11 Plus Exams Forum

My DS is sitting Manchester Grammar School. I think he is capable of passing however, he needs to strenghten his vocabulary. I need help to decide what books to buy to do this. I have been to the Major bookshops but they do not stock these on the shelves. I cannot really tell suitability over the not.

Would anyone recommend the AE Tuition Eleven Plus Spelling & Vocabulary Books and which one 9, 10 or 11. He has sat 2 local 11 plus exams but looking at the MGS English paper it is a big step up from these papers. First being it is not multiple choice.

Would anyone recommend Spelling Rules and Practice by Susan Daughtrey or the tutors vocabulary builder CD (it does seem quite expensive)?

I would like to add my DS is an avid reader but he still needs to build on his understanding of vocabulary.

Finally I have a copy of the brown Junior English Revised by Haydn. What is the difference between that and the Junior English Guide. Again would anyone recommend.

You may not have enough time now because the exam is imminent but when I was a child I used think of a word and then look up the thesaurus to see what other words with that meaning were. Doing this with five words a day would be a free way of extending his vocabulary. You could write the words on a white board with the list of similar words underneath and that could help his spellings.

EDIT: Just to add I have never used the children or junior dictionaries for my kids as I feel they are not descriptive enough and do not have every word that is in a standard dictionary or thesaurus.

Thanks T.I.P.S.Y for your advice generally his vocabulary understanding and spelling are good. He normally gets 80/90% in a verbal reasoning paper, however he just needs to step it up a bit for the MGS English. He is pretty strong with maths. I have a few months keft to extend it and just wanted someone to suggest a vocab book.

Will try your suggestion tomorrow.

Try using Schonell's Essential Spelling Book 3. Much of the vocabulary in this is replicated in AE Tuition 9, 10, 11 and 12. Have him learn the words he doesn't know, then do the exercises two weeks later to see if the words have stuck.

Thanks fm just placed an order over the net, should recieve it by Tuesday. The AE seem good but they are too many and unless I can browse through them it is difficult to pick which level is apt.
Hopefully Schonell's will do the trick. Thanks for recommendation.

The Junior English Guide by Hadyn Richards is a revelation. I make sure DS has this to hand when undertaking vocabulary work. This is a vastly underrated complement; especially good when undertaking a stretch English book that has a mixture of vocab, grammar and comprehension exercises.