11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi
Has anyone come across or used

11 + Spelling and Vocabulary: Basic Level: Workbook Bk. 1 (11+ Spelling and Vocabulary Workbooks for Children) (Paperback) - Stephen Curren

Would like to know if these would be any good to try and "boost" spelling

My daughter LOVES learning the new words using the index cards as suggested by Patricia THANKS and is so motivated by "doing her words", but would like to do something to do with spelling. She is doing well in the middle set at school, but does struggle at times in practice

Am a bit dubious (one of our words!!!) of workbooks as my daughter has not engaged with them in the past

Thanks for your help -any other tips for spelling would be much appreciated.
Have also posted this in English section - hope multiple posts are OK Sorry if not

Hi GemB

I can't comment on the Stephen Curran books, although I recall that he has posted replies on this forum in the past year or so. Who knows - he may pop up and tell you himself why he thinks they do the job well?

My recommendation for spelling help is Wordshark, a computer game produced by a company called Whitespace. It is used fairly widely in schools and Learning Support departments. At around £70 it is not cheap, but it includes all the spellings for KS1, 2 & 3, so takes a child right through to GCSE. It is a very well thought out programme, and does require parental involvement at every stage - to set the spellings and let the child to move on to a new level, so it allows parents to supervise and reward progress. You can also programme in your own lists of spellings, such as the excellent ones that Patricia has posted on this site for 11+ familiarisation.

My children have both thoroughly enjoyed using it, and if you spread the cost across two or more children, it starts to look cheap compared to most ideas apart from Patricia's index cards!

Sally-Anne

Thank you Sally Ann for replying so quickly.
Am trying to plan campaign -well it feels like that for October and appreciate your help
thanks