Home-schooling. An 11+ perspective.

Here we are again. Obviously we all loved it so much the first time that Boris couldn’t wait to gift us with another indefinite stretch of time spent with our precious little moppets… and ONLY our precious moppets. None of those lovely adults who make the incessant snack making more bearable by offering chocolate when the chips are down. No, it’s just you, the children and the knowledge that the 11+ tests are happening this year… gulp. Deep breath. We can do this everyone, really, we can.

It’s fair to say that some schools offer a more comprehensive ‘home-school’ package than others. Some children are expected to spend all day up to their ears in papier mache whilst others spend 5 minutes doing a maths sheet then the rest of the morning asking when they can play on the I-pad.

If you only had time to do one thing every day, my advice would be to read. Read widely, read slowly, read books with pictures, read take-away menus but read, read and then read some more. Discuss words, play with them. Put them into sentences then change the sentences around. Make them silly. Make them sad… but do make them. The children who pass their 11+ tests are the children who read and the children who consistently complete their revision tests (all of them) week in, week out.

Do use the suggested reading list on this website. If you or your child have any suggestions that are not on there, please do let me know. After all, what better way is there to escape lockdown than by picking up a wonderful book and, even better, you won’t have to quarantine when you come back home.