Is My Child Smart Enough To Pass The 11+ or Common Entrance Exam?

How do you know if your child is smart enough to pass a school entrance exam?

Many parents think that their child is a genius, a little Einstein or the next Tchaikovsky. In some ways it’s quite natural to believe that your child possesses something so remarkable and special that they are far beyond their peers intellectually.

However, when it comes to school entrance exams such as the 10+, 11+ or 13+, believing that your little one is a genius isn’t enough to guarantee that they’ll pass.

Before embarking on the entrance exam process it’s worth sitting down and assessing whether your child is a good fit.

How do you do that? Read on to find out. 

 1. Be Objective.

It’s easy to look at your child through your own eyes and make the judgement that they’re perfect for an entrance exam at a top school. However, it’s important to remember that your child will be assessed by either a computer or a complete stranger (i.e. a teacher that doesn’t know them). It’s therefore vital that you observe your child not from your own perspective but from one that’s completely separate.  

For instance, ask yourself whether your child currently outperforms their peers when it comes to exams at school.  

2. Think Ahead. 

When speaking to clients, I usually recommend that their child is about two years ahead academically. Thus, if they’re in Year 4 then they should be able to answer some questions that are taught at Year 6 level. This might seem a bit ridiculous but one of the most effective ways of maximising your child’s chances of passing. 

 3.  Test.

Once you’ve decided to go ahead, the next step is to go for an assessment. You can either do this by booking them in for a mock exam, asking an independent tutor to assess them or by purchasing exam papers and assessing them yourself. Once you do, make note of your child’s scores and identify the exact topics and areas that they need help with. Then create a plan for improving their scores so that they’ll be well-prepared for the exam. 

As with most things, early preparation can make a tremendous difference so the sooner you action the above steps, the better.

With regards to early preparation, are there things you can do to help increase your child’s chances of being ahead of the curve academically? There’s a lot of debate around the topic of whether some children are born with higher levels of intelligence or whether intelligence is based on a child’s environment. It’s a huge topic and far too complex for us to delve into now. However, research from a variety of studies and organisations points to the following:

• Infants who receive higher levels of face-to-face (or in-person) interaction from adults such as parents or grandparents, outperform children who don’t. In other words, if you want to boost your child’s chances of excelling academically, interact with them constantly from an early age. Don’t let the screen do that for you. Your child learns best from interactions with you.

  “The infant’s best toy is you.”

  (Building Baby’s Intelligence: Why Infant Stimulation Is So Important, California Childcare Health Program)

• Encourage play - research also highlights how important play is for children of all ages. Whether your child is under one or over nine, playing provides several tangible benefits and can dramatically boost your child’s cognitive skills and creative thinking abilility.

  “Early stimulation contributes to brain development gains.”

  (Source: The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, January 2017)

  As a tutor, I often come across children who struggle to think imaginatively and this really affects them when it comes to creative writing. Such children can’t come up with story ideas on their own, will stare at a blank paper for hours on end and can’t use their own gumption to think imaginatively. It’s a real shame and it honestly breaks my heart when I come across a child who wants to do better, wants to score higher marks but can’t do the very thing needed to do that. Every time your child plays, runs, hops, jumps, leaps, sings or dances, they’re forming the foundation needed to think independently, imagine new scenarios, come up with interesting ideas and ultimately, express themselves and their imagination. I can’t stress how important it is to encourage your child to play.

  “Playing is learning.”

  I’ll be sharing some more tips on how to help your child boost their intellectual ability and academic potential in another blog post so keep an eye out for it. If you haven’t already, stay up-to-date with our articles and free resources by signing up to our newsletter. Click here to do that.

Finally, if you need any help with the exam preparation process, fill in the contact form on our website and a member of our team will be in touch to help. 

Here’s to your child’s success.

TheTutoress.com. 

Congratulations To Our Students

​It’s that time of the year when parents send us lovely updates on their child’s 11+ results. 

