Eleven Plus Compromise

Some subscribe to the theory that good eleven plus teaching is always attempting to teach for transfer. Parents, for example, will often draw on their own experiences and attitudes when they are working with their children. Most eleven plus parents will hope that steady eleven plus work will translate into steady work at grammar school. There are, however, some short cuts for parents.

Parents need to have clear cut long term eleven plus objectives.

Mothers and fathers should study the eleven plus and find out as much as possible about the examination and methods of preparing.

Parents should choose books and materials that are suited to their child’s needs.

The eleven plus `candidates’ should know exactly what is expected of them.

Parents should understand that discussion and problem solving activities are sometimes far more effective than a good old fashioned lecture.

And finally, parents should try to help their children understand that working towards the eleven plus will involve lots of learning. All parties (adults and children alike) must be prepared to compromise and be accommodating.

The Eleven Plus Bomb

The very well-known Cecil Day Lewis once wrote a poem called the `Unexploded Bomb’. The poem described how two neighbours found an unexploded bomb – half in the one garden and half in the other. The neighbours were not really on speaking terms.

They argued about the responsibility for the bomb but neither would give way. The common feeling was that the bomb acted as a guard between the neighbours. It was suggested to them that they should call the bomb squad to have the bomb removed.

The neighbours did not want anyone to enter their gardens and dig up the bomb.

The unexploded bomb stayed where it was.

The approach of the eleven plus is not a journey with a bomb ticking away at the end. The Eleven Plus Examination has the potential to instigate a gentle meander through learning and sharing activities. There are books and papers to work through –peacefully and with dignity. There is time for parents and children to share `quality time’.

Naturally there will be flare-ups about work, time, family relationships, school, friends, swimming, skate boards, clothes and answers to eleven plus questions – but a family’s strength, in theory, should prevail. 

Salsa and the Eleven Plus

Quite a few millions of people are watching `Strictly Come Dancing’ year. It seems that the popularity of the series continues to grow. One of the dances that appears to grip the imagination of the judges and the watching public is the Salsa.

The word salsa means to `spice it up’.  The dance incorporates many different styles – from cha cha cha to the rumba and the mambo.  Salsa music generally has a rhythm of four beats to the bar – but the dancers use three steps per bar. A `quick’ is one beat while the `slow’ has two beats. The percussion instruments of bongos and maracas give salsa music its rhythm.

The next time you and your partner sit down with your child to work through elements of an eleven plus paper think of your child listening to the two of you working together.

In one of the steps in Salsa, the backward step, the man steps back on the left foot, leaving the right foot in place. (Count - quick)

The woman moves back on the right foot leaving the left foot in place. (Count – quick)

The man transfers his body weight forward onto the right foot. (Count – quick)

The woman transfers her weight onto the left foot. (Count – quick)

The man closes his left foot to the right foot. (Count - slow)

The woman closes the right foot to the left foot. (Count – slow)

Now ask your eleven plus candidate to read these instructions aloud while you and your partner execute these steps – and try to follow the learning sequence. If you understand what is expected of you the first time you are both worthy eleven plus parents. If there is a hesitation and a little frustration then try to imagine your child’s feelings as he or she meets a new eleven plus concept.

If the two of you start arguing over who goes forward and who goes back– and your child watches with joy and pleasure – then you know you really are proper eleven plus parents!

The Eleven Plus and Your Therapist.

At one stage or another some of may feel that we need to see a therapist. We are not looking for a therapist for our children – but for ourselves. Teachers, parents and tutors alike may need, at some stage or another, the ability to lie down on a couch, in a darkened room, and pour out our problems.

The therapist will endeavour to:

Listen to you eleven plus worries

Reassure you that you are, in fact, normal.

Advise you on responses to your eleven plus child

Give you help with training your child

Suggest ways in which your life can be stabilised and enriched

Help you with verbal reasoning questions

Help you with nonverbal reasoning questions

Help you with mathematics questions

Discuss with you what you are allowed to say to your child’s school.

Understand what the school is saying to you

You will need to take into account your therapist’s background. You may not need any help with marriage guidance or alternative therapies. You may feel that it is unnecessary of your therapist to ask you about you gym visits.  

The last thing you would want is for your therapist to join your group of friends. Imagine if your darkest secrets and fears about the eleven plus were aired to anyone?  

All that you can hope is that you can learn a little more about yourself.

The Needs of Eleven Plus Children

What is the most important characteristic of an eleven plus child? The will of the parents for an elusive: `Eleven Plus Pass’’? The desire of the child: `To Go to Grammar?’? The intervention of a: `Super Tutor’? The right: `Books and Paper’? All these probably play a part but there may one element which could transcend all of the above – how intelligent the child is.

