Books to extend vocabulary.

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scooby1
Posts: 54
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2009 12:49 am

Books to extend vocabulary.

Post by scooby1 »

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 any of the ones I have viewed on the net. I cannot really tell the suitability without browsing through them.

Would anyone recommend the AE Tuition Eleven Plus Spelling & Vocabulary Books and which one 9, 10 or 11. Or the Spelling Rules and Practice by Susan Daughtrey. The tutors vocabulary builder CD seems like a good resource but 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.

Would be grateful for any guidance so I can get the ball rolling.
yoyo123
Posts: 8099
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: East Kent

Post by yoyo123 »

I like the AE tuition books, have a look , maybe start on one he can cope with (8/9?) and then having boosted his confidence try the higher one.

www.freerice.com is excellent, get a few wrong on purpose, then start playing in earnest..every right answer wins grains of rice for less fortunate children.

when reading , get him to write down any unfamilar words and look them up. Make a list of words and their definitions. Play 'pairs' games, can you turn up teh word and its definition.

You can also use a snakes and ladders board.

make or print out cards with target words (maybe with definitions on back?)and put in a pile

play snakes and ladders in the usual way. except when he gets to the bottom of a ladder he can only go up if he can answer a question from the pile ( give a definition, he has to give a word or vice versa), on a snake's head he can avoid going down if he can answer.

On your turn, he can prevent you going up a ladder by answering a question correctly. Similarly if you are on a snake's head , he has to answe r a question corectly so that you go down. Ifincorrect you stay where you are.

I love this game, many games are one sided if the adult is more knowledgeable. The temptation is to cheat and let them win (or be ruthless!). This wat the child controls teh game by theor knowledge ..and competetiveness wins out over reluctance to learn.
You can use all sorts of things for the question pack...
tables, spellings, equivalent fractions.........
scooby1
Posts: 54
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2009 12:49 am

Post by scooby1 »

Thanks yoyo 123, DS normally gets high 80/90% in a verbal reasoning paper. He is generally good at spelling and vocab but I just wanted to step it up a bit for the MGS English paper. He has got a couple of months before he sits. I am thinking of buying book 10.

Would you recommend the tutors CD at that price?
yoyo123
Posts: 8099
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: East Kent

Post by yoyo123 »

I quite like the Tutors downloads, maybe try the demo and see how it goes?

I hadn't seen the AE books until recently and I was very impressed with them, I particularly like the mix of puzzles.
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