CEM and GL Examinations

Around the time your child will be completing last minute revision the Notting Hill Carnival will be taking place. Many books and articles on `How to Study’ suggest that  cramming up to the last minute does not really work. There must be the occasional break for a little self- indulgence.

Seeing a troop of armed and excited soldiers advancing is always an exciting. The word `troop’ was often used for a group of cavalry soldiers . Your child may drop his or her Eleven Plus book in anticipation if this troop was on horseback!

The CEM and GL examinations are different – but elements are remarkably similar. After all a percentage is a percentage and an `Odd One Out’ is an `Odd One Out. Some children will be writing both styles of paper. We wish them well. 

And if your child should feel tired then offer the immortal words: “You brave little trooper!”

11+ and Dyslexia

On a recent 11+ course we had the privilege of working with a child who had been diagnosed with dyslexia. The report from the Educational Psychologist pointed to difficulty with spelling and writing. The spatial side, however, was very strong.

We should imagine that some dyslexic children will do well in later life in careers in the fields of geology, biology, engineering, pharmacy and zoology. (Having re-read that last sentence it looks as if studying subjects with an `ology’ at the end of the word should suit at least some dyslexic students!)

If there is any credence in these observations then it may seem that a number of dyslexic children should have a strong spatial side. The word `Minecraft’ does not have an `ology’ but does require exceptional spatial skills. In Minecraft children can build constructions within a 3D world. The game is incredibly popular and has the ability to hold the attention of children.

When children start talking about hosting a Minecraft server and acquiring a variety of skins then parents will be aware of the grip the game has on their children. There are some who would argue that Minecraft does much to stimulate the spatial areas of the brain – and thus ready children for the demands of the complexity of subjects like chemistry.

When your child next plays Minecraft, ask him or her, once the game is finished, if it is possible to interpret, and attempt to explain, this  chemistry diagram?

Fairies, Witches and Non Verbal Reasoning

When children become involved in endless computer games and watch, by choice, mindless Youtube videos, then we may feel that they being insidiously corrupted. Why can't children just play?

There was a game played in Gloucester, according to Opie, many years ago – about `Fairies and Witches’. The girls seemed to be playing games with the fairies flapping their arms and witches holding their fingers as if they were claws. The witches seemed to come out of dens while the fairies had a palace for safety.

`There is a witch and she catches you.’

`And then?’

`Takes you to her corner.’

`And then?’

`Stews you.’

`And then?’

`Eats you.’

`And then?’

`Throws the bones away!’

Just think if your child started playing a rather strange game.

`There is a teacher and she teaches you Non Verbal Reasoning.’

`And then?’

Similarities and Analogies’.

`And then?’

`Series and Matrices.’

`And then?’

`Hidden pictures and Odd one out.’

`And then?’

`Reflections and Codes.’

`And then?’

`Series and Nets.’

Will children ever be the same again?

Wise Parents

State funded schools from 2014 have to offer a curriculum which is balanced and broadly based.  Schools also have the responsibility of trying to help society in general as well as children at school.

Changes have been made to the content of the National Curriculum. In early May of this year (2015) children in Year 2 and Year 6 will be writing SATs tests for the last time. Working as we do in schools we have seen first- hand the tremendous effort that teachers put into helping and encouraging their children to do as well as possible. The very able children in Year 6 seem to enjoy tacking Level 6 questions. These questions are not easy!

Our Step Test questions have replaced the traditional Level tests. In most cases we have found that Step Tests allow for a more defined approach to teaching and learning. The Step Tests can be used for diagnostic as well as attainment testing.

Step 10

I can estimate any angle, giving my answer in degrees

I can identify 3d shapes from 2d representations

I can identify angles at a point on a straight line and find the missing angle

In time to come what-ever changes are made to the curriculum we can draw strength from a statement by Tawney: “What a wise parent would wish for their child so the State must wish for all the children.”

Latin Versus Long Multiplication

We were chatting about children being encouraged to learn Latin in one of our local schools. I am sure we can all remember our Latin teachers telling us about the two different modes of presenting Latin.

The `old’ or ordinary, traditional pronunciation gives each letter the sound it has in our own language. We say, for example, `pater’ for father and `mater’ for mother.

The new or restored pronunciation suggests that we use the sounds made by the Romans themselves in ancient times.

