The note
How schools teach it now
KS2 teaches Standard English forms (we were, not we was; could have, not could of) and the near-homophones in the Years 3–6 spelling lists, such as accept/except, affect/effect and advice/advise. Children are taught to say what each word means, then test it in the sentence.
5-minute kitchen-table activity
Pick one tricky pair a day, such as borrow/lend or teach/learn. At dinner, take turns making up a sentence with a gap ('Can you ___ me a pound?') and the others call out the right word. Swap roles. Stick the day's pair and a one-line hook on the fridge.
Worked example
Choose the right word: There are ___ biscuits in the tin than yesterday. (less, fewer, little, lesser)
- Can you count the biscuits? Yes: one biscuit, two biscuits.
- Use 'fewer' for things you can count and 'less' for things you can't (less milk, less time).
- 'little' and 'lesser' don't fit with 'than yesterday' here.
Answer: fewer
Common mistakes to watch for
- Choosing the word that sounds right in everyday speech ('could of', 'we was') instead of Standard English.
- Mixing up pairs that go in opposite directions: borrow and lend, teach and learn, bring and take.
- Not reading the whole sentence, so the clue at the end is missed.
Encouragement
- Try saying
- “What does each word mean? Let's test both in the gap.”
- Rather than
- “Everyone says it that way, so it doesn't matter.”