7+ Success: A Parent’s Guide To The 7+ Test

For many students moving up from Year 2 to Year 3, a competitive selection exam needs to be passed for entry. This is known as the 7+ Test – one that schools believe can accurately assess a child’s academic ability. If they are any younger, it’s harder to predict.

7+ usually involves Maths and English test papers that are either written, computer-based, or even observed activities in some cases. After taking it during the Winter or Spring, they will be offered a firm place for September, put on a waiting list, or told they were unsuccessful. It is best to contact your chosen school directly to determine what sort of tests your child may take.

Before you start worrying about how your child will manage, there are lots of things you can do as a parent to help them ace their 7+ Test!

Encourage Good Learning Habits

First and foremost, it’s essential to teach your child how they can learn effectively. There are a number of things that make this up. Removing distractions from their learning environment can boost productivity significantly. Any phones, tablets, or other computers should be taken away while they’re studying. Then you can also make their learning more fun by creating games.

Look to encourage independent learning, a when-then routine, good time management skills, constructive criticism, and avoiding short-term awards. Your child will find use in all of these good learning habits. And when they come to accept them, they will only improve their test score. So, in a roundabout way, we are looking to get them excited about learning and succeed in doing it!

Read and Write With Them Daily

One way of improving their English skills is to read and write with them so that they become more familiar with the text. This will instil confidence in them that is incredibly useful for the 7+ Test. If they don’t regularly read and write, they may freeze on the day and fail.

By doing this with them, you can pick up on various problems they are experiencing. Many students, no matter their age, will silently struggle with their learning as they could be too timid or cautious in admitting they need help. Regular practice is also a must here, so aim to read a short story each day and write about various topics.

Find Creative Solutions to Problems

Creative Problem Solving involves using your child’s imagination to find different solutions to the problems they’re experiencing. If you’ve both exhausted all the other conventional approaches, it’s best to find out some innovative ways to help them remember. For example, reverse thinking could be what you’re after. They may find it easier to identify assumptions and reverse them to find new insights. Although somewhat complicated, it could well and truly make more sense for them than anything else they’ve previously tried. It may not. The only way you will find out is by piloting them and seeing how they compare to other methods. Help them build a mindset where they view themselves as problem solvers.

Don’t Forget About Exercise

Regular exercise and healthy eating are both excellent in helping children grow and develop physically and mentally. With good exercise, in particular, they can boost the concentration skills vitally needed for the 7+ Test. If they become distracted on the day, they could fail.

Look to implement a number of maths sequences within their exercise too. Darts can be a brilliant way around this due to the fact that maths is used within the game anyway. But also look to other forms of exercise such as running, where they can count the number of steps they take during one lap and add, subtract, multiply or divide from another.

There are a lot of different ways you can do this.

Tutoring: How Can It Help?

Lastly, it’s always important to help yourself with this sort of thing. You could be caught up with other work or have no energy to sit down and properly strategise with your little one. If that’s the case, call on us to give you that much needed helping hand! With tutoring, your child will learn everything they need to know to be fully prepared for their 7+ Test.

We will go through the syllabus and provide them with mock tests to see where they can improve. Then we can show them how to revise regularly and different techniques they can use to pass with utter confidence. Tutoring is incredibly effective and massively useful.

If you think your child needs a little extra help with the 7+ Test, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today at Aim High Tuition to help them secure a bright future!