We know that being bright gives children a big advantage over less able children. An intelligent child will be able to do better on a test of ability than a competitor who is stronger or can run faster.

The chances of passing, however, are probably increased if the eleven plus child is systematically developed through a program of appropriate instructional and incentives techniques.

Do you remember little Anna? She was kept in an upstairs room and only received enough care to keep her barely alive. Apparently she had no instruction or friendly attention. When she was found at six she could not walk, talk or do anything that showed intelligence. She was believed to be deaf and probably blind.

Four and a half years later she could follow directions, string, beads and could talk in stilted phrases. Her development remained that of a normal child of two to three years. She had, however, made considerable progress. It seemed that Anna was held back by a lack of early communication.

Eleven plus children probably need:

The opportunity to talk, argue and listen

The right books and materials

Supportive and focused parents

Advice from the school at the right  time

And finally – a good dose of real intelligence.

Eleven Plus Results

Would it be true to say that there is a good deal of spurious accuracy in any single figure that purports to show the true ability of a child? A child who achieves 125 in verbal reasoning and 130 in mathematics but only 112 in nonverbal reasoning can easily fail the eleven plus. The same child may be amazing good at playing the flute and a master of chess – but still achieve a low mark in the actual examination.

We do not, however, have to assume that variability is the fault of the nonverbal test. The child may simply have shown some degree of variability in performance.

Suppose, however, that the same child had constantly done very well with any preparation exercises? What if the child had always done very well on earlier school tests with reasonable consistency? Any subsequent effort on the part of the school or the parents would be reduced to decisions beyond their control.

The value and provenance of ability tests are sometimes questioned. Anecdotal experience, however, seems to suggest that coaching and expert tutoring can help children to do well on ability tests.  

Reading and then understanding the instructions at the beginning of the test can affect performance. Children also have to be confident that there are no trick questions. They should also be aware that they should often consider a variety of options before answering a question.

A different problem for some children is time. There is limited time for tests and children have to take this into account. If a child lingers too long over one question he or she may leave too little time to be able to complete the paper.

Fixing the Eleven Plus

Is there a case for a national eleven plus curriculum? The theoretical case is that there would be a common standard throughout England. But there could be problems!

The anthropologist Alexander Goldenweiser found that there were remarkably few occupations universally practiced by one sex or another. In some cultures hunting was done by women. Men did the cooking and the house keeping. According to Goldenweiser there were some African tribes where sewing was traditionally a male activity. Efforts to encourage women to sew were greatly resented!

We need to go back to Lewis Terman who did so much to promote intelligence tests because schools and the business world needed some methods of measuring ability. Other tests grew out of the need to screen men and women during the Great Wars.

I used to enjoy watching the film Cheaper by the Dozen’ – and watching the Galbraith family of twelve adjust and develop to different surroundings. The parents used time and motion studies with their children to help with learning. Could we learn from them?

Now if the universal eleven plus could take into account the need for questions to be culture free, accurate in measuring ability and easily absorbed into a family’s life then the case for a universal eleven plus could be little stronger.

There may also be a case for `If it ain’t broke don’t fixit!’

Your Dog and the Eleven Plus

Many dogs and cats must listen intently to eleven plus lessons. Some dogs, however, may feel that they have had their day and there no longer is a reason to listen to interminable lessons and discussions.

In the ancient world opinion was divided on the question of how much dogs can reason.

Chrysippus’s dog, however, showed strong ability with multiple choice type questions. The dog was a hunting dog and sometimes came to a three-way cross road. (We can call the roads a) b) and c) for the sake of argument.)

If the dog failed to pick up the scent on the first two roads he would set off on the third road without further investigation. Did the dog think:

It is not a)

It is not b)

So it must be c)?

 Sadly the dog could not talk so it could not justify its choice.

When your dog prick’s up his or her ears and wags his or her tail at a certain point – do you, and your child, accept that the dog may be right? Perhaps some of you may care test out Chrysippus’s theory?

It will certainly be no use trying an experiment with your cat. The little animal would look at you with disdain – and return to sleep! No clues there for your eleven plus multiple choice work!

An Eleven Plus Verbal Question

Pumpkins are a hot topic of conversation this week and the week before. There is a hallowed recipe from Zimbabwe which some may care to try once the pumpkin has been hollowed.

Ingredients

1 pumpkin

1 or 2 onions

1 tea cup of cold water

1 dessert spoon of fat

I dessert spoon of flour

Salt

(Some may now add some chunks of meat- but this is optional.)

Hollow the pumpkin

Heat the fat

Fry the onions

Add the pumpkin

Stir in flour

Add water

Add salt

Serve hot!

Why a recipe?

An eleven plus verbal reasoning question:

Add either (hallowed or hollowed) to the sentence.

The porter threw the __________ pumpkin at the ____________ ground.

