Eleven Plus and Time

It is not hard to feel privileged when working with eleven plus children – because they are bright and alive. The repartee and speed of response is sometimes breathtaking. Some of them, however, do seem to have a problem with time. We all know about absent minded professors, or egg heads, and time – and but wonder if the ability to maintain a careful watch on time is a cross some seriously bright children have to bear.

Timing is not a problem on easy, medium or hard questions. The problem comes when a really difficult question emerges. That is when the adrenalin kicks in – the eleven plus child in on this earth to solve this problem.

Having a watch helps. Ask your children where the word watch comes from. You will be reminded that five hundred years ago watch keepers used to walk through the streets at night. They carried clocks and called out the time every hour. After a while the clocks were made smaller and smaller and were called `watches’ after the men who carried them.

Some of the early watches looked like eggs – and were a similar size and shape. Bit by bit the watches became more reliable and kept better time. Today we even have watches that are updated by radio signal.

Watches can vary very much in size and cost. Your eleven plus child needs a watch with a large face. It is important that your eleven plus child needs to understand how to use a watch to time work.

You could spend a profitable afternoon going for a walk, whilst calling out the time every quarter. This could build an awareness of time passing – and the need to maintain close contact.