Eleven Plus Learning

It has been `put around’ for many years that a great percentage of older people learn more readily if they `discover’ things for themselves.

I understand that now that I have reached the delicate stage of being an `older person’ that I will potentially react badly to following spoken or written instructions. Apparently older people are not all that good at either listening to instructions or reading books to learn.

So with an older person it is essential that their work is structured in such a way that there is no need for some key attributes.

The older person won’t be able to rely on memory as comfortably as when they were young people.

Some older people do not like to be subjected to too many interruptions – in case the flow is disrupted.

And the third, and possibly the most important point, is that it is essential that older persons are successful as often as possible. In other words the older person wants to feel a winner.

So no mother or father of an Eleven Year old would class themselves as an `older person’. (Young in years and young in heart!)

So if we need to sensitive and understanding when dealing with older people – we can but hope that we also treat or your Eleven Plus candidates with the same sensitivity and understanding.

We would not say to an older person: “Go to your room and study.” It is legitimate to say that to an eleven year old?

We would not say to an older person struggling to learn a new concept: “If you don’t complete that paper you can’t watch T.V. any more.”

Enough said?