First Aid in English

11 Plus English - Preparation and Information

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11+ novice
Posts: 78
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 12:54 pm

First Aid in English

Post by 11+ novice »

I purchased this book long ago for my DS but am a bit confused about how to go through it, it is such a good book and i feel it is the master of all books for VR. How do i make DS study through it? There are so many topics i want him to learn but i feel he will probably forget the beginning by the time i reach the end. DS is very keen to go through and i really don't want to put him off after a few pages.

This book has been recommend highly in this forum but it seems a bit hard and boring. How did you all make your children go through this book. Any help/tips would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance
Optimist
Posts: 424
Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2007 10:37 am

Re: First Aid in English

Post by Optimist »

It is a useful reference but difficult to follow. For example, my DS1 attempted the collective nouns but they do not make any sense unless they are in context, so I searched for collective nouns on the web, and copy pasted sentences that included them. He had a better understanding when reading them. Better still when pictures are included!

I will do the same for the occupation section, similies, etc .
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away!
no_ball

Re: First Aid in English

Post by no_ball »

Vocab section is good, antonyms synonomys are better doing a search via any engine
um
Posts: 2378
Joined: Sat May 30, 2009 1:06 pm
Location: Birmingham

Re: First Aid in English

Post by um »

It may not be set out with fancy cartoon and gold star stickers, but the content is not (inho!) boring at all once the child is going through it.
I find that a lot of the units can best be done verbally (no writing required!) and always throw up rich vocab to learn and a greater understanding of literacy.

Some of the grammar units are best skipped at this age, but as no ball said, the synonyms are worth learning, and the comprehension tests at the end are good practice. Although you are right that some units require further teaching and practice to understand them well.

It is an inexpensive and good value textbook that even my older son sometimes consults - there's a lot of 'general knowledge in there too, such as capital cities of the world, etc!

PS - I didn't mean that it is the definitive textbook for the 11 plus - just that it is a useful book to have on the shelf and refer to as needed through the process.
11+ novice
Posts: 78
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 12:54 pm

Re: First Aid in English

Post by 11+ novice »

Thanks everyone for the response, have just about started to go through First Aid and DS likes the idea of doing things verbally! Thanks um for the idea.
KS10
Posts: 2516
Joined: Sun Mar 07, 2010 12:39 am

Re: First Aid in English

Post by KS10 »

When I first bought the book for my kids I had a lot of time on my hands, so I started to create my own version with pictures. This did not last very long and after a while (a short while) I simply typed the explanations and the exercises using different colours. It was still easier for them to cope with.
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