What resources should my child use to prepare for the 11+?
The fundamental aspect of helping your child to prepare for the 11+ is creating a stress free environment. This is absolutely crucial in making sure that they don’t burn out before they take the exam. In this way, making their learning time fun or family related is really important.
BOFA can help your child to prepare for their 11+ exam by filtering out topics that they already have a good understanding of. BOFA finds these topics, then gives them explanations of how to answer the questions, then gives them practice on answering these types of questions. BOFA is used widely across England in prep schools, tutoring centres and primary schools to help children prepare for this exam.
Other resources you may want to consider are:
- Your child's teacher - ask them what topics your child struggles with and how you can help them at home
- Books - it is widely agreed that a well-read child will perform better in 11+ exams, particularly in Verbal Reasoning, because their vocabulary is wider and their culture capital is stronger. BOFA creator: Andrew Baines has written several 11+ books available on Amazon.
- Real world revision activities - such as flashcards, mental maths games, and intellectual conversations with adults.
You can help your child by making them feel challenged. By the time they take their exam, they will then be used to the idea of stress and unerstand how to work under pressure.
You may further to this want to consider hiring a private tutor or sending your child to a tutoring centre if you don’t feel that they are receiving all the support that they need at school. We would recommend that you speak to your child’s teacher before deciding to invest in either of these options.