I can still remember the different emotions around learning the First Declension. Our teacher told us that all the nouns of the First Declension were feminine – except for those that designated males – as in nauta (a sailor). We accepted, without argument, that we needed to learn all about a `table’ in the first lesson - in order to understand and appreciate Latin.

Singular

Nom.     Mensa  a table

Voc.       Mensa O table

Acc.        Mensam a table

Gen.      Mensae of a table

Dat.        Mensae to or for a table

Abl.        Mensa by, with or from a table

You will recall that the Nominative Case denotes the subject while the Accusative Case is to do with the object.

Some children today are taught multiplication by the grid or box method. Your children will have been told that this derives from the distributive law. In algebra, for example, we use a(b+c) being equal to ab + ac.

Is the distributive law more terrifying than the First Declension?

When do parents need to focus?

“It’s time to do your homework, dear.”

“Just a minute. I just have to finish this.”

“You know you have to complete your homework. It won’t take long.”

“Just a minute. I just have to finish this.”

“Why do I have to remind you? Why can’t you simply do the work yourself? We have been through this before. There is a time to play and a time to do homework.”

“Oh yes. Just a minute. I just have to finish this.”

Encouraging children to do extra work, in some cases, seems to require the skills and attributes of a policy maker. Almost every parent on earth knows that the best strategy is to move the responsibility from the formal `parent/child’ relationship to the individual choices of the child.

A further sweeping statement must follow to clarify the intent of the previous paragraph. Parents will know that there is an inverse relationship between the number of transactions required to encourage their child to study and the length and depth of the dialogue.

Children will often attempt to delay, divert and dissipate the effect of any dictates.

“Please can I have a drink first. I am very thirsty.”

“You have just had one. Why do you need another one?”

At this stage the unwary parent may not notice that the discussion has moved from doing homework to needing a drink. A discussion on diabetes, diet and the need for exercise may follow.

(Focus Mum, Focus Dad!)

 

 

 

 

Anxious Parents

Gesell, in 1940, wrote about the first five years of a child’s life. He used an example of a little girl with congenital cataracts and a high degree of myopia. This diagnosis would make any mother and father living in 2015 anxious about the life their child would live in the years ahead.

 

The little girl naturally failed on tests requiring visual discrimination – but she never had any difficulty in demonstrating her normality. It did seem that she a rather vague social rapport with her examiner – but the feeling was that this was caused by her inability to notice changes in facial expressions.

When she was three she responded to pictures with difficulty.

Dog “dog”

Shoe “car”

House “That is a garage”

Clock “That looks like a bowl”

Basket “moon”

Leaf “That’s a dish”

Flag “That’s a cat”

It was felt that she perfectly normal in every other way – other than when she was confronted visually.

Naturally her parents had every right to feel anxious about the future - but parents just have to do what they can. Gesell was writing about a girl who would now be seventy eight. We can only wonder about the course and direction of the girl’s life!

Holiday Courses

We taught a variety of courses over the recent Easter break in a number of locations. Some of the parents told us that their children had really enjoyed the work and were happy. The relationship between a child being happy and a child working in an Easter break seems, at first sight, to be mutually exclusive. Charles de Montesquieu (1689-1755) maintained:

“If we only wanted to be happy, it would be easy; but we want to be happier than other people, and that is almost always difficult, since we think them happier than they are.”

 

I wonder if we could also maintain that a child who is very intelligent and works hard at school is happier than a child with lower aspirations. There are many parts of a child’s life that make up the total child. Doing well at school is important but must not be all consuming to all concerned.

 

"The time has come," the Walrus said,

"To talk of many things:

Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--

Of cabbages--and kings--

And why the sea is boiling hot--

And whether pigs have wings."

Who would have thought fifty years ago that some children would be enjoying being entertained by an electronic device? Some adults too?

I was traveling on the train this morning to Victoria and could see eleven adults on their way to work. Every single one of them had some form of electronic device. One, dressed in a sober suit with a sombre tie was playing a game involving lots of key presses. A matron in her senior years appeared to be embracing Facebook.

No one was asleep! Do phones, hand held computers and other devices stop people sleeping?

In time our intrepid eleven plus children will be probably be revising and preparing on-line as well as taking their eleven plus tests. The need for chalk and talk may drop away. The need for face to face communication may drop away. The Walrus and the Carpenter may not need to have wide ranging discussions as Facebook and Twitter will have replaced conversation.