The Eleven Plus and Yellow Fever

Parents working with their children during the eleven plus year have to play many parts. Obviously they have to be a mother or a father. At times they will also need to be social workers, psychologists and doctors.

Parents will need to be able to cope with intelligence testing, personality development, social behaviour and eleven plus work.

Eleven Plus parents do not have the questionable luxury, however, of being able to experiment on their children. They cannot advise their child that a score of less than 70% is punishable. Parents, very likely, have remarkably little desire to offer their child any form of retribution for low marks.

How are parents going to be sure that they have chosen the right books and eleven plus papers? You will probably remember your science teacher, many years ago, telling you about medical research in days gone by.

A group of men were exposed to mosquitoes known to have bitten yellow fever patients. Most of the men became ill.

A control group was exposed to all other possible causes of the disease. The control group was not subjected to mosquito bites.

None of the control group contracted yellow fever.

The evidence was clear- yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes.

It is very difficult for parents, however, to predict that all their children will pass the eleven plus. If, for example, other members of the family had passed with the same tutor and the same eleven plus papers – would the third child in the family also pass with the same tutor and the same books?

There may even be some parents who knew about other people who had taken performance enhancing drugs – like Benzedrine. A control group was offered Benzedrine before an examination. The control group was given a placebo. It was found that Benzedrine did not affect mental ability significantly.

Fortunately for many eleven plus children, many parents seem to realise that a variety of methods and approaches is needed. There is not one path that will lead to an eleven plus pass. The way to the eleven plus, at times, can be tortuous and winding. It can also be an exhilarating ride full of success and promise.

Eleven Plus Reading

Reading plays a large part in eleven plus examinations. Children have to be able to read in order to answer questions. Some children find the eleven plus year so demanding that they have little time to read for pleasure.

When parents exhort their children to read for pleasure many will suggest: “Do not try to read every word. It is perfectly all right to `skim’.”

Of course reading to learn something is very different. Here many parents will draw on their own schools days to remind their children about `The Secrets of Learning from Books.”

Read the title page and the list of contents – and decide if you need to read the whole book or simply chosen sections.

Read the `blurb’ on the back cover together. Explain how this often gives insight into the scope and extent of the book.

Show your child that he or she may only need to read one or two chapters.

Look at any diagrams, photographs, pictures or maps. These are used to explain points and often offer a succinct summary.

And finally, help your child to make notes! Explain to your child that making simple notes may save him or her having to re-read almost everything.

The Eleven Plus Ace

Probability questions, at the eleven plus level, often seem to involve cards. For some reason or another the writers of some eleven plus mathematics papers appear to take it for granted that all eleven plus children have access to packs of cards at school or at home. There will be some children, for one reason or another, who are not sure how many colour cards there are in a pack, how many cards in a suite and why the value of an Ace can vary between one and eleven!

For those children who are allowed to play cards `21s’ provides a very quick introduction.

Explain to your child that the aim of the game is to score 21 points.

An Ace is worth 1 or 11

The King, Queen and Jack are worth 10

Cards 2 to 10 are worth their face value.

Deal one card face down to each of players. Deal a second card face up.

Players are trying to get as close as possible to 21.

It is also possible to be a winner if one of the players reaches 21 with five cards.

The game can move along very quickly – but sometimes one or more player seems to take an age to make up his or her mind.

What happens, though, if your eleven plus child asks you: “Why is an Ace worth both one and eleven?”

Eleven Plus Questions and Answers

Some Questions

Why do you want your child to do the eleven plus?

To have the opportunity of being able to choose a school – be it grammar or some other school.

When do you think you need to start eleven plus work?

This will vary from child to child. Some children do not seem to need extra work. Other children start work years ahead of the examination. We are just playing it by ear.

Can you do the eleven plus preparation yourself?

My child and I enjoy a good working relationship. It is likely that we will do it ourselves.

Do you have favourite books and papers to work from?

Years ago, when my oldest daughter was doing the eleven plus, we all had to rely on the two `big’ publishers. The internet now gives us lots of choice.

Does your school know you are interested in preparing your child?

The school is very supportive. I have, however, heard of other schools where the eleven plus is frowned on – but our school is fine.

Do you talk to other parents about your ambition?

Of course! This is where we all share experiences.

Are you looking forward to the grind?

Oh yes. We only get one chance at the examination.

An Eleven Plus Rune

About two thousand years ago the Ancient Norse used runes as an alphabet. Runes are marks on stones or wood – so it is likely that the symbols are even older. The words `rune’ is linked with the Old Norse word for `mystery’ or `secret’.

When children are using the alphabet for eleven plus work it may sometimes pass through the minds that the word alphabet comes from the first two Greek letters `alpha’ and `beta’. The usual name for the runic alphabet, however, is `Futhark’.

