Everyone is talking about spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPAG) in school these days. And with a regular, easy chat in the car, you’ll have it covered.
CLICK HERE for the long list of English grammar, punctuation and spelling that every child is expected to grasp before they leave for secondary school. It is a frightening list that teachers need to wade through in school to address the demands of the new SPAG tests, and the content comes up in 11+ exams too.
But you can cover the lot with a regular 3 minute chat on the school run. We’re going to run through the whole list for you…
3 points for 3 minutes in the car on VERBS
1) Verbs are doing words – you can do an action, your mind can do an action, or you can just be!
2) Think of some silly doing words and thinking words: splatter, bamboozle, canoodle (actions). The mind ones are not as much fun: consider, think, worry…But you can say ‘I worry about being slapped repeatedly with a wet fish.’ ‘I think about rolling in custard.’ ‘I consider wearing my pants on my head.’
3) Remember the most common verb is ‘to be’ and just means that you exist. The shortest sentence that makes sense is ‘I am.’ And there are ways we change ‘to be’ that you will know already but may not realise it. I am, you are, he/she is, we are, they are… I was, you were..