How do Eleven Plus Children Learn?

Why can’t elements of eleven plus tuition be provided by a home shopping channel? Children are used to fast moving action on the screen. By the time they have reached ten years old they are likely to have watched a variety of powerful adverts.

Home shopping channels appeal to basic human instincts. You either love them or hate them. The goods and the "hard sell" is fast, informative and compelling.

Picture a one minute presentation aiming at reducing a fraction to lowest terms in only one minute. There would need to be a carefully researched script, unforgettable music and an easily memorisable `Lowest Terms’ jingle.

Your child would walk to his or her bedroom humming a passionate song:

“Lowest terms
Lowest terms
Divide the top and the bottom by the same number
Lowest terms
Lowest terms."

Would your child prefer a little Beethoven? Should the top rated `Lowest Terms’ be sung as a lullaby or a hip hop? Would a rap do it for your child?

It would be fun to try a little experiment. You may need to ask a few friends around for a fractions party. After a ten year old version of pass the parcel and large slices of birthday cake, spilt the children up into groups.

Group 1
One minute of a paper and pencil presentation of lowest terms.

Group 2
An explosive jingle `Lowest Terms’ – with full sight and sound.

Group 3
Ask this group to spend a minute reading a mathematics book.

Arrange to have the children back again to test their recall. Which group would remember how to do `Lowest Terms’?