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Saturday, June 06, 2009

Timing Eleven Plus Questions

Some children find it difficult to work out just how long to spend on a question. Of course having a watch helps – but only if the watch is used effectively.

Suppose that a question has to be answered with 45 seconds.

The 45 seconds is a length of time with a beginning and an end.

Tap twice to start the 45 seconds and count on.

Counting `One million and one, one million and two’ in a measured way sound count out the 45 seconds. End the sequence with a closing double tap. The duration of the distance in time between the first and the second double tap is the time allowed to read, digest and answer a question.

If extra time is needed then this will need to come off subsequent questions. The amount of time for a different question then needs to be made up where the duration of time allowed must become less direct. In other words `hurry’ comes into the equation.

Some children can start the question on time but lose time because they have to fill the period between starting the question and moving onto the next questions with many different mental activities. The passage of time is but one of them.

It will be much easier to help your child to count to 5 seconds than 45 seconds if the gap in between starting and finishing is concentrating only on time. If you ask your child to fill the five seconds with another activity it is likely that the ability to measure the duration of time is affected.

You and your child may find it easier to fill the time with words rather than noises.

You may find that meaningful sentences fill the time more easily than nonsense syllables.

You could also try filling the time by encouraging your child to read a question twice, eliminate multiple choices that can not be right, selecting an answer and checking it quickly.

If this works you may have helped your child with the timing of questions within a test.

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