Sample eleven plus question may, however, continue to read:

Question 1

What causes the sea to boil?

a) Running out of battery life?

b) Active volcanoes?

c) No nagging about the eleven plus?

Question 2

Can pigs fly?

a) Yes if they have wings.

b) Yes if the battery is fully charged

c) No if they do not pass the eleven plus.

Eleven Plus Challenges

There is a theory, but I am not sure how much it applies to the eleven plus, that there are Tool Makers and Tool Users.

An Eleven Plus Tool Maker may be a child who is able to use what he or she has learnt in preparing for the eleven plus examination. The Tool Make may go on in life to feel that it is fun and `correct’ to be academically challenged. The challenge is not offered in the sense that the child does not have ability – it is to do with the child wanting to meet new academic challenges.  

An Eleven Plus Tool User could be a child who attends to eleven plus work dutifully and, we hope, willingly. The `User’ will apply an `Eleven Plus’ knowledge of fractions in the classroom – and will, we hope, gain lots of kudos for being clever. Will this knowledge, however, translate into a desire to explore mathematical and other subjects and topics involving fractions?

It may be interesting to look at what an eleven plus child learns during the week. From the following list is it possible to say if the child is being developed to become a maker or a user?

Learning Activities	Tool Maker	Tool User
Learning from Experts
Learning from Others
Learning through Making
Learning through Exploring
Learning through Inquiry
Learning through Practising
Learning across Settings
Learning from Assessment

When our eleven plus child walks into the grammar school on the first day, will the eleven plus preparation, contribute towards the child approaching education as a maker or a user? Of course we need Users but we also need the Makers to make things happen.

Eleven Plus Appeals

I tried to find a link to `Scaling of Teachers’ Marks and Estimates’ by McIntosh, Walker and McKay. Amazon, of course, had one. In fact Amazon had four second hand copies, this morning, marked at the princely sum of 1p each!

The article, written in 1962, described how teacher’s marks were used to establish an order of merit within a school. When would you use this information? Suppose your child just misses out on passing the eleven plus. You go to your teacher at school and ask for help. Your teacher maintains that your child should have passed and can-not think why your child did not pass.

You know that others in school did pass – so why did your poor child fail?

Your child’s teacher is not sure.

You then ask for the scaling of the marks in the class. You explain that you want your child’s marks moderated by the teacher so that his or her marks can be compared with the ranking achieved by other children in the actual eleven plus examination.

Suppose that your teacher ranks your child higher than others who did pass – then you may have gathered some useful intelligence.

There is a slight problem with this method – you need the mean or the average of the others in the school who did pass. Will the school offer this information or will you need to go cap in hand to the parents of the successful parents? Do they actually know their child’s scores?

Now it is clear that asking the school and other parents for help may pose problems. You could even be experimenting because the appeal board may not recognise your findings. Surely, however, the feelings of your child’s class teacher should be considered?

A little more research may be needed before the eleven plus boards use scaling by class teachers as a useful tool in determining the success or otherwise of children in the `Need to Appeal’ zone. 

The Eleven Plus and Engineering

The Stanford Scientific Aptitude Test was first published in 1929 and was constructed by Dr Zyve to bring out aptitudes essential for success in scientific fields. The tests were designed to try to be independent of previous knowledge and training.

The tests were constructed to expose experimental bent and ability to think and observe accurately. The questions covered:

Mathematics

Choice of best approach to scientific problems

Analysis of the motion of gears

Inconsistencies in statements relating to physics and chemistry

Approval or disapproval of various scientific projects

Comparison of heights and lengths of lines

Procedures in various types of laboratory experiments

Noting and checking the details of various geometrical figures

If, however, you wanted you child to go to a grammar school specialising in engineering you may consider him or her taking the “Wiggly Block Test”. This measures the ability to visualise in three dimensions. There are nine pieces of wood with wavy sides. When the wood is properly fitted together they form a rectangular block.

But how could eleven plus parents do the Wiggly Block Test at home?

It is easy – take a large slab of butter. (I am not sure if it will work with margarine – but if it does please let all of us know.)

Cut the butter in nine blocks – in a wiggly manner.

Re-freeze the butter.

