With many parents and guardians home schooling their children whilst schools are partially closed, Sally Moon, 11+ expert and Galore Park author, shares her advice on preparing for the 11+ entrance exam remotely and why you may now be considering entering your children for this exam.
Whatever your experiences of home schooling may be, now could be an ideal time to use the new skills you have all learned to have a go at the 11+ school entrance exam.
Why try something new when there is enough to learn"
The 11+ entrance exams aren?t about learning something new*. The exams are designed to test thinking and problem-solving skills using the knowledge your child already has. These types of questions are typically the most challenging in their Year 6 SATs tests so working with 11+ material is very likely to improve your child?s overall grades whether they decide to take the 11+ or not. For example, take two similar questions about percentages:
1) Calculate these percentages. Give your answers as integers (whole numbers) or decimals, as appropriate.
(a) 10% of 60 (b) 50% of 120 (c) 5% of 42
2) In a box of 72 sweets, 25% are mints, one-third are chocolates and the rest are toffees.
(a) How many mints are there" (b) How many toffees are there"
The first question is straightforward, asking the pupil to work out a percentage of a whole number. The second question is a little trickier because it includes fractions and is a ?real life? problem. This second type of question...