Ten Eleven Plus Points

You may need, at times, to offer your child a little advice. Your collected thoughts can be gratefully received, or looked at with a degree of suspicion and horror. The timing may be wrong – but your sentiments can not be faulted. You simply want to help your child. With just a few months to the 2011 Eleven Plus examinations parents are starting to work through selection papers with their children. Some of the following points of advice to your child may apply at one time or another.

1. Encourage your child to work as neatly as possible. This is especially important if your child is filling in multiple choice answer sheets. The scanner will have difficulty in reading untidy and crossed out work.

2. Try to help your child to use as wide a vocabulary as possible during conversations and eleven plus work. There is a saying: “Keep it simple, stupid.” This can not apply to all situations – sometimes your child will need to experiment with words and ideas – after all he or she is on his or her own in the examination.

3. Explain over and over the need to keep working through a paper. You and your child will have worked hard to reach the stage where the two of you are working through papers together. “Don’t give up!”

4. Encourage re-reading the question before your child moves on to the next question. Your child may have selected the answer – but did he or she select the answer that the question was looking for? If you work on this on papers at home your child may be more likely to apply this in the actual examination.

5. Work steadily through a paper. Try to avoid saying, “Let’s get to the end of the page.” Your child’s attention may droop in the middle of the examination and the `end of page’ syndrome may kick in. If you have to stop, find somewhere along the line or some other finishing post.

6. You may offer the advice, “If you don’t know the answer then move on. You can always come back to it later on.” If you don’t apply this rule when the two of you are working together – how you expect your much loved one to do this in the examination?

7. Help with a chart, in a conspicuous place, of when the examination is – the days and the time. “Focus dear, focus!”

8. Make sure that the favoured pencil case is fully equipped – pencils and rubbers are essential elements.

9. Try not to ramble when you are repeating your self. Your bright ten years old will be able to pick up phoney statements. “Don’t worry dear. Just do your best.” (You may, possibly, really mean: “I have fed you, nurtured you, and helped you to ride a bike, put up with everything – so make sure you … well pass.”)

10. Remind your child that he or she is supposed to find that the examination is difficult. If your child, however, finds that every thing is dead easy then the two of you will have done the best you can.