(If an eleven plus child says: “My answer has gone `phut’!” Does the meaning of the word `phut’ come from Futhark?)

We know that the Norse gave us many words.

Tuesday – Tyr - the defender god

Wednesday – Odin or Wodan - the All-Father

Thursday – Thor – thunder

Friday – Frigg - the spinner of thread

I am not sure what happened to the Norse men and women – but what did they do on the other days of the week?

The Norse used to believe that if you receive a gift you must give something in return. Perhaps that is why many eleven plus children say a respectful `Thank You’ when they have been taught something new.

An Analysis of the Eleven Plus Year

Blog251012

Systems Analysis is the process of breaking a complex problem into its component parts, examining those parts and then reorganising them a more efficient whole. Eleven Plus parents do this all the time!

The first step is trying to make sense of the plethora of information. It comes at parents from all sides.

Then comes decisions of whether to work with the candidate at home or call in outside help.

Things will go reasonably smoothly until the time arrives for `Work On Papers’. Early exercises can be rather stressful for all concerned.

The August / September holidays before the examinations can also be challenging. How much work still needs to be done? Is there time for a family holiday? Is it possible to have a week free of any mention of the eleven plus?

The final days and hours leading up to the actual examination can be interesting. Both sides (parents and children alike) will be trying to avoid any stressful situations   and challenging moments.

What about the day before the examination? Oh dear! Keep calm. Should there be any last minute work?

Each of the situations and events need some form of analysis. A system is needed for all concerned!

(Should eleven plus parents be paid an extra allowance for the stresses and strains of the eleven plus year?)

Eleven Plus Ethics

Just a thought  .. what about asking your partner if he or she will record the events taking place in a typical plus exercise at home?

Before you start there must be some ethical considerations. Whatever you observe of your partner and your child could make a permanent record – be it a video or simply a written account with pertinent observations and impressions.

Do you need to ask your child’s permission?

This must depend on the scope and nature of the observation. If the `diary’ is to be used as a weapon in an attempt to encourage diligence then some serious discussion is needed. If, however, the findings are not be used in a negative manner then your child’s views can simply be taken into account.

Do you tell your child that he or she is being observed?

Is it likely that behaviour will change for the better if he or she knows that an act of observation is taking place? Are you rather vague about the reason for the observation? Are there any circumstances when the element of basic trust can be broken?

Do you discuss the results with your child?

Conscience plays a large part in the thoughts and feelings of most parents!

Do you discuss the results with others?

Is this in front or your child? Will you be able to have a freer discussion if your child is not present?

There may be some elements in any recording of an eleven plus lesson that simply do not need to be stored for posterity.  Slips of the tongue, fumbles over simple points and anguish over errors may not be germane to any future discussions.

Little Fish

Little Fish looked up at the stars and thought: “How the bubbles am I going to get up there?”

So he went to see a man who had a rocket.

Next stop SPACE!

“Slipperty flippers!” exclaimed Little Fish, “Look at all this,

 being an astronaut is GREAT!”

He thought, “But I was born to be a fish!”

 So he went back home.

By Kai

Dopplers, Bugs, Time and the Eleven Plus

Can one approach of the Eleven Plus be likened to the Doppler Effect? There is a wonderful description of the Doppler Effect in a `ThePhysics Classroom’. The lesson is about a little bug making waves. (No eleven plus child can be called a little bug – and no eleven plus child will ever make waves!) If the bug shakes his or her legs then waves flow out and cause a disturbance. (Who ever thought of an eleven plus child causing a disturbance?)

In many explanations of the Doppler Effect the example is used of the siren of an ambulance approaching. We hear the sound grow closer and closer – then there is the moment that the ambulance passes – with the sound fading. In the eyes of some the Eleven Plus can be likened to the awareness that the examination is approaching – the impact of the actual examination on the family – and then the urgency leaving – only to be stirred up again by the results.

Hindsight, however, is wonderful. We use hindsight to look back and think of what might have been. Suppose, for example, that a question on time stumped your candidate in the examination. You look back to when your little one was three yours old and you were teaching time. Your `self-help’ books on child rearing probably told you that it is difficult for a three year old to recognise that to be orientated in time he or she needs to be able to classify events of the past in terms of what happened first. (Try explaining that to your three year old!)

But parents  persevere, don’t they? They teach today, tomorrow and yesterday. They work on the days of the week, months of the year and then the concept of a year. Almost every parent will use the notion of a birthday or Christmas to explain the passage of time.

It is these little ripples of awareness that the eleven plus child draws on. When a question arises to do with time your child may possible use elements of the Doppler Effect. He or she may recall your happy, excited and motivated voice talking about the passage of time. A shiver will go down your child’s spine as he or she recalls that there are sixty minutes in an hour – and that some calculations will require an hour to be changed to sixty minutes.

