits all children. For some, 11 plus support at home takes a gentle approach; others need regular incentives in order to put in the required amount of work. Only you know your child so I leave that up to you. I do recommend the use of a weekly planner. Draw one up or print one off and sit down with your child to fill it in. Ask them to decide where they will block off homework times so that they ‘own’ the planner. Add in any activities or regular times when they may be seeing friends and family etc. and then display it somewhere easy to see so they can check it themselves. Download a basic 11 plus weekly planner here.

In general, there are three areas in which I encourage you to focus on to offer 11 plus support at home:

Homework

Homework is set during every lesson to consolidate and practise what children have been learning in the class. You can help your child by getting them to make and commit to a plan of when they will do this work during the week. It is far better to do it in small chunks than leave it until the night before class.

Reading

Encourage your child to read regularly. If they are reluctant readers, share books together. Reading more challenging texts than they are able to manage independently is a great way to expose them to more advanced vocabulary. Don’t forget poetry, information books and newspapers.

Attitude

It is important that children understand that competition for grammar school places is fierce, but that you believe they have a good chance of securing one. Encourage them to give it their very best, praise them for completing work and keep a positive attitude throughout their studies to build confidence.

Some families are nervous about offering 11 plus support at home. Do please ask me about it if you are and I can help you.

Want to find out more about supporting your child with the 11 plus?

As I may be in the classroom, do please send me an email and I will get back to you just as soon as I can.

CONTACT ME NOW