The note
How schools teach it now
Not taught in school as such. The 11+ strategy is to number the letters of each outside word (1, 2, 3, 4), work out which numbered letters make the bracket word, check the rule on the second group, then apply it to the last.
5-minute kitchen-table activity
Write two four-letter words on scraps of paper, such as PAIN and TOLD. Cut them into letters. Ask your child to make a new word using the last two letters of one and the first two of the other (INTO). Swap roles and set each other puzzles.
Worked example
pain (into) told fish (shed) edge home ( ? ) atom
- In the first group, in comes from the end of pain and to from the start of told.
- Check the second group: sh from the end of fish, ed from the start of edge makes shed.
- Do the same: me from the end of home, at from the start of atom.
Answer: meat
Common mistakes to watch for
- Working out a rule from one group without checking it on the second.
- Taking letters in the wrong order.
- Spotting a real word that uses a different rule.
Encouragement
- Try saying
- “Find the rule, then test it on the second group. Great detective work.”
- Rather than
- “Just guess a word that looks right.”