Building Confidence at Home with 11+ Practice Books: A Parent’s Guide

Preparing for the 11+ can be challenging for both children and their parents. The process requires an abundance of resilience, hard work and confidence. Whilst being competent academically in English, maths and reasoning is important, confidence is often the secret ingredient to success. Practice books can not only improve core skills, they can boost children’s confidence, encourage independence, and help them to take ownership of their learning.

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Issues Many Parents Face when Preparing for the 11+ Exams

Many parents tell me that they don’t feel confident with what to cover in exam preparation. Understandably, they aren’t familiar with the content of the Year 5 and 6 curriculum and what the exam boards consist of. Some parents are not familiar with verbal and non-verbal reasoning as it’s not a subject that is taught in state primary schools. I am also asked by parents about resources that they can use to support their child with learning at home. This is why choosing high-quality practice books like Scholastic’s Pass your 11+ range to use in between tuition sessions is crucial to consolidate learning.

How to Use Practice Books with Your Child

The key with using practice books is to weave them in throughout the day. Short and regular sessions of 20-30 minutes are more effective than cramming in hours of work. Consistency leads to real progress without burnout. As the exam approaches, use a timer so that your child can build exam resilience and confidence whilst working under time constraints.

Once your child has completed a section, sit with them and mark the answers together. Answers are found at the back of each book. Children love marking using different coloured pens – make it as fun as you can! Ensure that your child understands that mistakes are learning opportunities. It’s a good idea to write down in a separate notebook the areas your child needs additional help with and you could revise these with a tutor at a later date.

Exam Revision & Confidence Boosting Tips

• Praise effort, not scores – children are more likely to attempt challenging questions and persevere if they believe that mistakes are part of the learning process. Remind them that they aren’t expected to get full marks in everything.
• Create a calm workspace – you could help them to decorate a small area/table of in a room and make it a special and inviting place for them to learn and revise (remind them to keep their desk tidy!). You might decide to have a sticker reward chart if you would like to use an incentive for their hard work.
• Create a manageable revision timetable that suits your child’s school and extra-curricular activities. Short, quality sessions are more productive than long hours of revising.
• Rather than working through one practice book at a time, work through a small section of each practice book. Rotate between English, maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. Not only will this keep things varied, but you will also feel confident that you are covering each subject equally.
• Encourage your child to have plenty of breaks in between 11+ preparation/lessons. Try to make the whole process as enjoyable as you possibly can, so that they feel motivated while studying.

Scholastic’s Pass Your 11+ range provides excellent support for children revising for exams. The books are great for boosting a child’s independence as they can work at their own pace and feel like they have ownership of their own learning. Working through the range of books ensures that all bases for the four subjects are covered and that a child’s progress can be tracked. Completing the range of books allows children to feel proud of their achievements, experience the satisfaction of seeing their hard work pay off, which can then boost motivation during their 11+ journey, after all confidence is the secret ingredient to success!

Alima is a highly qualified and experienced former teacher; she is now a full-time 11+ English tutor and founder of Bright Minds Club – 11+ Tuition, successfully helping numerous students secure places at leading schools.

Website: https://www.brightmindsclub.co.uk

Instagram: @alimabrightmindsclub

Facebook: Alima – Bright Minds Club – 11+ Tuition

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At Scholastic, we provide a range of comprehensive practice papers and workbooks to help children aged 9–11 prepare for their 11+ exams.

Covering key topics like English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning and Non-verbal Reasoning, these resources are packed full of authentic practice questions and designed to help children build skills and boost confidence.

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