Time and the Eleven Plus

There is an old story about the boy who arrived on his new bicycle at his grandfather’s house.

“Oh, grandfather, I have saved ten minutes on my new bike coming here. I am so glad I saved so much time.”

“So you have saved ten minutes, my boy, I am so pleased for you,” exclaimed the old man. “What are you going to do with those ten minutes?”

So now we need to carry these ideas into the world of the Eleven Plus.

“Oh, mum, I have saved ten minutes on the new Eleven Plus paper you bought me last week. I am so glad I saved so much time.”

“Well done my son, you have saved ten minutes on the new paper. What did you do with those ten minutes?”

We now need to move a few months forward to the actual Eleven Plus examinations.

“Oh, mum, I found the paper easy. I finished ten minutes early on the paper.”

“I am sure you did your best. What did you do with those ten minutes?”

Somehow you will need to try to teach your children that time is rather like money. It can be kept or lost. It can be saved or wasted. Time can be made or spent.

It could take the full saved ten minutes to explain these concepts to your child. At the end of this `lecture’ your child may be enticed to spend the final ten minutes of any paper checking work over – rather than have to hear the `lecture’ again.