We’re so happy for our students and their families and we can’t wait to help the next group of students to pass the 11+ exam. 

If your child is currently in Year 5 and needs that extra bit of help, get in touch with us to see how we can support them in preparation for their school entrance exam.

“My Child Hates English!” How To Encourage Your Child To Enjoy Literacy at Primary Level and Beyond

“Hands up if you love Maths.” 

I stood silently watching a flood of hands leap into the air. 

There was only one hand that refused to go up and that was from the only student in the class who found escapism in writing stories that were pages long. 

Every other hand signalled that Maths was the subject of choice. 

My heart sank for a moment as I realised that so few children love English the way I do. 

Growing up, books provided me with an entrance into another universe. The chance to escape from life’s hustle and bustle and enter into a new realm. 

Reading provided me with happiness, warmth, comfort and so much more.

How could these children not find English to be the most fascinating subject? 

Why didn’t they have any enthusiasm for it? 

During a conversation with Dr Weston, she shared an insight that made me realise why so many children lack interest in literacy. She said something along the lines of:

 ”Parents often don’t know how to create an environment of literacy in the home.”

Her statement made perfect sense. 

Perhaps the reason why so many children love Maths is because their parents create a mathematical environment in the home or an environment that fosters a passion for learning the subject.  

In comparison, so few parents know how to create an environment that encourages a passion for English. Some aren’t passionate about the subject themselves whilst others simply don’t have the know-how to teach it at home.

I can completely understand why it might be difficult for parents to encourage their child to enjoy learning English especially if everyone at home is a Maths whizz.

So how can you create and foster an environment of literacy in the home? 

Here are three things you can do. 

1. Read with your child at night.

Bedtime stories are one of the most magical parts of childhood. They create memories that last a lifetime. However, in this busy age it’s easy for parents to dismiss them and to simply encourage their children to read themselves to sleep. Instead of telling your child to read alone, take 15 minutes each night to read to them or listen to them read.

Whenever they spot a word they don’t know, explain the meaning of it to them.  Bedtime reading is a great way to enhance your bond with your child whilst also encouraging them to enjoy reading and benefit from it.

2. Have Table Topics.

I remember coming across a company a few years ago that specialised in table topic cards for families. The idea was to encourage families to eat together and discuss important topics such as global warming, politics and the arts. Nowadays, so few families sit together to eat and when they do each family member is glued to their phone refusing to interact with the other.

When a child sees lack of interaction in the home as the norm they begin to feel as if it’s okay to not talk to people and avoid communication. If your household is filled with phone addicts it’s time to make some changes and create a dinner time that is filled with conversation and engagement. The benefit of this is that it will stimulate your child’s mind and encourage them to think openly, listen to the opinions of others and assert themselves. These are the very skills that are needed for literacy especially with regards to discursive and persuasive writing skills, 

3. Invest in Books. 

Growing up my Dad had the wonderful habit of bringing home books on an almost daily basis. Even when he didn’t have a penny to his name he would go to a library to borrow books or head to Oxfam and pick up wonderful books for us to read. Watching him leap through the door with a handful of books is one of the fondest memories I have of childhood. You see, investing in books doesn’t have to be expensive. There are so many libraries where you can borrow books from as well as some brilliant charity shops that sell books for as little as a few pence.

I still walk into charity shops to browse the book section from time to time and am usually amazed by the variety of books available. One thing I’ve noticed is that children who are brilliant readers and writers are often surrounded by books at home and their parents are happy to invest in them.

If you want your child to develop an interest in English then put some effort into buying them high quality reading books. They don’t have to be expensive and quite often the classic books are the cheapest.

Now it’s your turn, follow the three steps above and then leave a comment below sharing one thing you learnt from this post.

Here’s to a happy 2018!

 The Tutoress Team

Boys will be boys: how to encourage your son to focus at school

“My son hates studying, he’s the opposite of his sister.”

“Why on earth does my son hate reading so much?”

