11+ vocabulary - help!

[Tableclothpuffin]

I made the mistake of googling 11+ vocabulary lists. DC has excellent vocabulary, but the lists and verbal reasoning tests I've found out include words like 'verbose' or 'lithe' or 'elucidate'. DC does read a lot, when we did some verbal reasoning earlier they didn't know the meaning of 'frolic'.

Basically - what do I do? Is this the standard or words really required? Do we look at the twinkle list of words over the next year and I force DC to learn them?!

Basically yes. If you’re using a tutor they’ll likely give your DC a list of words to learn/spellings each week as part of their homework. These are the kind of words that can come up in the VR test (ie, x is to y as b is to ? Or underline the two words most similar in meaning) and you never know what the comprehension paper will be. The broader your DC’s vocabulary, the better prepared they’ll be.

Stick a list on the fridge. Frolic can be the first word on there. Every time they meet a new word, add it. Every day/whenever you remember, go through the list until they know them: meaning and then use it in a sentence. Make it as ridiculous as possible: "oh my darling, would you kindly frolic over to the fridge and get the milk?"

Next, get some vocab cards that enable you to play games to do with words/meanings etc. play weekly.

Finally, pin up a list in the toilet 😂

Ps. Forgot to answer question: a lot of the words are not in any 'normal' 11 year olds vocabulary, no. Quite often they are put in as distractions (or they are not the answer but are there to tempt you to choose them). It's important to teach educated guessing and eliminating incorrect answers etc and not to worry about not knowing the meaning of every word. Also guessing meaning from root words etc.

I tutor for entrance tests to independent schools in the Cambridge area where the top performing schools are looking for applicants at 11++ level. A wide vocabulary, well above age related norms, is definitely needed. I set vocabulary homework every week using words, definitions and usage incorporated into games and puzzles. In my experience, ‘forcing DC to learn’ word lists is likely to be ineffective without your input to ensure he hears these words being used in a variety of contexts. @catsnore has given you some great suggestions already but I’ll add a couple more.

Firstly, children naturally develop an extended vocabulary when they read widely and have regular opportunities to engage in meaningful conversations with articulate adults. Try playing word games together such as Scrabble and Boggle. Articulate is a particularly good game to promote discussions about definitions and synonyms. Do crosswords together. Watch BBC Newsround at least once a week and discuss what is going on in the world. This will increase both vocab and general knowledge. The Newsround website is also great - your son can choose articles that interest him, then read and discuss these with you.

Read to your DS. most parents stop reading to their children as soon as they can read to themselves. However, when you read aloud to your child you can read books about 2 years above his reading age, that will challenge him with vocabulary that is too advanced for him to enjoy reading independently. It also gives you the opportunity to discuss unusual word meanings in context as well as inferences and connotations. This is invaluable for 11+. Audio books can also be useful for this.

Finally, look at the WordWall website. You can input any lists of words you son is learning and turn these into a variety of games. I use this with my pupils and it helps make learning vocab lists more fun. It costs me less than £5 per month and I can see their progress, which is helpful.If you use WordWall, I recommend you include the Cloze game as this ensures children can put the word into a sentence as well as define it.

Thanks for the replies - some really helpful ideas. I feel slightly let down by Prep school as DC has always happily read books from their yearly reading list but they don't include vocabulary anywhere close to what is clearly required.

Have already used your idea of 'fun' practising of words @catsnore and am thinking about how we can start on more complex bedtime stories @Nenen (currently reading a book of Norse Legends which is fabulous but I think our next book will need harder vocabulary). We read at least one article from The Times together each morning but I don't normally highlight vocabulary as I genuinely thought his was excellent (it is, just not at the level of the lists I've seen!)

I found it really helpful to group words together (so they’re learning as synonyms anyway) in the appropriate places in the house so the bathroom, for example, had ‘perforated’ next to the toilet roll, ‘noxious’ next to the toilet, ‘immerse’ on the shower and ‘orthodontist’ next to the toothbrushes.They were on cards with a picture and definition and literally everywhere. I’ve just taken them down (the house looks bare after a year of looking ridiculous) but it really did work. The words I couldn’t find a natural home for didn’t sink in but the ones in the house did- plus my 7 year old has learnt a fair few!

What a fantastic idea @Moglet4 . Thank you for sharing this.

I was in exactly the same boat earlier this year and felt totally overwhelmed by the long vocab lists. What finally helped us was having something that brought the words back again and again instead of just memorising once and forgetting. I tried flashcards and fridge lists but I could not keep the routine going.
What we are using now is a website called 11PlusVocabQuest which follows the same spaced review approach my child used for language learning. It shows ten new words at a time, then mixes them with previous words in short quizzes so they really stick. There are also usage examples which helped my son work out how to use the words in sentences. I have noticed the improvement when he is doing comprehension and cloze questions because he actually remembers the meanings instead of guessing.
If you want something more structured than fridge lists but without a tutor, it might be worth a look. We do ten minutes a day and that has been manageable.
Website: https://11plusvocabquest.co.uk