Which Books For Verbal Reasoning?
The Majority of all books mentioned here can be bought from many online retailers, including Eleven Plus Exams, Amazon and WHSmith.
Building the Foundation - Easter of Year 4
Read, read, read!
First and foremost, your dc should read, read, read!
- Get him reading fictional books, aswell as non fiction.
- Get him to read aloud to you, so you can pick up on words he doesn't know, and help him look them up in the dictionary.
- Get an atlas and frequently look up places mentioned in the texts.
- Your dc should be reading books that are well written, so he can come across vocabulary which will stretch his mind; rather than books which have simple short repetitive words.
and then there is also the original Complete Fairy Tales, by Grimm; and Stories and Tales, by Andersen (Published by Routledge.) In year 4, children should be encouraged to a read a wide range of texts, and play word and number games. Reading should start early, and be continued till the end.
Ideas To Help Making 11+ Learning Fun, a discussion thread from ElevenPlusExams.
The First Aid in English, Angus McIver
This book should be started early on (a year in advance) for 11+ prep simply because kids can get totally sick of doing it repetitively! However, it is a great book on English Usage - similes, group terms, gender, occupations, where people live (an aborigine lives in a humpy?) Don't forget to buy the answer book aswell. Regular practice is recommended in the months approaching the tests.
Vocabulary Cards should be introduced through games.
Learning the Method & Technique - January, Year 5
The Tutors
Step in, The Tutors! These guys are one of the Most Valuable Publishers in the Verbal Reasoning World of the 11+! They have a range of interactive CDs which you can purchase from their website elevenplusexams.co.uk, the ones we used were:
- Vocabulary Builder CD is filled with word games,
- Method & Technique familiarise yourself with 21 types types in their free downloadable book.
- Verbal Reasoning CD Volume 1 introduces the 21 types of VR questions that appear on NFER/GL Assessment papers.
IPS
This publisher has lots of books which can be utilised in the early stages of the 11+ practice. They have:
- Starter Questions - Book S
- Additional Pracitce Questions - Book A
- Practice papers - Book C (we found this to be the most beneficial)
The Tutors
- Verbal Reasoning CD - Volume 2 introduces you to short papers. A great way to start practicing.
- 15 Minute Tests level 2 & 3
Test Practice Stage - 32 Weeks Left, Mid-April
Bright Sparks Series, Pack 1 & 2 - Susan Daughtrey
These two packs are the only publications of Susan Daughtrey that cover the 21 types. She has other books, but they cover a lot of other types of questions. There are 4 papers in each pack. By the time your dc has covered these papers, he will be familiarised with the 21 types, and be quite confident. Susan Daughtrey tutors children for the Buckinghamshire 11+ exams and is said to have an extremely high pass rate.
Learning Labs, Madeline Guyon. Pack 1 & 2
These are slightly harder than Susan Daughtrey's papers, and and are great practice if you are heading in the direction of the Tiffin Schools.
Verbal Reasoning 1, 2 & 3, by Walsh
These 12 papers are some of the hardest to practice on, simply because they use a very high standard of English. Barbara Walsh tutors children for the Tiffin exams, and the standard of her books is just as high. Thus they should be left until the child is familiar with the question styles, so as not to discourage them.
Mock Test Days - 7 Weeks left, End of September
At 7 weeks left, you should now start having mock test days once a week in timed conditions, tackling the NFER/GL Assessment papers. If you apply for an 11 plus registration pack to Buckinghamshire Council, they will send you three papers written by NFER/GL Assessment, and are excellent to practice with.
The Tutors 15 minutes Tests, Level 4&5 can be gently used here for practice, but with caution as they are extremely tough - try them to stretch the mind further.
Final Week - Relax & Take It Easy - November
This week should be left to learn through fun and games. Puzzles, flashcards, quizes, reading. No more tests, Hooray!