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English preparation

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 10:54 pm
by mh1
I'm preparing my child for 11+ exams for nov 08.

He seems to be doing well in VR and Maths. Currently using Bond books. Have yet to start NVR.

English is one of weakest subjects and I'm unsure of the preparation method.

Is it simply a matter of using the Bond books. I'm sure theres more to it.

I understand KEG english test will entail comprehension, proof reading (I dont know whats involved in the latter).

What is the best preparation I can give my child for English. Help apprecaited

thank you

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:17 am
by abcdef
Hi mh1

It is quite difficult to prepare for the KEGS exam because no-one can predict what format it will take. For the Nov 06 exam the children had to read a passage on the first paper and then answer some questions about this passage on the second paper, i.e without the script. From memory, I think they had to do some proof reading on this passage aswell. The proof reading involved correcting punctuation or spelling for example that was incorrect in the original. They also had quite a large vocab section - about 80 synonyms.
For the Nov 07 exam, the children did have a comprehension but I believe the questions were on the same paper, so it was more than just a memory test. They had a much shorter vocab section - about 20 words I think. They also had a passage where they had to 'fill in the blanks' with suitable words.
I tried to concentrate on improving the vocab of both of my children - there are some excellent games on the English forum. I also made up proof reading exercises. We did use the Bond and NFER papers but as I've posted previously, my daughter found these difficult and I'm not sure whether she gained much benefit from completing them.
I hope this is of some help. Good luck with your preparation.

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:56 am
by yoyo123
one of the best things you can do is to build vocabulary.

A note book so that he can write down unfamiliar words and then look them up. You could try the tutors download from this site (try the demo)

spelling too. Not just as single words but in context.

I tend to give sentences containing similar sounding words for dictation,

The knight rode his horse towards the sun...

try the internet too. bbc is a good site, but there are lots of good sites with games. try googling.

and of course, lots of reading!

English for KEGS

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 12:45 pm
by fm
If you wish to know what was in last year's exam, I have written an account under an old post -- 're test page 1 bottom'--which I based on the varied accounts my pupils gave of the exam.