11+ Comprehension Tips – Why ‘Peter Pointer’ Is Your Friend

When it comes to the 11+, comprehension is often the part that catches children out. They may have strong reading skills but still lose marks because of small, avoidable mistakes. One of the simplest yet most effective tips I offer in my weekly free sessions is this: always read the title first.
The title tells them a lot. Is the passage factual? Fiction? A classic? A poem? Spotting the genre before they start will help shape how they read and how they answer.

11+ Comprehension Tip – Peter Pointer Is Your Friend

Children sometimes feel childish pointing at the words with their index finger, but it makes a huge difference in an exam. Every week, I watch children reading from my books in our free sessions – even the most confident readers skip words, misread words or jump down lines. I’ve seen whole paragraphs missed.
A finger keeps their eyes steady in a way a ruler often doesn’t. With a ruler, they’re just moving a straight edge; with a finger, they feel the movement, which connects their reading to their focus. In a timed comprehension, losing your place can mean losing marks. Peter Pointer stops that from happening.

11+ Comprehension Tip – Mouth the Words Silently

Mouthing the words – without making a sound – can help connect the brain to what’s being read. One cannot read aloud in the test, but moving the lips silently engages more senses and seems to improve understanding. This method can be especially helpful when the passage contains unfamiliar vocabulary or complex sentences.

11+ Comprehension Tip – Visualise the Passage

Words on a page are just shapes until we picture their meaning. Visualisation is critical for children. As adults, we know how often we have to reread a sentence because it hasn’t gone in. If your child can turn words into images, sounds, or scenes in their mind, they’re far more likely to remember the details when they answer the questions. A strong mental image acts like a memory hook.

11+ Comprehension Tip – Read Once or Twice?

This is a decision for parents and children to test at home. Should they –
• Read the passage once with quality and focus, slowing down slightly?
• Read quickly twice, skimming and scanning?
• Or read once with quality and then skim and scan for the answers?

Whichever approach they take, it’s important to underline only the truly relevant parts of the text. Over-underlining can be as distracting as not underlining at all. And remember – they will often revisit sections while looking for answers, so the first read needs to give them a solid grasp of the text.
By combining Peter Pointer, silent mouthing, visualisation, and a deliberate reading strategy, your child can avoid careless errors and focus on understanding what’s really in front of them.

11+ Vocabulary Reading Books – The Cadwaladr Chronicles and The Cadwaladr Quests

If your child needs to sharpen their comprehension skills, our 11+ Vocabulary Reading Books can help. The Cadwaladr Chronicles (a four-book historical fantasy serial) and The Cadwaladr Quests (a three-book standalone serial) are packed with rich vocabulary, comprehension questions and in-text guidance on literary devices. Each book weaves exam-style language into an engaging story, making it easier for children to practise skills like visualisation, inference and detail recall.