Some mums and dads need a medal. What about one called: `The Order of the Eleven Plus’? This is given for conspicuous gallantry in the face of overwhelming odds.
Sometimes children opt to do some extra work at home. Their parents naturally want to help. Very often parents may feel hesitant because their much loved offspring will mutter the unwelcome words: “We don’t do it like that at school.”
Does that mean that a new form of teaching a hitherto familiar subject has been designed by yet another subject specialist? Does it mean that the teacher at school has simply shown an alternative method that some children may find easier? Does it mean that a poor and unsuspecting parent has meandered unwittingly into a minefield?
I met a family today where mum and daughter had worked out how to do pie charts. You know the type of question. `Twenty four children wanted to share a huge chocolate cake. Eight liked the cake without a top dressing, five wanted a chocolate filling, three only liked eating the top layer and the rest did not mind what they ate as long as there was some cake. Draw a pie chart showing the different proportions.’
Mum and daughter worked out a most ingenious method of solving the problem – along with a beautifully drawn chart. It was a work of art. Naturally I complimented the two.
Mum said: “But my husband is better at maths.”
The daughter said: “But my dad is better at maths.”
The award of `The Order of the Eleven Plus’ must go this week to the mum who took on the challenge and solved the problem without the help of her husband. The daughter will want to add a bar to the medal when all she had to do was ask her dad.
Could there be a group medal awarded to all eleven plus children and their parents for bravery in the face of adversity? Please write in for your award.
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