The note
How schools teach it now
Schools teach vocabulary, word classes, plurals and past tenses, which these rely on. The 11+ strategy: say the link as a sentence ("a kitten is a baby cat") and use the same sentence for the second pair ("a ? is a baby dog").
5-minute kitchen-table activity
Play "is to" over dinner. Say "Bird is to nest as bee is to...?" (hive). Take turns. Mix in young animals, sounds, homes, opposites and past tenses (run is to ran as swim is to swam).
Worked example
Cat is to kitten as dog is to ? (cub, puppy, bark, kennel, foal)
- Make a link sentence: a kitten is a baby cat.
- Use the same sentence: a ? is a baby dog.
- Bark and kennel link to dog in other ways, so they're traps.
Answer: puppy
Common mistakes to watch for
- Picking a word linked to dog in a different way, like bark.
- Not saying the link sentence, so the rule stays fuzzy.
- Mixing up the order of the pairs.
Encouragement
- Try saying
- “Say the link out loud. You're thinking like a word detective.”
- Rather than
- “Everyone knows that one.”