Lower the temperature in the kitchen as much as possible. Take the butter out of the freezer. Invite your prospective eleven plus candidate to re-assemble the butter blocks.

If your child can solve the problem before the butter melts then you know your child will certainly pass the eleven plus and go onto study engineering at university.

DNA and the Eleven Plus

Will scientists ever find the gene within our DNA which will determine eleven plus success? Imagine if your child could have a simple blood test – or a swab – and you would then know if it was worth your while helping your child towards the eleven plus.

When Crick and Watson, in 1953, identified the double-helix they discovered the importance of two strands coiled around each other. When the strands of the helix are separated each provides a template for the synthesis of an identical strand.  Each strand has the same genetic information.

We now know that hereditary information is stored as a specific sequence of bases. Will one day the geneticists ever seek to find the elusive `eleven plus’ gene?  

You move house to a new area – within the zone of the local grammar school. You take on a new mortgage and commit yourself to thousands of pounds – just so that your child can have the best possible education. As your child moves into Year 4 you take that search on Amazon for the wonder DNA testing kit.

Amazon returns the results of eleven different `Eleven Plus Testing Kits’. Do you go for the cheapest option or the best product? Does it really matter – you are already committed to your new home and mortgage? Can you ask other families about the reliability of the tests? Will Amazon offer a money back guarantee?

The fate and the future of the `Wonder Eleven Plus DNA Testing Kit’ is in your hands!

The Eleven Plus Logic of a Big Mac.

You are trying to help your eleven plus child to think logically. You suddenly remember all your work in the sixth form when you were studying proportional calculus. You recall your mathematics teacher discussing tautologies.  You explain to your ten year old that one meaning of the word is that everything is true in every possible interpretation.

You are not sure that your eleven plus child is actually listening. There is no eye contact. You wonder if spending all this time on eleven plus work is actually going to pay off in the end.

“You mean that if I say that I am hungry and feel like a Big Mac, that it is true and I really want a Big Mac?”

“It is bit more complex than that, my dear. We are discussing experiential and symbolic levels. Do you understand?”

“Not really. Can I have a Big Mac, please?”

“If we were counting using actual Big Macs we would be organising our thoughts in an experiential manner.”

“O.K.”

“If we counted using the bits of card around the Big Mac, we would be counting using symbolic terms.”

“You mean the covering of the Big Macs is symbolic – and the real Big Mac is what we eat?”

“Exactly. I am proud of you.”

“Please can we go now?”

“Where would you like to go?”

“To get a Big Mac, please.”

(The logic of a ten year old!)

Is the Eleven Plus a Sound Investment?

I have a book, published in 1929, which outlines `The Case for Nursery Schools’. A person called E. Chataway bought the book in 1942. What E. Chataway thought of the book is hard to tell.

There is a most interesting chapter on `Some Financial Considerations’. If I may quote: “The actual average annual expenditure on food for ten nursery schools is £4.00, of which £3.00 is repaid. The average cost of school day is 3d a head of which an average of 2d is received from the parents.”

Eleven Plus Questions:

Is encouraging your child to attend a Nursery School a sound investment?

Is 2d worth at least ten times as much today?

Do children find positive good in studying for the eleven plus?

How can you tell if all the time and effort that is put into helping a child pass the eleven plus is a sound investment?

Beyoncé and the Eleven Plus

If one member of the family passes the eleven plus is it likely that others will follow suit? If we look at the Bach family we can see prodigious musical talent. Their profession was music – and fifty-three Bachs held posts as organists, cantors or musicians over a period of around a hundred years.

One of the family was Johan Christian Bach who was the eighteenth child and the eleventh son. He was appointed music master to Queen Charlotte.

(If there are any current eleven plus families out there with eighteen children – we would love to hear from the eleventh child.)

Do children learn to cope with different types of verbal reasoning if the instructions are set to music? Would the music of Beethoven be better suited to coping with opposites – or should families and eleven plus tutors use the songs of Beyoncé?  Should children learn long division with country and western songs or should the family have to put up with the `Black Eyed Peas?’

Think of the sales of guitars, pianos, and double basses as parents buy their eleven plus teaching tools. Think of mothers and fathers settling down after the evening meal to write little eleven plus songs. Look at the pleasure and the excitement of working out a simple tune to:

Bicycle, Biennial, Binary and Binomial

All start with Bi.

This implies that two of something is involved.