“Honestly, boys are so much harder than girls.”

These are some of the most common complaints I hear from parents who are struggling to understand why their son isn’t the academic ange  l that they’d hoped for.

The truth is that boys and girls are different. We live in a world that doesn’t always acknowledge these differences and sometimes tries to blur them. However, there’s no hiding it. Boys and girls are not the same. They think differently, they behave differently and they learn differently.

Therefore, the way you should teach your son is vastly different from the way you should teach your daughter.

Their minds, thoughts and actions are not the same so how can their learning styles be?

Instead of expecting your son to magically behave and learn in the way you want him to, it’s better to be a bit more open-minded and try something new.

Here are three effective ways to help your son become a better learner.

Acknowledge and leverage his differences

If your son isn’t a readaholic or bookworm, don’t fret. Instead, identify his unique qualities (write them down if it helps) and start creating a plan for how these qualities can actually work in his favour. For instance, if he hates reading, is obsessed with football, and you’re longing for him to improve his reading and comprehension skills, why not look up some football or sports inspired books and see if he’ll read them? Chances are, he will. Instead of throwing a pile of Charles Dickens books at a football-loving child, give him material that he might actually enjoy. Autobiographies are great for this.

Support His Talents

I see so many students who are wonderful at sports, music or other extra curricular activities and their parents often ignore their accomplishments in these areas because they’re focused on their child’s academic progression. If you want your son to show more enthusiasm towards his academic studies, it’s vital to support his extra-curricular achievements as well. By doing so you’re sending your child the message that you want him to be a well-rounded individual who possesses strong academic and social skills.

Spend Time With Him

Many parents wonder why their child hates studying or going to school but few have actually spent enough time investigating why this is. If your child absolutely despises studying, there might be an underlying reason for this. Do they find lessons at school boring? What makes it boring? Is your son an auditory learner but is being taught visually? Is your son being bullied or teased by classmates which results in him not wanting to contribute or focus on class? Spend some time finding out exactly what’s stopping your child from enjoying their learning and see if there’s a way to help ignite their passion for learning.

Now it’s your turn. Leave a comment below sharing one thing you’ll do to help your son to be more focused and passionate about his learning.

Here’s to your child’s success.

The Tutoress Team.

Why Parents Need To Focus On Raising Remarkable Children

 Recently, a number of parents texted me to let me know that their child had passed their 11+ grammar school exam.

As always, I was incredibly elated and felt so proud of their children. 

Hearing from these parents instantly took me down memory lane and I began to ponder about all of the children I’ve taught and the differences (and similarities) in the way their parents had raised them. 

As I thought about these things, I realised there was one common thread between all of these amazing families. 

All of these parents, regardless of income, race, nationality or creed, endeavoured to do things differently.

They didn’t just focus on raising smart children or creating the next Einstein. Rather, they focused on encouraging their child to be remarkable in every area of life.

This common trait of raising remarkable children struck a chord with me and I realised that it was the one thing that many parents miss out on. 

Nowadays, life is so competitive that in order for children to excel, they can’t just be good or average, they need to be remarkable.

So, as a parent, how do you go about making your child remarkable and what does that involve? 

I’ll share advice directly from these parents in an upcoming blog post but for now, I’ll leave you with a few thoughts.

One of the most important factors in raising remarkable children is to fuel their existing talents and gifts. Parents can do this through a mix of positive parenting and gentle but firm discipline. Nonetheless, the greatest influence on remarkability is simply spending quality time with your child.

I see so many parents who hand their child off to nannies and au pairs because they simply don’t want to deal with them. Sometimes it’s because they’re too busy or they have plenty of other things to do. However, my observation over the years has been that parents who spend quality time with their child raise the most incredible children.

I feel so passionately about this topic that I’m making a commitment to speak to remarkable parents and encourage them to share their advice. 

Stay tuned for my next few blog posts where I’ll be talking about this in more detail. 

The Tutoress Team.