The Eleven Plus Room

Years ago I remember reading about John Searle. He lived and worked over in America – but he did come to England as a Rhodes Scholar. He was interested in intelligence and talked about the `Chinese Room’.

You have to imagine yourself as an English speaker – and not know any Chinese. You will be confined in a room into which batches of instructions are posted. You are given:

A Pile of Chinese Symbols

A long rule book

The rule book explains how to post out Chinese symbols in response to symbols posted into the room.

He hoped that in time a person would become so adept at interpreting and responding to the symbols that he or she become almost indistinguishable from a native Chinese speaker.

You could try this at home.

Place your child in a room with a pile of eleven plus papers and a rule book. Post instructions . Ask your child to interrogate the rule book. Wait with bated breath to see if your child comes up with the right answer.

Expecting an appropriate output in response to inputs can be the ultimate Eleven Plus dream. To ginger up motivation to keep learning parents could say: “After all I have done for you. I brought you up as a baby. I feed you. I clothe you. I give you this wonderful eleven plus opportunity and what do you do?”

On the other hand praise would probably be even more effective!

Eleven Plus Certainty

A teacher, who was very well known for gaining outstanding eleven plus successes, took a bit of a gamble by trying a fresh approach. For years the teacher would only take on children she thought would pass. Parents would do almost anything to try to entice her to tutor their children.

She asked prospective parents if they would be prepared to take part in a trial. The teacher maintained that she would take on any children for the eleven plus – whether they were eleven plus material or not. Of course the floodgates opened as playground gossip swept across the schools. All parents were asked to do was text a number with the single word `please’.

The twenty five children to take part in the trial were then drawn at random from the hundreds that applied. (The eleven plus teacher had just completed a statistics module in her further studies.) She predicted that that the probability of all 25 passing was 0.3.

This gave the intrepid teacher some food for thought. She postulated that:

F              Four or fewer would nearly pass

S              Six would pass

                More than two would fail dismally.

The teacher had to take into account that some families would have to drive long distances – and may be forced to drop out. Other children could simply leave the scheme before taking the examination. The teacher wondered that if she actually started with forty children she may land up with twenty five.  She did not know the drop-out rate for eleven plus children who were not certain to pass.

Some even plus parents may have had to re-study probability as they work with their children on exercises and papers and will recognise the nature of this problem. Essentially the chosen twenty five will either pass or fail. If more pass than those predicted is the teacher a `super teacher’? If more fail than those predicted is the teacher a charlatan and a fraud? Will the teacher build her reputation or lose it?

Is there any certainty in the eleven plus?

Is there an Eleven Plus Mantra?

When we look through the depth and range of eleven plus papers it is no wonder that some parents must wonder if they are setting their child the right work.

Is it possible that, occasionally, even some eleven plus teachers and tutors may also have this dilemma. Of course children are learning things when the teacher is not teaching – but is teaching simply explaining how to a range of examples drawn from an `eleven plus paper’?  

When parents are working with their children at home it is likely that their children will be learning.

I met a man today in a park. He showed, I think, great originality and a desire to fend for himself. He explained that he takes his repair stand to a variety of parks and has built up a wide circle of friends and clients.

How does he know he is at the right park? How does he know how much he can charge? I wonder if he is supporting any children through the eleven plus. But eleven plus parents do not need to take on the cares of the world. For a few short months they must focus on their children. Is a reasonable eleven plus mantra: “Any work is better than no work.”?

Pace and the Eleven Plus

During the build-up to the eleven plus examination next year some parents may feel, at times, a little overwhelmed by the sheer volume of eleven plus preparation. There are books to buy, papers to work through, home work to be done and exercises to be completed. How do parents keep track of it all?

The `Advanced Course on Eleven Plus’ may help. Of course all parents in the know call this `Pace’. We know that anagrams have been used for many years. Most parents will remember: “The sum on the square on the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares on the other two sides.” Pythagoras, apparently, postulated this well-known mathematical theory and he also used anagrams in his teaching. When parents use the anagram `PACE’, they know they are following a rich tradition!

PACE requires basic familiarity with a spread-sheet.

Topic	Type of Data	Date
Mathematics	Fractions to Decimals	20/10/2012
	Revision of Area	21/10/2012
	Work on 10 questions from Paper 2	23/10/2012

A different use of the spread sheet could be to display key data pictorially.

Paper	Raw Score	Percentage
Paper 3	23	42
Paper 6	56	78
Paper 7	34	56

Your Eleven Plus exercise with your resident child genius?

