BRUSH UP ON SKILLS

Susan Elkin picks the best revision guides Of course you want Freddy or Jasmine to do as well as possible at school - especially if he or she is coming up to 7 or 11 and SATs tests are looming in English, maths and science. If you want to give a little gentle help and support at home there are plenty of books available to help you, although I think parents are well advised to steer clear of books of sample exam papers such as those published by Nelson Thornes. Education is one thing. Cramming is another.

Carefully tied in to the National Curriculum, Letts Super Science for 5- 6 year olds, for example, is busy and colourful. It’s themed on wizards and magic and full of witty illustrations and things to do such as pairing up tadpoles with frogs, chicks with hens and so on and learning about materials such as wood, plastic,paper, and fabric. All the answers are at the back.This book is part of a science series covering the whole primary age range and there are parallel titles for 5-6 olds on maths, English, reading, spelling,and handwriting.

Most children need lots of practice with maths so that the skills and knowledge become second nature.That’s where a book like W H Smith’s ‘Practise’books for 7-11 year olds are useful. Take Practise Multiplication and Division, for age 9-10. It gives lots of opportunities to use the skills in different ways so that the child becomes really confident. There’s an English series too. Practise Punctuation and Grammar for age 7-8, for instance. They’re well thought out although I have reservations about the coloured fonts which some children may find difficult to read. For much younger children, parents wanting to reinforce learning at home could use the At Home books from Oxford University Press.

I particularly like At Home with Colours and At Home with Letter Forms, both by Jenny Ackland. They are a good way of doing a few minutes’practice a day. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is not an examined National Curriculum subject, but it’s compulsory to study it and it underpins a lot of what the children do in other subjects. Letts Premier ICT series comes in four books (age 7-8, 8-9,9-10 and 10-11). They are well designed and thought out books for families with a computer at home in need of help with getting the best out of it.

Super Science: Key Stage 1 age 5-6

Letts £3.99
www.lettseducation.com

Practise Multiplication and Division Age 9-10

W H Smith £3.50 ISBN
1-84315-179-0
www.WHSmith.co.uk

Practise Punctuation and Grammar Age 7-8

W H Smith £3.50
ISBN 1-84315-164-2
www.WHSmith.co.uk

At Home with Colours

OUP, Jenny Ackland, £2.50
ISBN 019-838129-8
www.oup.co.uk

At Home with Letter forms

OUP, Jenny Ackland £2.99
ISBN 0-19-838129-8
www.oup.co.uk

Letts Premier ICT ages 7-8

Letts £3.99
ISBN 1-84315-394-7
www.lettseducation.co.uk