Your pre-eleven plus child is now thinking about grammar school.
Something pops into your mind. You ask your eleven plus child the question:
“Have you learnt how to knot your tie without looking in the mirror?
(You have the feeling that boys and girls, in Year 7, at the local grammar school, need to wear ties. As a parent you sometimes may worry about the ability of your child to `fit in’.)
When you ask your child this question, you are really asking three questions:
1. Has your child solved the problem?
2. Has your child committed the steps to memory?
3. Can he or she actually perform the task?
If your child answers with a monosyllabic, and entirely unwarranted, `Yes’, then you can take the answer many ways.
(You could, as a last resort, ask for more detail on any of the points.)
“Yes, I have solved the problem. I can tie my tie.
“Yes, I can remember how to tie my tie.
“Yes, I can tie my tie? Would you like me to demonstrate it?”
We can take this a little bit further.
“How you completed your eleven plus task today?”
“Yes I have.”
“Yes I have done the verbal reasoning task – but nothing else.”
“Yes I did finish the whole paper in just fifty minutes. I am pleased with my mark as it was higher than yesterday,”
Parents may, sometimes, have to read a lot into the responses of their eleven plus candidate.
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