Please recommend English books.

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shan2004
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2014 12:36 pm

Please recommend English books.

Post by shan2004 »

Hi, I'm preparing my DD to Surrey area girls schools. TG, Non Such and wallington. Can anyone recommend the right books for English pls? Thanks
SummersLazy
Posts: 65
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:53 am

Re: Please recommend English books.

Post by SummersLazy »

Which year is she in?
The right book to read or to prepare for 11+?
In my journey with my daughter we dug through several English comprehensions and 'how to' creative writing books. They make no sense without a knowledgeable teacher.

I might be opening up an argument about tutoring but in my defense English is not maths and its got a soul. Parents can tutor their children and when I did this successfully with Maths we got derailed when it came to English. Luckily we were rescued by a passionate tutor.

Amazon and elevenplus website too has a huge collection of English books. Your school teacher might be able to give you an indication about the kids level (.. or might just say "she is doing fine. Don't you worry, Mrs. Mum" Their trademark reply)
IMHO if your DD's story has fairies and candies, that walked and said instead of scurried or babbled; she has a long way to go.
kuku123
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2015 2:49 pm

Re: Please recommend English books.

Post by kuku123 »

I would like to ask the same question as to where to start with my DD. She is in Y3 and for now I have started with Hayden Richards Book2. It is a good book for small comprehensions, grammar and vocabulary. It goes uptill book 4 which might be useful in Y4 & Y5. With regards to comprehensions I have felt that the understanding of the depth of the stories come through age. But at the same time we are trying to read books as much as we can in our daily routine.
shan2004
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2014 12:36 pm

Re: Please recommend English books.

Post by shan2004 »

My DD is in year 4. Maths she does at home. English also at the moment she doesn't go to any tutors. Probably next year as she refuses to go to tutors. She enjoys doing at home. My only worry is whether am I providing her the right materials? Although she loves reading books I do not know whether those books lead her in the right direction. If someone could suggest me the right books for girls that would be a very great help.
loobylou
Posts: 2032
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2014 5:04 pm

Re: Please recommend English books.

Post by loobylou »

I think it depends very much on the child. My dd had barely any English tutoring but required a lot more help with maths and VR! She did very well in English and I think it was largely due to her reading. I can tell you the books she was reading and loving but different books do appeal to different children so don't take this as a list of books your dd *should* be reading....
In year 4 she was reading the Harry Potter books, quite a few of the Noel Streatfeild books (she didn't like them all but loved "White Boots" and "Ballet Shoes"), the Mysterious Benedict Society books (really excellent. I would say they are worth reading with your child if they are struggling. The vocabulary is quite complex in places) by Trenton Lee Stewart, the Artemis Fowl series, the Roman Mysteries series, the Psudonymous Bosch series... All of these have good levels of vocabulary (The Roman Mysteries are probably slightly less so) and had enough pace to keep my dd interested. She then moved on to the Inkheart series in year 5 but it would have been too complex in year 4.
Several of her friends read more classics eg Black Beauty and The Secret Garden which obviously have great language and vocab but my dd wasn't interested so I didn't push them.
Hope that helps a bit.
mumsdarling2
Posts: 270
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2014 10:25 pm

Re: Please recommend English books.

Post by mumsdarling2 »

Are there any books (Bond, CGP etc) that we must do? We are making some progress through the Bond books. Would Bond be enough though?
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Please recommend English books.

Post by Guest55 »

English is not maths and its got a soul
Sorry? :shock:

Maths is a creative subject with just as much soul ...
oyl
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2015 6:27 am

Re: Please recommend English books.

Post by oyl »

We've been using the Bond and Richard Hayden, which are good. Though we saw a recent improvement in vocabulary when she started using 11+ flash cards, which in turn has made her creative writing much better as well.
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