Chorus

In a binomial distribution

The random variable

Has two possible outcomes.

Biscuit, billion, billiards and bimbo

All start with Bi

Beyoncé, however, starts with `be’ so she’s not involved.

Chorus

In a binomial distribution

The random variable

Has two possible outcomes.

Can learning Python help with the Eleven Plus?

Would working through exercises from the programming language `Python’ help some of our eleven plus children and their parents? Some eleven plus children may occasionally use the well-known words: “In a while!” “In a while can mean three minutes or three hours. There may even be some who would make the `while’ last three days! Learning elements of Python may help.

In Python there is a something called a `for loop’. It is possible to print the words, “I love work” five times with the command word `print’.

>>> print (“I love work”)

I love work

>>> print (“I love work”)

I love work

>>> print (“I love work”)

I love work

>>> print (“I love work”)

I love work

>>> print (“I love work”)

I love work

In Python you can use a `for loop’ to reduce the amount of typing and repetition.

>>>  for x in range (0,5)

                Print (“I love work”)

I love work

I love work

I love work

I love work

I love work

The command is to start printing the words `I love work’  at 1 and stop at 5.

Think now of the time that will save the average eleven plus family over a year!

You could start a `for loop’ from 1 to 100 for bed time, eleven plus work, tidying the bedroom, and feeding the dog.

Think now of your child’s favourite computer urging him or her to do a little extra work! What a coup!   

The Eleven Plus and Eggy Bread

Why are there recipes for Eggy Bread or French Toast in cookbooks for girls and boys? We know that after parties, Christmas and any time there has been extra catering, we may have left over bread. Of course the birds deserve some of the left overs. We can also use them in our cooking. (The left over bread – not the birds!)

Before feeding the birds,some of us will cut off the crusts and dry and brown them in the oven. They can then be rolled fine with a rolling pin and stored in an airtight tin for bread crumbing.  The purists among us will want to use a mixture of brown and white crusts. Why? I have no idea!

Back to French toast or Eggy Bread.

2 medium eggs

75ml milk

25g butter

I tablespoon cooking oil

4 slices of bread

Break the eggs in a shallow dish. Heat the butter and oil. Dip the bread. Cook for two minutes – then turn the bread.  Add whatever your child desires. (I have never tried eggy bread with vanilla ice-cream.)

Now if you drizzle syrup over one master slice and then enjoy yourself with patterns on five slices of eggy bread, you could be coming close to solving some elusive eleven plus questions. You could try this at home!

Breakfast and the Eleven Plus

We must surmise that many parents of eleven plus children ensure that their offspring eat nourishing food on the day of the examination.  The `good breakfast’ does seem to be highly desirable. “Come dear, eat your breakfast, you need the fuel. You have a busy day.”

“But Mum, I just don’t feel like eating now. Maybe I’ll eat something after the exam.”

“Just try to eat something. You know that over the years be have tried to synchronise meals however busy or worried we are.”

“Yes, Mum. You have said it before a healthy family eats together.”

“We do have a few minutes. The word breakfast means to break your fast. You have not eaten since last night.”

“I know, I know. You have also said that most breakfast cereals have too much sugar. I don’t want too must sugar I don’t want to be wired.”

“There is just time. Would you like me to cook you a full English breakfast? We have bacon, sausages, eggs, tomatoes and beans. I can also do some fried bread. You like fried bread don’t you?”

“No thank you. I just don’t like back pudding.”

“Well you must have something before you go to the examination. You don’t want cereal, you don’t want toast. You don’t want eggs. What do you want?”

“Nothing, thank you. Can you get me an energy drink on the way to school, please?”

“No. I refuse. I don’t like energy drinks at the best of time.”

“Aw, Mum.”

“Please just have a little toast.”

“O.K. then. Do you think, Mum, that the Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, ate breakfast before he blasted off into space?”

“Eat your toast.”

Eleven Plus Changes

I sometimes feel that it is a pity that eleven plus children are not encouraged to learn a language. Would there be a huge outcry? I wonder.

Exercise One

Translate some of the following:

Germani  cum Romanis fortiter pugnarverunt.  Milites audacious resitere ac fortius incipunt.

 We know that pugnacious is something to do with being ready to fight. We can probably also guess that the German tribes and the Romans were unhappy with each other.