1.       Draw the graph

2.       Complete the labelling.

3.       Discuss why a pie graph is called a pie graph.

4.       Ask if the data could be shown differently.

5.       Remind all concerned about Pythagoras

6.       Chat about the part that anagrams play in verbal reasoning

Take your completed Pace exercise to your friend’s house and discuss progress. Try not to spend too long agonising about the eleven plus. As you know `All He Eon’ is  approaching and a discussion on costumes and food is far more important.

An Eleven Plus Paradox

It is a pity that the eleven plus has evolved into a race for time through sets of papers. Few children have the luxury of being able to reflect and think during the test. The clock ticks remorselessly.

There has been much recent discussion about GCSE and A Level examinations. Eleven plus parents and schools do not seem to have same opportunities. Is this a case of: “Be thankful for the mark you are given. There are plenty more who would like your place!”?

Not all children who are bright and intelligent find themselves able to do justice to demands of the examination. There could be a select few who may benefit from a different type of eleven plus. Why can’t some children enjoy an eleven plus where the ability to think and come to conclusions is venerated?

What about the barber paradox?

“In the village there lives a barber who shaves all and only the people who do not shave themselves. So who shaves the barber? If he shaves himself, he does not; if he does not shave himself, he does.”

Would a group of nine or ten potential eleven plus children enjoy debating this paradox? Would leaders and the truly `grammar stream material’ emerge?

Eleven Plus Pain - Or a Role Reversal

Parents, usually, simply want the best for their children. Observers of some parents, however, may feel the eleven plus experience is as painful for parents as their children. The pain experienced parents, however, and that of their children is not the same.

A mother can rationalise the pain by thinking: “It will be in his/her own good.”

 A child, however, could feel:” I know I have to put up with this pain because I really want to pass.” (Or words to that effect.)

We are left to an American to try to explain a little more about pain. Stanley Milgram did some research which appeared to show that many people will willingly obey orders even if not threatened with punishment. (Could this be news to any eleven plus child?)

The subjects in his experiments were required to act as teachers and learners. The teachers used a simulated shock generator and administered a shock every time the learner made a mistake. Some teachers went on to administer shocks even when they believed they would seriously harm the learner.

If any parents wish to try this experiment with their eleven children it is hoped that the pain of the shock is not too severe!

If anyone is interested then there are some basics:

Materials
Magnet
Wire
Washers
Cardboard Tube
Light Bulb

Method

Wind the wire round the tube
Suspend the magnet
Join the wire to the light bulb.

Result

Ask your child to activate the coil.
If all this works replace the bulb with YOUR little finger.

Conclusion

If you are shocked – you are the learner – and your child the eleven plus teacher. This in itself could be worth the pain! (Think of the laughter!)

An Eleven Plus Joke

The eleven plus is quite a stuffy world. There are many experts who tell other people what to do. There seem to be many with special skills and knowledge who we listen to with bated breath as they expound the virtues of following their methods and approaches. We deal, however, with children. Why can’t the eleven plus have a little more humour?

Some of us will recall the 1982 bylaw that was passed in a town in Oregon. The council decided that at least one joke had to be told at every meeting. What about parents asking their eleven plus children to tell a joke before starting work?

A cowboy went into town on Friday and stayed there for three days. He left on Friday.

How did he do it?

Do you want the answer?

The cowboy’s horse was named `Friday’.

(As told by Kai.)

Of course mothers are always right. Take the scenario of settling on how much eleven plus work needs to be completed.

Mum to eleven plus child:

“I know a great method of setting this argument.”

“Oh yes? How?”

“You simply admit that you are wrong. I know that I am always right.”

 If your child does not appreciate your humour you could always try to lighten the atmosphere by telling another joke.

“My brother used to be in the tent business.”

“What happened?”

“It folded.”

If your child still does not understand the quickness of your wit you could ask for the joke about the vampire the garlic and the eleven plus paper. Do you remember it?

Seventy Days to Christmas

There are but seventy days left to Christmas. Can you combine Christmas presents with eleven plus presents? What a saving that would be! Your delighted child could wake up on Christmas day without yet another Harry Potter – but could have yet another eleven plus paper! Oh joy!

There is, naturally another path. This journey, perhaps, will not be as emotionally draining as coping with tears on Christmas Day but could more of a voyage of discovery. You could tidy `the bed room’. Most eleven plus bedrooms will be models of tidiness and control. Everything in its place and a place for everything! Some, however, may need a little attention. You, and the candidate, may need a plan and a strategy!

You must immediately discount the idea of the loft. Work on the `use it or lose it’ plan. Start with four large baskets.

Basket 1 – “That is my favourite. I cannot get rid of that.”

Basket 2 – “Well, let us keep that. I’ll just put it to one side. I may want it sometime in the future.”

Basket 3 – “No I don’t want that – just dump it, please.”

Basket 4 – “We can give these away. Let us find a home for these toys and books.”

