Copyright 1996

You are advised to spend about 15 minutes on Questions 1-14 which refer to 
Reading 
Passage 1 below 
READING PASSAGE 1 
HOW TO RAISE A BRIGHT CHILD 
Teachers and other specialists in early
children Say this is a red apple, that is a green
childhood education recognise that children
one Please get three eggs out of the fridge for
develop at different rates Given anything that
me
resembles a well-rounded life — with adults
and other children to listen to, talk to, to do
The technical term in vogue for this subtle
things with — their minds will acquire naturally
structuring of children's early learning is
all the skills required for further learning
'scaffolding' Based on recent extensions of the
work of the Russian psychologist Lev
Take, for example, reading The two strongest
Vygotsky, the idea is that there are things a
predictors of whether children will leam to
child may be almost ready to do Anna, for
read easily and well at school are whether they
example, cannot tie a shoelace by herself, but if
have learned the names and the sounds of the
an adult or a competent child forms one of the
letters of the alphabet before they start school
loops for her, she will soon leam to do the rest
That may seem to imply that letter names and
Applying this concept to older children, one
sounds should be deliberately taught to young
wonderful teacher has her children keep lists of
children, because these skills will not happen
'Words I Can Almost Spell'
'naturally'
While this has all the hallmarks of common
But in all the research programs where they
sense, it represents a significant change of
have done just that — instructed children,
emphasis from the ideas of Piaget, which have
rehearsed the names and sounds over and over
dominated the theory of early childhood
— the results are disappointing The widely
learning The child in Piaget's theory looks,
accepted explanation is that knowledge of the
more than anything, like a little scientist —
alphabet, for it to work in helping one to read,
exploring the environment, observing,
has to be deeply embedded in the child's mind
experimenting, thinking and slowly coming to
That comes from years of exposure and
his or her conclusions about how the world
familiarity with letters, from being read to,
works The image is of a rather solitary pursuit
from playing with magnetic letters, drawing
with all the real action in the child's head
and fiddling with computers
The Vygotsky model re-introduces all the
So parents can do some things lo help.
people who also inhabit the child's world —
although many do these things spontaneously
parents, care-givers, relatives, siblings and all
Instead of reading a story straight through, the
those other children at play or school They are
reader should pause every so often and ask
not simply noise, clattering in the background
questions — but not questions which can be
while the child's developing mind struggles on
answered by a yes or no Extend their answers,
its own The cognitive development of the child,
suggest alternative possibilities and pose
that is, the learning of colours or numbers or
Progressively more challenging questions
letters — depends on learning how to interact
socially, how to leam from the people (as well as
And with arithmetic, do not explicitly sit down
the things) in the environment
and teach children about numbers, but all
through those early years count when walking
What is important is that the child develops the
up steps Recite nursery rhymes Talk to
range of social skills — being able to express a

---

preference, knowing how to take turns, being 
It is just that it is more important to think about 
able to stand up for themselves, being able to 
a child's desire to chat and the importance of 
get into a group, being able to make decisions, 
social behaviour and play activity, than the 
being able to share, having confidence to go off
actually more trivial markers of intellectual 
on their own. These all require careful 
achievement such as being the first kid in the 
nurturing. No one is telling parents to not 
group to cut out a circle that looks like a circle.
think about their children's development.