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Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Eleven Plus Attutudes

We should want eleven plus children to hold the right attitude towards the eleven plus. We hope that a bright and active eleven plus child with want to argue and discuss – and we certainly do not want a passive participant. We want the eleven plus child to be able to analyse questions and debate points. The last thing a parent would want is a `foggy’ eleven plus child. Equally few parents would possibly not want a `stroppy’ eleven plus child.

To pass the eleven plus a child needs attitudes, skills and knowledge.

“I can and want to pass the eleven plus.”

“I have the necessary skills to pass.”

“My knowledge is such that I think I can solve most eleven plus problems. (To use a different terminology - `Bring it on!’)

To achieve all this some parents may have to be able to accept some form of challenge to their authority.

Children are exposed every day of their lives to the explosion of knowledge. We see, for example, children accepting and revelling in the technology and the intimacy of our live on line lessons. There are nine and ten year old children can communicate effectively in a digital world. Our role in this new world is not stuffing the children full of facts and generalisations. We want the on line children to continue to have a positive attitude to learning and to develop a battery of investigative and inquiry skills.

Our eleven plus question of the day:

Do we want a `foggy’, `stroppy’ and `challenging’ child or a `positive’, `investigative’ and `inquiring’ child?

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