Littlelearnsalot

Comment “SMARTPODS” for my top list of things they absolutely must include to do well at creative writing.

Creative writing. This is something parents find really hard to practice at home because they just don’t have the experience of marking to know what a good one looks like.

If you follow these tips you’re halfway there I promise you.

Creative writing should be something that they enjoy and there’s such a simple process to it. It’s so important for them to read because by reading they’ll be able to identify techniques in writing.

And there’s always my ‘How To Write Brilliantly’ guide to answer any questions they may have.

Good luck!

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In sync!

When you get on a webinar call with one of the big 11+ exam prep providers, it’s heartening to hear them say EXACTLY what you’ve spent the past month saying.

(Hello 👋🏻 to all my new followers by the way!)

When it comes to the 11+, Independent Sector exams and (I hate to be the one to break it to you so soon!) if your child wants to be a doctor or a dentist one day, they’ll NEED verbal and non verbal reasoning skills in abundance.

These ARE NOT taught in schools; this is a journey you’ll travel alone.

Actually I find that kids who are good at maths tend to pick up Non Verbal Reasoning (NVR) pretty quickly and those for whom English is their strong point tend to get up to speed with Verbal Reasoning (VR) fairly well too.

But there is so much to learn.
For VR there’s a lot of: wordplay, logic, spelling, vocabulary, word codes, synonyms, antonyms etc
For NVR they need proficiency with nets, codes, differences, similarities, rotations, patterns etc.

Practise these skills with: crosswords, sudoku, LEGO, puzzles, Boggle, Scrabble, tangrams, spot the difference and even things like Minecraft!

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30 days of top tips DONE!

FOLLOW to see the NEXT series! (❤️ Like this post to tell the algorithm you want to see it.)

💥 If you missed any, just scroll back through my reels.💥

I covered:

Tests and Assessments:
The phonics screening check
Spelling tests
7+ and 11+ exams
SATs exams
CAT 4 testing
Times tables check

Homework Struggles:
Making homework less stressful
Homework duration
Homework round up
Homework non-negotiable
Homework logistics

Obscure Jargon:
Adjectives
Quantitive reasoning
Homophones
Verbs
Nouns
Synonyms and antonyms
Spatial reasoning
Verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning
Phrase versus clause versus sentence

Understanding where they’re at:
Age related expectations
Handwriting issues
Letter and number reversal
Writing progress
Dyslexia

Growth and how to get to the next level:
Be fun parent
Reading bands
Teach responsibility
Moving up a level
Workbooks

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🥳Day 30 of 30! Quantitative Reasoning.

We made it! The last day of my series!

Quantitative Reasoning is one that 99% of you won’t have heard of in relation to children.

We all know about spelling tests and times table checks but this is one that is happening under the radar.

These are skills that you can practice in everyday life using questions:

💥You basically need to work on their problem-solving skills when it comes to numbers.

💥 Spotting patterns and solving real world problems when it comes to maths are things you can start developing at quite a young age.

💥Your aim is to give them a really great foundation in maths, science, technology and engineering (STEM).

💥 These are skills you build in real life but if you want to specifically prepare for CAT 4 testing (which you may not even know about) you would need to invest in accurate mock tests.

Welcome to the last episode in my series on how to make life less T.O.U.G.H. for parents by sharing tips on:
Tests and assessments
Obscure jargon
Understanding where they’re at
Growth and how to get to the next level
Homework struggles.

🎯You’ll need to FOLLOW to be able to see the series.
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Day 29 of 30: Synonyms & antonyms

These are super common in terms of skills that are tested in children.

Particularly with exams like the 11+ or SATs - you’ll find these are among the most common questions.

So it’s pretty important that you know what they are too.

💥An easy way to practise this at home is simply to choose a word and see how many different ways you can come up with finding similar and then opposite words.

💥A thesaurus or some vocabulary building word books (Mrs Wordsmith products are great) are a super idea if you want to take it to the next level.

💥VERBAL REASONING workbooks, which will have plenty of these exercises in are widely available. I like these ones: Bond, Schofield and Sims, Scholastic.

🌟If exams are on the horizon make sure the workbooks you buy are aligned to the exam board.🌟

Welcome to the penultimate day of my series of how to make life less T.O.U.G.H. by sharing tips on:
Tests and assessments
Obscure jargon
Understand understanding where they’re at
Growth and how to get to the next level
Homework struggles.

🎯You’ll need to FOLLOW to be able to see the series.
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Day 28 of 30: Homework logistics.

We know by now that I’m in the camp of believing that homework is a brilliant way to cement a child’s learning and it’s the closest thing you get to being a fly on the wall.

😀 That doesn’t mean it’s easy to fit in!

We’ve all got full schedules whether you’re working, whether you’ve got clubs, childcare, animals - it’s really hard to fit it all in.