If, by chance, you leave the room and return to find Basket 3 full of eleven plus paraphernalia then it time to take stock. Does your child really want to take the examination? “Oh dear, what have we done?”

You may have a tidy room – but have you lost your child? Is the eleven plus your dream, or that of your child?

With seventy day to Christmas you have plenty of time for introspection.

  

The Eleven Plus Power Base

During the Middle Ages bards often used to wander the country spreading new messages and disseminating fresh ideas. Travelling artisans brought information about building and building materials. Of course the saints played a powerful role in bringing religion to the masses.

There was, however, a different model of diffusion of ideas – the universities. The brightest and the best were attracted to universities to learn at the feet of masters. Some of the oldest schools fed the universities. England still remains a magnet for students from other nations because of England’s reputation and sound teaching.

In today’s world a new form of teaching, commincation and learning has emerged. The internet has allowed a proliferation of innovative teaching methods. Social media also plays its part. Families do not need to wait for the arrival of a wandering minstrel to hear and share gossip. A Facebook or Twitter post is now available to many at the touch of a button.

Unlike the Eleven Plus parents of twenty years ago, families today can read and share thoughts and opinions without regard to physical boundaries. The power base which used to settle in the hands of few has now shifted.

John Lennon wrote a seminal song `Power To The People’ back in the early seventies. We must wonder why he didn’t add a verse  about `Power to The Eleven Plus People’.

 

 

11+ Stones

Eleven plus children have to assimilate a lot of information in a remarkably short time. As well as assembling data and diverse problem solving skills the children have to learn how to apply what they have learnt.

At one time I must have read about `sarcen’ stones on visits to Stonehenge but, I am ashamed to say, the word did not really have much impact.  It seems that sarcen stones are found on the plains of Wiltshire and in Kent. I was out on my bike today and came across these four stones. It seems that they are made of limestone and form natural blocks.

 

 

 

If your child meets a verbal reasoning question

Stone is to sarcen as block is to …

You will be able to give the answer `sandstone’ with full confidence.

Fudge!

The Great British Bake Off is, to some of us, entertaining television. An extra ordinary range of human emotions are laid out for our delectation. We have tears and unparalleled joy. It looks as though it is not the winning but the taking part!

 

The recent program on `Patisserie’ allowed us an insight into the complexity of French baking. It did look, at times, as if a glorious fail was just as important as a soul searing win. The children among us (and here I include myself) would possibly have preferred a good old fashioned fudge.

 

Two and a half cups of water

Half a pint of water

One tin sweetened condensed milk

Four ounces of butter

Two tablespoons of golden syrup

One teaspoon of vanilla essence

It really is simple:

Put all the ingredients into a large saucepan.

Bring to boil for around twenty five minutes

Stir until the mixture cools.

Cut into squares

Eat whilst ploughing through an eleven plus verbal reasoning paper.

Heaven!

 

 

Congratulations

Well done to all successful 11+ children.

Best wishes too to their parents and relatives.

Eleven Plus Families

“My teacher does not do it that way!”

Method 1

Multiply 143 by 276.

                          143

                   x     276

                         858

                  etc etc

Method 2

Multiply 143 by 276.

x	100	40	3
200	20000	8000	600
70	7000	2800	210
6	600	240	18

We know that some children can be placed in a group called `The Highly Creative’. Other children may be thought of as `The High Intelligence Group’. 

If we look back to our school days it is likely that some teachers would have preferred to teach the `High Intelligence Group’.

If we offer the two different methods of multiplication to be considered by our immediate family we may find some embracing the `new’ way of doing the multiplication.

The factors affecting the decisions made by the family would need to include:

The age of the parents and, possibly, the age of the grandparents

The education and occupation of the various members of the family

How much the parents are satisfied with the school in general and the National Curriculum in particular.

Would highly creative parents grasp the nettle and learn a new way of multiplying, or would this be left to the highly intelligent?

Reassuring for every eleven plus child is the confidence that their parents are both highly creative and highly intelligent!

Eleven Plus Instructions

The instructions at the beginning of some eleven plus exercises may need to be different to those at the beginning of the actual examination. We can give an instruction along the lines of: “Give one word with the same meaning as each of the following words: `Tuition, Training, Coaching.”

We can also offer the advice that it is important to follow the instructions very carefully as the eleven plus examiners are trying to find children who can follow instructions as well as children who are clever and able.

Parents and teachers alike could also say: “Do not get struck on one hard question, you can always come back to it at the end, if there is time.”

For the eleven plus examiner the rubric or instructions which candidates have to follow need to be enforceable to try to make sure that all candidates have the same opportunities.

We cannot force a child to leave out hard questions. We can, however, ensure that all eleven plus children have the same amount of time to do the test.

