The 11 Plus exam is a crucial step in a student's academic journey, often determining the path of their future education. One of the key components of the exam is non-verbal reasoning, which tests a student's ability to analyze and solve visual problems. To help students achieve success in this area, this article will provide 8 practical tips to improve their non-verbal reasoning skills. Whether you're a student, teacher, or parent, this guide will provide valuable insights and strategies to boost your performance in non-verbal reasoning exams.
What is non-verbal reasoning and why should we improve it?
If you’re reading this article, it’s probably because you have a child who is taking the 11 plus examination in the relatively near future. If that is the case, you should certainly know that non-verbal reasoning is one of the key elements tested for in 11 plus and that your child will need to show their full potential in order to make the grade, allowing them to enter prestigious institutions which will guarantee them a rich and bright educational future. As intimidating and exciting as this might seem for you and your child, fortunately, there are several tips we will discuss in this article that will help you prepare and improve your child’s non-verbal reasoning, or in other words, their ability to solve problems using only information in pictures and diagrams.
Tip 1: Understanding the contents of the test
There’s no better way to prepare for the 11 plus exam than to know what to expect in its contents. Take a moment to look online using a search string such as “non-verbal reasoning for 11 plus” and clicking on images in your browser, or alternatively, look at the examples provided below.
You might be wondering where you can find more of these non-verbal reasoning questions, so that you can have your child practise their skills, this leads us onto tip number 2.
Tip 2: Buy or Borrow learning resources
Just like any other exam, there is a wealth of online and physical literature designed specifically to help students and parents prepare for them. These resources can range from entire books and written guides, to simple flashcards that can help your child jog their memory ahead of their test. You can also choose whether to invest in smaller creators or independent sources, or place your faith in well known brands like GCP and Bond 11+. Getting your hands on one or more of these resources will greatly improve your child’s chances of success. If you need some pointers on where to find such books and resources, be sure to check out our other 11 plus related article here on Superprof, where we go into detail about the best resources available to parents and children for the 11 plus exam.
Get to know about affordable 11 plus tuition in the United-Kingdom
Tip 3: Stimulus at home
You might be wondering what you can do as a parent at home to passively improve your child’s non-verbal reasoning, and there’s actually a good way to go about this. Children who are at the age where they might be preparing for their 11 plus test are probably still interested in toys and games, whether that be on computers, consoles, phones, tablets or real physical toys. Regardless of which stimulus they have an affinity for, this is where you can step in as a parent to enrich your child’s cognitive development and non-verbal reasoning skills. When buying toys and games for your child, make sure to research them in depth so that you can choose ones that prioritise problem-solving and puzzles. By giving your child intellectually stimulating games and toys, you might be able to turn a pesky habit to your child's advantage, such that their recreational time also becomes beneficial towards their 11 plus test. This practice doesn’t just apply to toys and games, but also any kind of media that your child might be consuming. With a bit of research, you can make sure that the television, videos and books that your child is consuming is intellectually stimulating for them too.
Tip 4: Practice tests
Did you know that as well as a wealth of practice questions that can be found online and in books, there are also many complete practice tests that replicate the 11 plus examination and provide a perfect way for you to check up on your child's progress? The advantages of taking practice tests are many, but the best, at least in my opinion, is the way that succeeding in a practice test can greatly reduce the stress on both child and parent. Obviously, these practice tests are not going to be exactly the same as the real thing, but if your child can consistently succeed in the practice tests, there is really no reason that they should have any difficulty when it comes to the real thing. If not, the tests will help you quickly identify the areas where your child is struggling, so that you can effectively and efficiently nip the problem in the bud. If you’re not taking advantage of this resource already, make sure you check them out.
Tip 5: Feedback is king
Like I said in tip 4, the main reason to practise is not just to reassure yourself, although it helps, but rather to identify the obstacles that your child is facing and deal with them accordingly. Whenever your child encounters something they struggle with or do not understand, it’s your role as a parent to explain it to them, not just so that they can do it in the test, but in such a way that they fully understand why they are doing it. Remember, the examiners don’t want to see blind memorisation, the whole point of this test is to verify your child's comprehension, thinking skills and cognitive abilities; try to structure your feedback accordingly so that your child walks away from practice with a view of the full picture.
Tip 6: Teach useful exam techniques
Preparing an exam also involves teaching your child techniques that will help them with exams in general, tips that all the best performers use to achieve high marks, in addition to their hard work and dedication while revising. One of the most reliable techniques in exams, especially in non-verbal reasoning questions is the process of elimination; sometimes, even when the answer is not obvious to us, we can eliminate the options that don’t work, and simplify the answer down to the last option, or at least give ourselves a better chance of guessing the right one. It’s also important that your child knows how to identify different types of questions, since once you know how to answer a question of a certain type, you will most likely be able to answer them all.
Tip 7: Manage your time
Exams can be very stressful, especially for children who don’t have as much experience of working under exam conditions. One of the best ways not to get overwhelmed is to have a good sense of time management and use appropriate strategy to ensure we have enough time to finish the test. Try teaching your child to allocate a certain amount of time to each question, and to move onto the next question if they think they’re spending too much time on one. If this technique is done correctly, your child should get to the end of the exam with plenty of time to spare, which will allow them to take a crack at the more difficult questions they skipped. Since the easier questions should take less time on average than the harder ones, there should be a wealth of time left to attack the harder questions without stress, and your child can be safe in the knowledge that they won’t miss any easy marks.
These tips, alongside the ones from step 8 will be useful for every exam your child will take in their lives, so it’s certainly not a bad time to teach them, considering that you’ll be preparing them for not only their upcoming 11+, but also giving them skills that will help them be better learners and students for the rest of their education.
Tip: 8 Moderation
Wow, that’s certainly a lot of information! You might be thinking to yourself that it’s best to get started straight away and revise non-stop until the exam, but remember… Stress is the enemy. For the most effective revision, and for the best chance at helping your child to improve their non-verbal reasoning, make sure to afford them regular breaks so that they can approach each revision session with a fresh mind. Additionally, taking regular breaks will help the brain retain information much better than cramming; since the brain works like a muscle, it needs time to rest and build connections using the stimulus we give it. If we can balance a healthy amount of preparation with downtime and other school work, your child will have the best chance of succeeding possible. Scheduling revision periods and creating a rhythm that your child can get used to might be a way of helping them cope with the increased work-load, with the added bonus that you’re preparing them for their busy school lives after they hopefully pass their test.
Final word:
I hope you’ve found this article informative. If you enjoyed reading so far or have any further questions about preparing for your child’s 11 plus examination, make sure to check out the other articles in our short series: “11+”, right here on the Superprof blog. If you’re in the mood for something else, we also have plenty of other articles about just about anything academic, and more. Feel free to take a look around and most importantly, good luck for your child’s 11 plus exam!
Enjoyed this article? Leave a rating!
Loading...
