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Sunday, June 12, 2011

The Eleven Plus Just Crawls Along

“Mukomana anofudza mombe, musikana hafudze mombe.”

The boy herds cattle, the girl does not herd cattle.”

“Vasikana vanocera mvura, vakomana havacere mvura.”

The girls draw water, the boys do not draw water.

We can see that a boy is a mukomana and a girl a musikana.

The Shona word for cattle is mombe and water is mvura.

With this information we can more than likely read and understand the sentences.

Similar acts of translation and comprehension sometimes need to take place during some types of eleven plus questions. If we were learning Shona we would want to learn about the life and customs of country. Naturally there would be some relationship between the idioms, the stories and the songs. An eleven plus child needs a similar connection with the concept behind the eleven plus, why there are grammar schools and how life after a grammar school has the potential to offer rich and varied experiences.

When your child hesitates over a questions remind him or her that crawling is not a very dignified way of moving. But crawling is an essential prerequisite of walking for many children.

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