We also know that audacious means very bold or daring. There is also the word resitere which may have something to do with resistance. Could milites have a connection with military?

Put an eleven plus child onto the trail – and excite the child with the possibility of discovering and deciphering words – and then sit back and enjoy the enthusiasm. This may be a lot more interesting than asking for the anonyms of a series of ten words.

Example Two

Translate some of the following:

Metode: 1 koppie gesnayde artapples. 4 koppies warm melk. 2 eetlepels botter, 1 teelepel sout, 1 eatlepel meel, a paar stukkies uie, peper en sout. Kook alles saam.

Translating this passage may challenge some children – but if they were helped with understanding where words come from, then new worlds may open up.

What, for example, could the word metode be? Of course, method.

`koppies warm melk’ – would this be something to do with cups of milk?

Could we guess at `peper en sout’?

Much of the present eleven plus seems to be a series of exercises aimed at imparting knowledge. Why can’t the eleven plus child enjoy learning without being burdened with a large number of explanations and cautions?

Meryl Streep and the Eleven Plus

Could tapping into skills associated with Social Intelligence help with preparing your child for the eleven plus examinations? On the day of the examination you want your child to be gifted and unique. You want the finished article.

Instead of help your child concentrate on working through eleven plus papers what about trying to build confidence in the areas of empathy, resilience, curiosity and creativity? When you child sits down at the desk in the examination room you want your child to feel confident and positive.

“If you pass the eleven plus we will all go to Florida.”

“If you pass you can have a new bicycle.”

“If you pass we will go out for a nice meal.”

Some parents will resonate with the idea of encouraging their children to do well but other would prefer their child to acquire good study skills, sound pre-examination nutrition, learn when to take rests and how to enjoy recreation.

Suppose your child was able to enter the examination without feeling unduly anxious. Imagine a child who was able to say, “Don’t worry, I will just do my best. Thank you for all your support and hard-work. The examination, now, is up to me.”

The sceptics will argue, “How can we test the happiness of an eleven plus child?” A different question could ask, “Why shouldn’t we label a child as having grammar school potential?” The present state of the eleven plus can provide some of the answers – but cannot hope to satisfy everyone.

One remarkably powerful element of Social Intelligence must be empathy. A question for learned: Was Meryl Streep talking about the eleven plus when she said: “The greatest gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy.”

Classifying Eleven Plus Questions

How much can we rely on the observations and thoughts of family, friends, neighbours and the school community? If children can be broadly categorised into three main groups – then we may be able to find potential grammar school pupils without having to test the children. The groups could be `bright’, `average’ and `not so able’. But can children be graded in such a manner or do we need to rely solely on tests?

Some teachers may possibly argue that any classification by non-professions must be suspect. Ask a teacher who is the brightest in the class – and it is likely that he or she would identify at least one child. Ask a grandmother to point out the brightest in her family and she would probably have remarkably little difficulty in pointing out the star of the family.

Of course we can change the classification of the children into: `grammar school potential’, `boarder line’ and `would not be happy in an academic environment’. This could please some of the observers – but some parents would be very upset.

Just think of the outcry – and the hurried rewriting of eleven plus papers and books – if questions along the following lines were recommended. Surely this is a vocabulary item?

“Dad, is an ox a sort of male cow?”

“Sort of, yes.”

“And equine means something to do with horses?”

“That is right.”

“Well Dad, what is an equinox?”

Classifying Eleven Plus Questions

How much can we rely on the observations and thoughts of family, friends, neighbours and the school community? If children can be broadly categorised into three main groups – then we may be able to find potential grammar school pupils without having to test the children. The groups could be `bright’, `average’ and `not so able’. But can children be graded in such a manner or do we need to rely solely on tests?

Some teachers may possibly argue that any classification by non-professions must be suspect. Ask a teacher who is the brightest in the class – and it is likely that he or she would identify at least one child. Ask a grandmother to point out the brightest in her family and she would probably have remarkably little difficulty in pointing out the star of the family.

Of course we can change the classification of the children into: `grammar school potential’, `boarder line’ and `would not be happy in an academic environment’. This could please some of the observers – but some parents would be very upset.

Just think of the outcry – and the hurried rewriting of eleven plus papers and books – if questions along the following lines were recommended. Surely this is a vocabulary item?

“Dad, is an ox a sort of male cow?”

“Sort of, yes.”