That’s why I say get it done; either set a time in the diary that is immovable or do it the day they come home with it. If you only have 10 minute bursts around activities (waiting at gymnastics or sitting in the car waiting for a sibling) that’s cool too; do it as close as you can to your routine because kids like a routine.

Welcome to my series of how to make life less T.O.U.G.H. for you by sharing my tips about:
Tests and assessment
Obscure jargon
Understanding where they’re at
Growth and how to get to the next level
Homework struggles.

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Day 27 of 30: Moving up a level.

This one is hard to summarise in a 1 minute reel.

There are so many different ways to move your child up to the next level but for children of this age group, if I had to plump for one thing I’d go for reading.

As I explain, it’s very easy to go back and teach a child fractions or how to tell the time - these are things that can be done over the course of a few hours.

But you can’t make up time spent not reading in just a few hours.

To make reading appealing:
💥 Have books on show in your house.
💥 Don’t pigeonhole the child, if they don’t like certain genres, find ones they do.
💥 Books with beautiful illustrations are irresistible.
💥 Read all the classics - at every age. From ‘What the Ladybird Heard’ pre school to ‘Holes’ from Year 4.
💥 Don’t ignore non-fiction if you have a little bookworm.
💥 Do take part in school book swaps and use charity shops.
And finally 💥If you have a local independent bookstore, give them ALL your book orders. Don’t send goldmines like them to the wall to save a quid off the cover price on Amazon!

Shout out to the world’s best:

Welcome to my series on how to make life less T.O.U.G.H. for parents by sharing tips on:
Tests and assessments
Obscure jargon
Understanding where they’re at
Growth and how to get to the next level
Homework struggles.

🎯You’ll need to FOLLOW to be able to see the series.
💾 Please save anything you need to for future reference.
❤️ to let the algorithm know you want these in your feed.
💥And lastly, please share this with someone who needs to hear it too!💥

Day 26 of 30: Homework non-negotiable.

Homework is one of those battlegrounds; your schedule is packed; they don’t want to do it; they’ve spent all day at school; you’ve had a long day too and yet there it is - looking at you.

The sooner you can establish that homework is non-negotiable (and some schools do consider it optional but this page is about maximising potential so I believe in the benefits of homework) the easier it’s gonna be.

Like brushing their teeth, it should be something where they might need reminding, but know they’ve got to do it.

Welcome to my series of tips designed to make your life less T.O.U.G.H. regarding:
Tests and assessments
Obscure jargon
Understanding where they’re at
Growth and how to get to the next level
Homework struggles.

Don’t forget to like ❤️ this so the algorithm knows you want to follow the series.

Share with someone who needs to see this!

Day 25 of 30: Teach Responsibilities

Welcome to my series on how to make life less T.O.U.G.H. by sharing my thoughts on:
Tests and assessments
Obscure jargon
Understanding where they’re at
Growth and how to get to the next level
Homework struggles.

Don’t forget to share with someone who might benefit and like ❤️ to let the algorithm know you want to see this in your feed.

Follow me for this series and more tips.

Day 24 of 30: Dyslexia

This is something that parents consider might be the cause when their child isn’t making reading progress or struggling to remember spellings or perhaps even displaying some mathematical issues.

The first people to address this with are your child’s teacher and Sendco in school. If you’re curious, you can have a look at the website that I mentioned in the reel but remember, a number of these are development stages that many children go through and grow out of.

And if it does turn out to be dyslexia, you can discover a host of different ways to support their learning, in whichever way works best for them.

Welcome to the last week of my series of how to make your life less T.O.U.G.H. by sharing my insights into:
Tests and assessments
Obscure jargon
Understanding where they’re at
Growth and how to get to the next level
Homework struggles.

Don’t forget to like ❤️ this post and follow along to see the rest of the series.

Please share this with someone who might need this gentle reassurance.

Day 23 of 30: Verbs.

Verbs are just doing words aren’t they?

Yes and no! There are different types of verbs that children will become introduced to from quite a young age.

They learn ‘imperative verbs’ from the age of about 5 and so it’s useful if you also know what they mean - just, you know, so you can keep up with a 5 year old.

Welcome to the latest in my series on how to make life less T.O.U.G.H. by sharing my insights into:
Tests and assessments
Obscure jargon
Understanding where they’re at
Growth and how to get to the next level
Homework struggles.

Don’t forget to like ❤️ this post to let the algorithm know that you want to see these in your feed.

You must be following me to see the rest of the series. Please share with a friend that needs to see this too.

Day 22 of 30: SATs.

What are SATs, when exactly will my child sit them and what are they tested on?

Which parts of English and maths are tested and how can we prepare for them?

You’ve come to the right place!

This is day 22 (where have you been?!) in my series designed to make your life less T.O.U.G.H. by sharing my knowledge of:
Tests and assessments
Obscure jargon
Understanding where they’re at
Growth and how to get to the next level
Homework struggles.

Please don’t forget to share this with your friends to help them too.

Make sure you’re following me to see the series and leave a ❤️ to let the algorithm know you want to watch these in your feed.