Which Books for the Tiffin Exam?

A fantastic summary by super-tutor Patricia:

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/11plus/viewtopic.php?t=12060&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=&sid=21dbfd606f50a72edefe632a4d306cfd

The First Aid in English

Here are the chapters I recommend in The First Aid of English:


Gender
Families
Traditional Homes
Group Terms
Occupations
Sounds and Motions
Classification
Gradation
Association
Analogies
Antonyms
Synonyms
Homonyms and Homophones
Adverbs
Compound Words
The Right Word in the Right Place
Different Type of Walks page 97
Diminutives
Small Quantities
For Reference
General Knowledge Tests
Fastenings

Hope it helps!

11 Plus - Start Preparing

Children in Year 6 are currently taking their 11+ examinations... which means there is only one year left for the children in Year 5!


My son is in year five and I have started him off with mild 11+ prep.... We have started The First Aid in English... he does The Tutors Verbal Reasoning CD Volume 1, and Bonds Third Papers in Non Verbal Reasoning. I am also getting him to read to me... sometimes its fiction, sometimes its the encyclopaedia.

If your child is in Year 5, and you want to start preparing your child for the 11+ why not start it off now, so you don't have to panic later?

http://inspiritysurrenders.blogspot.com/2009/01/which-books-for-verbal-reasoning.html

http://inspiritysurrenders.blogspot.com/2009/03/which-books-for-non-verbal-reasoning.html

Contact me if you want more advice: sara@malik5.com

Games for the 11+

The Happy Puzzle Company have a great collection of games and puzzles to help prepare for the 11+.

Games and puzzles include:

The Set Game

Brain Box Games - English History, Dinosaurs, Animals, Kings & Queens of England, All around the world

Which Books for Non-Verbal Reasoning?

Learning the Method and Technique - January, Year 5

Bonds assessment papers all of the books from third up to further fifth

Bonds How to do Non Verbal Reasoning has good exercise questions in it and a pull-out test that should be used later on.

Starting to Practice - March, Year 5

1. Learning Together books, both



2. AE Tuition books 1 and 2 need to be covered before the papers start

3. Eleven plus swot papers


4. If you run out of resources, the Premium Series may be beneficial, although some questions can have more than one answer - in which case, should be ignored/crossed out. (This series is very close to the style used by GL assessment)

Test Practice - 13 weeks left - Mid August

Start practicing the proper tests, alternating between (so child is exposed to different types of paper style) the following packs of practice tests:

AFN Publishing Test Pack

Letts/ GL Assessment Test Papers

Bonds Test Papers

try to only cover 2 tests from each pack in this period - as you want to save some for the mock test days. If you run out of resources try Bonds 10 Minute Tests, Ages 11 - 12,

and the Pull Out Test in How to do Non Verbal Reasoning.

Mock Test Days - 7 weeks left - End of September

The children should be completely ready for the tests and totally familiar with all types and procedures. Start having weekly “test days” exam conditions with a fifteen minute break in between. Alternating between the remaining AFN Papers, Bonds Papers and NFER papers

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!

Secondary School Search

Times Online Schools League Tables

Top 50 Independents by GCSE
Top 50 Grammar schools by GCSE
Top schools by GCSE results

BBC Schools League Tables - Find your closest secondary schools

Word Searches & Crosswords

Create your own custom word searches:
http://word-search-maker.com/

Create your own custom crosswords:
http://www.crosswordweaver.com/index.htm

Tutors List

So many people are looking for Tutors for the 11+

I personally tried a tuition centre on Uxbridge Road/Hanwell and I was really disappointed, and in the end, I tutored him myself; but for those who don't have the time/patience to DIY, I am creating a list of tutors which have a good reputation:

Babara Walsh
Author of Verbal Reasoning Books (essential books for Tiffin in my opinion and a lot of others')
Tel: 07956409903 02085469342

Barnfield Youth Center
Parkfield Road
Kingston
Surrey
KT2 5LL

Susan J Daughtrey
Author of the Bright Sparks Series (essential books for the Bucks & Tiffin exams - in my opinion and a lot of others')
Tel: 01753 882022 or 01753 883 309

The Pines
Lewis Lane
Gerrards Cross
Buckinghamshire
SL9 9TS
Tuition held at Chalfont Community Centre

Stephen Curran
Author of the AE Tuition Work Books (great NVR practice)
He really knows what he is talking about - we went to him at the end of our 11+ journey.
http://www.aetuition.co.uk/
020 8867 2727
01753 579956

2 Kingfisher Court,
281 Farnham Road,
Slough SL2 1JF.

Getting ready for the 11+?

· Start a year early for best results

· Get the correct books (not available from WHSmith)

· Get help and support from http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/

· Visit http://www.inspiritysurrenders.blogspot.com/ for additional tips and resources.

· Visit http://www.chuckra.com/ and take up their “mock tests”

· Visit the local grammar schools in your surrounding area

· Consider moving to Buckinghamshire for the best grammar single-sex schools!

Find your nearest grammar school

http://www.ngsa.org.uk/map/index.htm

Get An Electronic Dictionary

Sharp PWE300 Electronic Dictionary

Although looking up words in the dictionary is very good practice - utilise your preparation time by investing in a Sharp PWE300 electronic dictionary.

Compound Words Match-Up Worksheets:

Sheet 1 Sheet 2 Sheet 3

I have 17 of these sheets in My File Sharing Folder.

Vocabulary Flashcards

This website allows you to create flashcards and then share them with others! flashcardexchange.com

Search the website for the word "11plus" and you will come to my collection of 7 flashcard sets. Some are from the NFER word-lists that I got from the Eleven Plus Exams website, we picked up from practice papers, and others are just words we came across on our Journey.

You can test yourself using flashcard exchange, and play the "memory" game with the cards: http://www.flashcardexchange.com/tag/11plus :

Click here to download the printable Flash Cards:
NFER Word List Flash Cards
Opposite Flash Cards
Compound Word Flash Cards
Picture Flash Cards
Dictionary Work 1 Flash Cards
Dictionary Work 2 Flash Cards
Dictionary Work 3 Flash Cards

So many flashcards?
I introduced 10 at a time, and kept a box labelled "perfect" and "needs practice".

Sometimes I would place about 15 cards on the table and tell him to pick out any words he knew... and by his 11+ he learnt almost all of them!

Eleven Plus Exams Free Downloadable Resources

Eleven Plus Exams Free Downloadable Resources

There are some great downloadable resources here. These were some of my favourites:

Verbal Reasoning Method & Technique Course
NFER word list
Important Words for Verbal Reasoning
Compound Words for Verbal Reasoning

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.

If your dc is not an avid reader, start with abridged versions of classic novels. The following publishers have a great collection of easy to read books:

1. Ladybird Classics
2. Real Reads
3. Usborne Young Reading
4. Classic Starts
5. Step Into Reading, Levels 4 & 5

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.

Starting to Practice - March, Year 5

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!

11+ Websites

My cherished 11+ website, Eleven Plus Exams:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/
and it's message forum:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/11plus/index.php

Another nifty website is "Chuckra"
http://www.chuckra.co.uk/educational/
who do some great playing cards, and the "SET" game, and offer extremely beneficial "mock tests".

When should one start preparing for the 11+?

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/11plus/viewtopic.php?t=8730&highlight=