“How on earth am I going to help my child learn all this new
work?”
“I wonder why the eleven plus has questions like these? How
will he/she ever learn?”
“It is a lot of nonsense. In my day children did not have to
study like this for examinations. You simply woke up one day and wrote the
examination.”
“I used to love working hard at school and I am trying to
pass the same love for learning onto my child.”
There are many shades of opinion about the value of the eleven
plus. Some children, just like the some of the adults above, seem to love the challenge
– while others appear to dislike every moment. To make it easier for some
parents here are some basic laws of learning.
Law One – Intensity
The eleven plus requires time, effort and, sometimes, a big
push.
Law Two – Organisation
The whole family have to be organised – not just the candidate
and his or her parents.
Law Three – Contiguity
This is the well-known law of nearness. If your child learns
a new topic then revise it almost immediately, and keep revision as the examination
approaches.
Law Four – Exercise
You have to exercise the brain!
Law Five – Effect
A satisfying result is likely to be learned. Satisfaction
goes beyond mere pleasure.
Do you remember Polonius?
And these few precepts in thy memory
Look thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportioned thought his act.
Be thou familiar but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel,
Some children simply hate laws. Some parents hate them too. Use
the laws that suit you and your child. Ditch the rest!
