The 11 Plus Exams Are Coming: 3 Signs You're Prepared

As an 11 plus exam tutor, I regularly see the the upside and the downside of the 11 plus frenzy.

  On the upside, there's the excitement of preparing for the exams, the curiosity of whether your child (or student) will pass and the   potential for a child's life to be changed when they obtain a place at their dream school.

However, there's a very big downside.

The endless worry of whether your child will obtain a place. The anguish of watching them go through one of the toughest learning  experiences of their life and the fear that they might not do as well as expected.

It's a roller coaster ride that doesn't end until your answers have been resolved.

At this time of year parents wonder whether their child is ready for the exams and this is usually the period where tutors like myself, receive the greatest level of enquiries.

My inbox is flooded with requests and my waiting list is jam packed.

It's that time when parents, teachers, tutors and students worry constantly about the exams.

So how do you know if your child is ready? 

There are three simple signs that shed light on how prepared your child is.

1. They know all of the VR types.

2. They know the exam entails- they know whether they're sitting the English, Maths, NVR and/or Verbal Reasoning paper.

3. They've done heaps of practice and are scoring at least 85% on average. Scoring less than this at this stage is a cause for concern in my opinion. If your child isn't hitting the 85% mark, it's a sign that they definitely need to do more practice.

For parents who are teaching their child themselves and aren't hiring a tutor, I strongly recommend buying/downloading as many of the 11 plus practice papers as possible.

If you're a parent who really wants to their child to succeed in the exams then I suggest signing up to the early access list for my 11+ success book. The book is a guide for parents who want to learn about what it really takes to get your child into a top school.

In the book, I spill the beans on all of my top tips, recommendations and advice which is all based on years of preparing students for the exams.

Click here to sign up to the early access list (just enter your name and email and click the 'sign up' button). Once the book is complete, I'll email you the link to download it for FREE.

If you'd like to ask a question about the 11+ exams, leave a comment below.

The Tutoress.

On The Green Eyed Monster

The green eyed monster.

No, it's not just something we read about in Shakespeare or see in nightmares. It's real and it's inside most if not all of us.

We look at others and think: How comes they can do XYZ and I can't? How comes their child is topic of the class and mine's last? How comes I'm not the super parent or super tutor that I'd dreamed of being?

When the green eyed monster rears it's ugly head, we feel his presence and it's usually so overbearing that it takes over us!

So what do you do when you're hit by jealousy, envy or the feeling of malice towards others?

You inhale. Take a deep breath and tell yourself that yes, other people might seem like perfect achievers with perfect children or perfect lesson plans but they're not you! You have your own unique gifts and talents that make you special and those are the gifts that you need to leverage.

There will always be people who are smarter, better educated, more skilled etc, but that doesn't mean that you're not a good enough parent, teacher or tutor.

Write down 5 skills that you have and take time to think about how you can accentuate those skills. How can you turn your good gifts into great ones?

Now it's over to you. Have you ever felt jealous of another person's success? Have you ever felt as if you weren't doing things the 'right way'? How did you handle it? Leave a comment below. Don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter for free education and tutoring resources.

The Tutoress

Getting Your Child To Read: 3 Simple But Effective Tips For Boosting Reading Skills

• 'My child refuses to read when I tell him/her to!'
• 'My child just doesn't enjoy reading!'
• 'I don't know how to get my child to read!'

These are three hugely common statements that parents make when it comes to encouraging their child rot read more. As a tutor and educator, I can't stress enough the importance of reading especially at primary level. Reading is crucial- fact.

So why are so many children reluctant to read?

There are a few reasons for this:

For some children, reading is deemed a chore- something that they're forced to do because adults tell them. Comparatively, some children struggle with reading and need that extra bit of care and attention so that they can improve their reading skills. Furthermore, some children are excellent readers but struggle to understand and comprehend the books they've read. The words go in one ear and out the other.

Solution #1: The Mixer Strategy

Make reading fun! Put some effort into combining reading based activities with hobbies that your child genuinely enjoys. For example, if your child loves to sing, could you create or find a reading activity that uses or incorporates music? If your child loves history, why not encourage them to read history-inspired books that interest them (The Horrible History series is a great place to start).

Solution #2: The Specificity Technique

Use incentives to encourage them to read more often. When you tell a child to read, don't just tell them 'to read!' What I mean by this is that saying, 'go and read' to a child doesn't communicate a clear goal for them. Instead of 'go and read' be specific! Replace the phrase, 'go and read' with something far more specific like: 'go and read the next thirty pages of Pig Heart Boy.' See how the second statement is far more effective because it tells the child exactly what to do. Be specific. Give your child crystal clear directions so that they know what to do. I call this the specificity technique- try it and apply it to every direction you give your child.

