The Early Development of Eleven Plus Skills.

It may be useful sometimes to remember the work of Skeels and Dye. They wanted to see if they could improve the orphanage environment by making it more active. They initiated a controversial experiment.

They transferred one and two year old orphanage children to a training school for feeble minded girls. These girls acted as mother substitutes and cared for the children, talked to them and played with them.

Two years later the I.Q.s had improved by 27 points. The I.Q.s of children who remained at the orphanage had dropped by around twenty-six points. The children placed with the feeble minded mother substitutes had made considerable progress.

Some parents, during the eleven plus year, may be tempted to concentrate on academic development. The experience, as out lined by Skeels and Dye with the babies must however remind us that there is far more to the eleven plus year than work and more work. Some parents may need to be reminded that their children must be able to play and live relatively normal lives – to try to ensure that their children do not become too one sided.