“And equine means something to do with horses?”

“That is right.”

“Well Dad, what is an equinox?”

Vocabulary and the Eleven Plus

Vocabulary plays a large part in parts of the eleven plus examination. A wide vocabulary is considered to be one of the signs of ability. It is difficult for most ten year old potential eleven plus candidates not to absorb new words and ideas. Some words, however, are a little more obscure than others.

Do you remember the story about the seven year old?

On Mother’s day, my seven-year old son couldn’t wait to present me with a book of poetry he had written for me. Part of it was an acrostic of my name – Victoria – with an adjective describing me next to each letter.

Beside `I’ he had written “intelligent”

Next to `c’, “caring”

And for the `o’, “outstanding”.

I was swelling with pride until I came to the final `a’. Next to it my son has written: “able to scream”.

I am fortunate to have a 1912 edition of Roget’s Thesaurus of English words. The word `acrostic’ comes up in the section on `secrets’. Some of the other words are:  mystery, enigma, teaser, riddle, poser, conundrum, rebus, anagram and acrostic. 

When we see elements of the richness of the English language it is not hard to see why vocabulary is rated so highly in ability tests.

PLMA and the Eleven Plus

Every parent knows the rich meaning behind the letters `PLMA’. This could be your child texting you asking for some space. The letters could also be used when you feel that an extortionate demand is being made. You could, of course, involve your child in an erudite discussion on the difference between `Leave me alone’ and `Let me alone’. Parents of eleven plus children should never miss an opportunity.

Leave implies going, departing.` Leave me alone’ suggests that you want to be left alone.

`Let me alone’ seems to mean stop bugging me, stop irritating me.

Every good parent, however, never knows when to stop. From the benign discussion on being left alone you could go on to discussion the role of particularistic judgements. These, as you well know, are the judgements according to the relationship with the person being judged or discussed. A parent will judge his or her child by the relationships in the family. A teacher may judge a child on the grounds of the ability to fit into an academic school.

We know that grammar schools accept children who pass an eleven plus examination. Children with poor social skills or the `wrong attitude’ to school and education may, sometimes, be judged as being unsatisfactory. A teacher in a primary school may be drawn to a bright child who is precocious – but too immature to cope with the strictures on an eleven plus examination. The child may prefer to be left alone rather than try to conform.

When your child insists: “Just, please let me alone!” take heart the letters `JPLMA’ does not mean that your child is judging you, or does not want to go to grammar school, the letters may simply mean that your child needs a bit of space.

Time and the Eleven Plus

When is the best time of day for your eleven plus child to study? After school? Before school? In the morning? In the evening? Some of the time? All the time?

Do you remember the `Rime of the Ancient Mariner’? One foolhardy sailor shot the albatross and woe came to the ship:

Day after day, day after day,

We stuck, nor breath nor motion;

As idle as a painted ship

Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, every where,

And all the boards did shrink;

Water, water, every where,

Nor any drop to drink.

Day after day, day after day,

We stuck, nor breath nor motion;

As idle as a painted ship

Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, every where,

And all the boards did shrink;

Water, water, every where,

Nor any drop to drink.

Day after day, day after day,

We stuck, nor breath nor motion;

As idle as a painted ship

Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, every where,

And all the boards did shrink;

Water, water, every where,

Nor any drop to drink.

Day after day, day after day,

We stuck, nor breath nor motion;

As idle as a painted ship

Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, every where,

And all the boards did shrink;

Water, water, every where,

Nor any drop to drink.

Day after day, day after day,

We stuck, nor breath nor motion;

As idle as a painted ship

Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, every where,

And all the boards did shrink;

Water, water, every where,

Nor any drop to drink.

The rest of the crew forced the sailor to wear the albatross around his neck. When the ship reached land he was forced to wander the world telling all of his guilt.

No parent would want the eleven plus to become an `albatross around the neck’.  We certainly don’t want the eleven plus to lay a heavy burden of guilt on a child. That could be self-defeating and could, over a period of time, become an obstacle to success.

It is likely that there can be no one best time of day to study. The weather, for example, changes from day to day – and sometimes from hour to hour. The changes can come from the weather, day and night and from season to season.

Your child may have a good day at school or a bad day, friendships may grow or wither. You may approach your child with concern in your voice or determination. What is the best time of day for your eleven plus child to study?

It depends.