Solution #3: Channelling 

So your child reads a book, you then ask them a few questions about the book and find that the expression on their face is one of bemusement. In other words, your child can read well but has absolutely no idea what they've read! Their comprehension skills are lacking and you have no idea what to do about it. What do you do? Simple. You follow this one simple but effective strategy- one that I've termed channelling. The gap in time between a child reading a story and answering questions on that story can seem quite a while for some children. The channelling technique simply involves asking the child questions during the course of their reading rather than after it. For instance, your child could read one page and then answer questions on that page, read another and answer questions, and so forth. By following this technique, your child is constantly remaining engaged with the text and is far more likely to understand, appreciate and remember what they learn.

Which technique did you find to be most useful? Try the above techniques and tell me in the comments below how they worked for you.

The Tutoress

Are Tutors Appreciated?

The American Thanksgiving celebration had a big impact on me this year. Perhaps it's because I have a lot of American family members or because I read a lot of articles from American writers, either way, the idea of gratitude has been particularly prominent to me over the past few days.

During Thanksgiving, Americans take time out of their bustling lives to spend time with family and celebrate what they're grateful for. It's sort of like a mini-Christmas! In many American households, Thanksgiving is a time to pontificate upon the meaning of gratitude and show gratitude and appreciation to those around them.

As a Tutor, gratitude is such an important part of my life! I didn't realise it until a few days ago when I was listening to someone talk about the art of saying thank you.

As a Tutor, I spend hours and hours planning lessons, marking homework, liaising with parents and doing so much work that goes unrecognised and sadly, there are a lot of people who never thank me for what I do. It's quite sad when I think about it. It seems that many of us are just too busy to say thank you to those around us. I know I've done it too and I see people everyday who just don't bother to show or feel appreciative for what they have.

I spoke to a parent recently, I've worked with her daughter for over a year but unfortunately we don't be having lessons any more. The parent didn't once thank me for the hard-work and dedication that I'd put into teaching her daughter. Whilst it did upset me slightly, it brought gratitude forward in my list of personal priorities.

In fact, this week I'm writing a list of things that I'm grateful for. I'm also planning on creating a thank you journal where I collect all of my gratuitous memories and write down all of the things that I'm grateful for.

Here are 5 of the things that I appreciate:

1. My friends and family who motivate me to be a trailblazer. 2. My clients! I love them! Seeing parents who've sacrificed so much for their children is so unbelievably inspiring. I'll NEVER forget the memories that I have of many of my students and their families. I've met so many people during this wonderful journey and am so grateful for the lessons I've learnt and the people I've met. 3. My career. I love teaching and I think that teaching will always be a part of my life in some shape or form. 4. My life. It's so easy to forget that being alive is a blessing! Some people didn't get the chance to wake up this morning but I did, I'm grateful for that.5. My wisdom. Of course I'm not perfect but I love learning new things and have learnt so much over the past few years.

Finally, a HUGE thank you to the dozens of parents, teachers and students that I've worked with over the years.

I've met such incrediblepeople and despite the ups and downs, I have been blessed to have worked with so many incredible families. I'm grateful to those who have shown such gratitude for what I do, the cards, the chocolates that you send always put a smile on my face and motivate me to give to others endlessly. Being a tutor isn't just about teaching, it's about serving and making a difference to the lives of people.

What are you grateful for? Leave a comment below with a list of at least 5 things you're grateful for!

Wishing you a great Thanksgiving weekend.

The Tutoress.

Do You Need Qualifications To Become A Tutor?

Have you ever thought about becoming a tutor but questioned whether you were 'qualified' enough?I've heard so many people say things like, 'I'd love to become a tutor but I just don't think I have the right qualifications?

I always find it quite interesting when I hear such remarks because the truth is that...

you don't need ANY qualifications to be a tutor! Yes, it's true!

Tutors usually come from a variety of academic and professional backgrounds. Some are Graduates, Qualified Teachers, Retirees whilst others are simply people who are highly skilled in a specific field or industry. For example, a mum who is awesome at teaching primary/kindergarten level maths but doesn't have a qualified teaching certificate or degree. Technically speaking, there's absolutely nothing wrong with her charging money to tutor maths to local kids. In fact, she might just discover that she's actually better at teaching the subject than most teachers.

If you're thinking about tutoring but feel unqualified, you're wrong. The tutoring sector is as diverse as the people in it. They come from all walks of life and many are good at tutoring because they're great educators.

I bet you're now thinking, 'how can I tutor if I don't have qualifications in the subject?' Well, in reality you shouldn't be teaching a subject that you're not confident in. For example, if you love maths and just can't get enough of the subject, then you probably should be teaching it and sharing your knowledge with the world! If however, you have a maths teacher qualification but hate the subject then you're definitely best off teaching a subject that you actually like!

The reality is that qualifications play quite a minor role in your ability to tutor. Your ability to teach, your passion for the subject and your willingness to become a student of the subject (the best teachers are the biggest learners) are THE most important factors in influencing how good (or great) a tutor you are.

So don't let qualifications (or lack of them) hold you back from pursuing your tutoring dreams! Go on and tutor! By sharing your knowledge and passion with the world, you're making a difference to someone else's life! Who doesn't want to do that? I know I do.

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