Help at home · Verbal Reasoning
How to help with Verbal Reasoning at home
Codes, word puzzles, letter sequences and logic: what each question type wants. Pick a topic for a short note you can read in two minutes and use tonight.
Verbal Reasoning topics
How to explain move a letter
Your child moves one letter from the first word into the second word so that both become new, real words.
How to explain make a new word
Two groups show how a word in brackets is built from letters of the words either side; your child builds the missing word the same way.
How to explain letter codes
A word is written in code by moving its letters along the alphabet; your child spots the rule, then codes or decodes another word.
How to explain compound words
Your child picks one word from each of two groups so that, joined together, they make one longer word.
How to explain missing three letters
A word in capitals in a sentence has three letters taken out, and those three letters make a word on their own.
How to explain letter analogies
One pair of letters changes into another (CD is to FG), and your child makes the same change to a third pair.
How to explain logic problems
Your child reads a few clues about people (who is taller, who sits where, who goes to which club) and works out the answer.
How to explain number sequences
A row of numbers follows a rule, and your child works out the next number in the series.
How to explain missing letters
Your child finds one letter that ends the first word and starts the second word in every pair given.
How to explain word analogies
Your child completes a sentence like "cat is to kitten as dog is to ?" by finding the same link between words.
How to explain closest meaning
Your child picks one word from each of two groups so that the two words are closest in meaning.
How to explain hidden words
Your child finds a four-letter word hidden across the end of one word and the start of the next in a sentence.
How to explain number codes
Each letter stands for a number; using some words and their codes, your child codes or decodes another word.
How to explain letter sums
Each letter stands for a number; your child works out a sum using those numbers and gives the answer as a letter.
How to explain odd two out
From five words, your child finds the two that don't belong with the other three.
How to explain alphabetical order
Your child puts words or letters in alphabetical order, or counts forwards and backwards along the alphabet.
How to explain double meanings
Your child chooses the word that goes equally well with two pairs of words, because it has two different meanings.
How to explain missing numbers
In each group the middle number is made from the two outside numbers; your child finds the rule and completes the last group.
How to explain letter sequences
A series of letters or letter pairs moves along the alphabet, and your child finds the next one.
How to explain opposite meaning
Your child picks one word from each of two groups so that the two words are most opposite in meaning.
Know which topics to work on
Academy11+ marks every paper by topic and shows the right home-help note next to each topic your child finds hard.