Early subtle prep for 11 + ideas

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dd1 is at a grammar school, but we had only just moved into the area so she didn't have any more than a couple of weeks to look at past papers - well done her. However I have dd2 and ds, I have to confess to having a tutor penciled in for when they reach year 5. I don't know if I will go ahead with a tutor or just stick to doing some work at home, but I don't think that there's much point putting too much emphasis on it until year 5.

However I wonder if there are more subtle things I can be doing to help them with the 11plus in mind. Ds isn't great at literacy, so I think his vocabulary could do with some help and dd2 is a good all rounder, but takes ages to do anything. She might need help in general speeding up.

I'm not attempting to overly push them, and if it transpires that they are not grammar school material then I'm not going to attempt to tutor them just to get in. I've heard from dd1 about some girls in her class that are struggling already in year 7, I don't think it's fair to the child.

Any ideas anyone? Card games we could play or something like that?

Oh they're 8 & 9 btw.

Literacy: read to him! Mine like funny verse, where the odd 'fancy' word sneaks in and sticks because of the rhyme or rhythm. Try 'Unzip your Lips'. Fridge magnets for whole words are good too, but not just the boring KS1 words; we also have a set that came free with a Marmite promotion , and a set of deliberately pretentious words from a cynical friend, so our fridge currently says things like 'My mellifluous bird delights in artistic TOAST AND MARMITE'.

Try 'one word each' games as well, where you try to tell a story by going round the tea table (or car) each saying one word:
My
big
fat
brother
hates
doing
homework
and
eating
marmite
and...

Thanks Lancelottie - great ideas. I have to confess I had stopped reading to them a while ago, but recently gone back to it. All three enjoy it even my 11 year old who thinks she's cool is snuggling up and listening - makes me feel bad that I'd stopped. We're reading the History Spies at the moment as they all love History and about to go onto Greek Myths.

Ds loves funny verse too - so your ideas are great, he adores Roald Dahl because of the silly words etc.

if only we ate Marmite .

I guess it depends on what is in the exam for your area. Locally VR, English and maths are the norm.

We were advised to ensure that as well as reading to the children, also make sure that they continue to read to you, so that you can check understanding, vocab and comprehension.

For maths, quick and accurate times tables are key. Drill, drill, drill!

We don't do it with any higher motive in mind but I still read to DC and they to me.

Regular stops to check if anyone knows the meaning of an unfamiliar word, the possible motivation of a character, the theme etc.

Also I would discuss adult books I am reading and ask them about their books. What do they think of it? Would they recommend it? What genre do they think it is? What are the main themes?

I do this, because it's what makes me tick, but I'm sure it has a good impact on DC's comprehension and critical analysis of literature.
DC, DD in particular, adores discussions about books. She feels she understands and enjoys them so much more if we analyse them.

You can get bond books for non-verbal and verbal reasoning appropriate for younger ages. you might try a bit of this - children can think of them as fun puzzles if introduced to them without any exam/time pressure.

Make sure they learn basic maths really well - times tables, numbers that add up to 10, 5 +2 =7 and 5 + 3 = 8 - all as automatic facts they can produce very quickly.

Play lots of word games like scrabble, boggle, hangman ( adapt rules and scores according to dc's age)

there are loads of games you can adapt to learn tables with and there are others you can buy pre-made.

We do a lot of this already, so that's good - I didn't know there are Bond books for younger ones, sovwill pop to Waterstones.

You are so right about reading - I do feel guilty that vie let it slip. Dd1 is an avid reader, but I was still reading to her at 9 whereas I stopped as soon as the younger two could read for themselves. Now I've re started it that time of the day has become my favourite as we all pile onto my bed and end up having a good laugh.

There is loads you can do to help them, even if they do not go to grammar they still will be at high school and for example in maths they will find it much much easier to do the work in secondary school if they totally understand primary maths.

Sarahfreck is right they need to know tables very well so they can do it quickly, also make sure they know long multiplication and division. Also the conversions are quite important so you could start drumming it in slowly ie, 1000ml + 1L, 1/2L = 500ml etc because if they know these quickly it helps a lot.

I chose books for them to get them to read older books that would have harder words and sentences, but I didn't read to them they read themselves (am I supposed to?)
And there are loads of words that crop up in everyday life that they don't know the meaning of so if you hear or say a word ask them what it means.

Loads of little things can make a difference, even before the 'proper' work starts.