Who is this book for?

Year Six is an important year in the life of any child. In the last year of Junior school, children and their parents look forward to Senior school and new issues arise:
Does my child need extra help with his English?
Her class teacher just doesn't have time to help her with the basics.
He just can't seem to get started with story writing.
Her stories are lovely but she can't manage a time limit!
I am considering putting him in for an examination to a selective school, but is his English good enough?
She hasn't a clue about comprehensions.

If you share any of the concerns listed above then this is the book for you. It is A Parent's Toolkit written to enable parents and children to work together on all aspects of English at the Key Stages Two/Three level i.e. the transition from Year Six to Seven and all that that means in terms of English for Senior school work. It is also specifically aimed at children who are going to take entrance examinations at 11+ for grammar schools or selective independent schools.

11+ English: A Parent's Toolkit results from Katherine Hamlyn's twenty-five years of teaching at this level. The highly readable guide identifies common problems and, using child-centred techniques and games concentrating on relaxed child/parent collaboration, works through essential English with common sense, clarity and humour.

A few common worries:

One can't teach one's own child
True enough in some cases. If Alice is used to being criticised or found fault with or if she feels under pressure to perform, it probably won't work. Similarly, if John finds he is unable to contain himself if Alice forgets her apostrophes even after he's spent two whole sessions explaining them, then, probably, the ratio of pain to gain will prompt a frenzied call to a tutor who is no relation. This will be more helpful and healthier in the long run! Alice will have to want to improve her English and John will need to understand that Alice isn't being obtuse on purpose. She will need to feel that John is on her side - that it is a joint project and that he is not going to be critical or punishing but understanding, encouraging and rewarding whenever possible. It is hard, sometimes, to remember that children very nearly always want to do well - not just to please their parents but for themselves too. Praise is probably John and Jyoti's most valuable tool in this respect.
Similarly, Rajiv will have to want to go to the school Jyoti has chosen for him and Jyoti will need to appreciate his fear of failure - of letting her and himself down. If, on the other hand, all Rajiv's junior school friends are going to the local comprehensive and he wants to go there too, he may not want to take the exam and he certainly won't want his mum to help him do extra work for it. Consequently, it is vital that the choice of school or schools is - or at least appears to be - a joint one. If Rajiv is obsessed with football and Jyoti's first choice of school only plays rugby, Rajiv won't want to try for it, however many labs or Oxbridge successes it has.

A good idea is for John and Jyoti to have a go themselves at the exercises which follow throughout this book. They will have a better idea of the problems and challenges that seemingly simple tasks present if their experience of such things is not 20-odd years old! Collaboration, too, is often the best method - especially in the early stages - and it will do a lot for Alice and Rajiv's attitude if they see that their parents are not just telling but doing too! In general, a 'have-a-go' approach is the right one. A relaxed attitude and a flexibility about what you try, and when and how, is more likely to make for real progress than a shared anxiety about 'success' and a feeling that getting into the one and only school is the be-all and end-all of life as we know it.

There's no time
If Alice and Rajiv want to improve their English then they will, albeit reluctantly, be prepared to give up an hour a week or so of ballet, sea-scouts, Neighbours or whatever it is, for a while. Likewise, John and Jyoti will have to find a time that is possible for them. In general, 8.00 p.m. after a long working day, when both child and parent are tired and, possibly, fractious, is not a good idea. First thing in the morning at a weekend is good as is before the evening meal. Obviously, though, this is not possible in many households. The important thing is that it should be a time when there are as few distractions or competing calls on time and minds as possible. A regular time is best and one during which it should be agreed by the rest of the family that parent and child won't be expected to answer the phone or deal with other immediate needs.