Some parents may consider trying to help their children understand the logistics of the examination. In the examination all children have to start on time and finish on time. Some children may need to consider that behaviour before, during and after doing a paper at home may, possibly, need to be very different to conduct in the actual examination. Is this called prudent housekeeping?

The Concept of the Eleven Plus

Would some parents pray that their child turns into a stereotypical eleven plus candidate? Would it be fair to presume that this wonder child works hard, is always obedient, friendly and is kind to small animals and parents?

Can parents rely on the evidence supplied by trained eleven plus observers to see if their child would fit into a category called: “Deemed successful at the eleven plus, worthy of a place in a grammar school.”? We would hope that a trained judge would be superior in interpersonal accuracy and understanding the influence of standardised scores, but would a trained judge want to include children who did not fit the stereotype?

We know that stereotypes would often follow similar behaviour.

We know too that it sometimes becomes rather difficult to make a judgement on a person who is remarkably different from ourselves.  

I used a picture of a group of Teddy Boys, taken from a website, to try to find an example of young men dressed to portray an image. Would it be impossible to take a picture of a group of eleven plus hopefuls and imagine that they could represent a moment in time? Years ago some people used to fear the Teddy Boys. 

Today there could, possibly, still some who abhor the whole concept of the eleven plus. Parents just have to stick together and hope that their children behave correctly on the day.

An Eleven Plus Shrew

There is a little animal called the Small Shrew who belongs to a group of mammals known as Insectivora. The group includes the shrews, elephant shrews, hedgehogs and golden moles.

Shrews are small animals with long pointed snouts. The snout is surrounded with whiskery bristles. The body is covered with grey hair.

Shrews feed on insects, and because they are often hungry they keep looking for food.

We also, sometimes, call a woman with a violent temper a shrew. Some people also think that a woman who continually nags is a shrew.

On the one hand a shrew is a busy little mammal – that needs to work hard to keep food on the table. On the other hand a shrew could be a woman who, potentially, could nag about eleven plus work.

In the `Taming of the Shrew’, by William Shakespeare, one of the characters attempts to psychologically manage a hostile woman into becoming a willing bride.  This is done by turning everything on its head. If something is done poorly it is praised.

We can now see a pattern emerging, no eleven plus child would want their mother to be a nag, and children should not fall for any reverse psychology offered by parents.

Eleven Plus Solutions

A number of us find codes a rather daunting task.

I have a 6d copy of a book on Behaviourism published in 1930. The preface was by Josiah Morse and he maintained:

“Scientists, like other human beings, are children of the age in which they live, and reflect it in their viewpoints and conclusions.”

Someone, somewhere must have decided that codes investigated and measured certain aspects of intelligence. Someone, somewhere must have decided that codes should be used in some types of eleven plus examinations as a tool to select children for grammar schools.

It must be reasonably easy for an erudite scholar or researcher to find out the` who, why and when’ of codes first appearing on an official eleven plus paper. We all know, for example, that it was the Ancient Greek, Democritus, who reduced the universe to a mechanism of atoms. Who reduced the ability to earn a place in a grammar school to a collection of funny nonverbal reasoning shapes?

If we did know the answer, we could at least pray to the right `Deity’ to help us to find some of the solutions.

An Eleven Plus Debate

Some eleven plus questions seem to have a range of different answers. It must be one of life’s sweet moments to be able to find an answer that is not in the answer book!

The poem, called by some `A Reply’, may have been written by Coleridge or even by Pope. Either or both of them may have been the author. A Mr Matthew Prior apparently also wrote the verse.

`Sir, I admit your general rule

That every poet is a fool;

But you yourself may serve to show it,

That every fool is not a poet.’

He also went on to maintain:

`From ignorance our comfort flows.

The only wretched are the wise.’

In a quiet and reflective moment at the traffic lights you could ask your child to read the two quotes, analyse them, reflect on them and then explain the overt and the covert meanings.

The exercise may prove to be the subject of a lively and informative debate.

Eleven Plus Compromise

There could possibly be a moment in the course of an eleven plus journey when some parents may feel that they need to lay down the law. Naturally most parents have a sixth sense that warns them when it is a good time to have confrontation – and when to back off.

Very occasionally the well-meaning parent may feel driven to despair.  Very few parents would even dream of engaging in physical or verbal intimidation.

Parents will more than likely also avoid like the plague any use of sarcasm or ridicule.

There is also the spectre of losing one’s temper – and thus, possibly, the battle.

And who in their right mind would want to allow a little squabble about working on an eleven plus paper to develop into full scale confrontation? This is where both sides can lose control and the eleven plus child feels that there is no escape.

If parents back off from a fight they are not necessarily losing authority. Key eleven plus words are `compromise’ and `negotiation’.