School for the final week of this term is going to be filled up with Charlotte Mason style term exams. These are not the sort of term exams that put fear into the hearts of my children, but rather the kind of exams that they actually look forward to. It is an odd concept for many who have never tried this sort of exercise, but if you plan the exam right your children will look at them as the means to share what they have learned and wrap up their projects for the end of the term.
I am very grateful to have found this method of examination for my boys for two reasons. I get a glimpse into what they really know and it gives them a chance to shine. They know the exams are coming and pretty much what will be expected of them so there are no big surprises when they receive the official assignments.
I always enjoy reading other family's Charlotte Mason style exam questions so in the spirit of sharing.....here is one of our exams. (lindafay actually inspired our first Charlotte Mason style exam years ago....thanks lindafay.)
Oh, before the exam you need to read my little disclaimer.
Please remember that my boys are in high school, they have always homeschooled, they have had lots of practice with this sort of exam, and we have been using Charlotte Mason's ideas in our homeschooling for about four years. You should not try to compare the nuts and bolts of what we are doing to your family because your family has a different focus and a completely different set of goals.
Just thought of another note: We do actually complete "normal" type testing during the term for the following subjects: algebra 2, vocabulary, physics, Spanish, and auto shop. These are the tests that come with the particular curriculum we use so the term exam is in addition to those as-we-go-along tests.
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Now here is my 11th grader's term exam.
Algebra 2: Complete assigned lessons and turn in your notebook. In addition, share with your Dad how you arrive at the quadratic equation.
All paintings in this blog post are Paul Cezanne's work and found on Wikimedia Commons.
Art and Music: Complete your Cezanne project and display it on black cardstock. Complete your Brahms notebook page and share your focus piece with the family. Finish any Pen and Ink assignments and then choose one for me to make into a notecard to send to your grandparents.
Bible: Recite this terms scriptures from memory (all six of them). Turn in your commonplace book for my review.
Geography: Turn in your notebook for my review. Fill in your maps of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East with as many countries as you can. Fill in as many European capitals as you can on the map. In addition, choose one country you have studied this term and make a display of your work including: map, notebook pages, sketches and art work, food item or the recipe, current event, animal or geology notebook page. It is optional to dress up in a costume for the unit celebration.
Literature: Wrap up and turn in your Les Miserables commonplace book and watch the movie with the family. In addition, choose one of your free reading books and write a one page review as if you were writing it for Amazon.com.
English: Recite the six poems we have memorized this term. Choose ten words from your vocabulary lessons to stump the family with at our Unit Celebration. Polish and add illustrations to your last writing assignment (research report). Email the finished piece to everyone in the family so we can read it and make comments.
PE: Take your President's Physical Fitness exams and record your results. Make new goals for next term.
Physics: Turn in your notebook and lab work. Make sure your commonplace book is up to date for your additional reading assignments in Physics of Nascar and Physics for Future Presidents. Also, pick a topic or a physics concept from this term and make up a science experiment and worksheet for a middle school student to complete. For example: Use Legos to demonstrate one of Newton's Laws of Motion.
Spanish: Write six complete sentences in Spanish using vocabulary from the term's lessons and then read these sentences out loud in your very best Spanish accent for the family.
Auto Shop: Organize your notebook and lab sheets to turn in for review. Tell me four things you found valuable from the term's lessons and labs.
Robotics: Complete and demonstrate the Push Bot project.
10 comments:
OK, so will you come teach my children? Or at least help me figure out how to accomplish what you are with yours? Did you get that much stuff done when you had them all at home?
Hi Barb,
I love this way of testing. How far ahead do you give them the list of what they need to have completed?
Also, I didn't specifically notice history, but I know you do TOG, is that somehow worked in?
Thanks,
Sarah
They will excel as homeschooling dads one day! Good job, mom.
They have seen the list as I have been working on it and they will officially start and complete the exam this week.
We are not officially covering any history this year because we have opted to do a full blown world geography and cultures course this year instead. We really needed a break from history and this was a great way to not stray too far since we usually combine a little history into the geography.
I truly loved this post. Your exam reminded me of a much kinder and gentler end of semester exam from college. I would very much like to move towards this kind of end of semester exam. Could you direct me to some specific resources that might help me in formulating exam questions? I also think a post would be wonderful about how you go about choosing the exam questions for each subject. They seem like "big picture" types of questions - the important ones.
Thank you for such an interesting post.
Samantha
Samantha,
There are several good sources for learning about this sort of CM exam. I will put together a post some time in the near future. (I will need to dig up the links.)
One main thought is that CM style exams were written to show what the child knows, not to show what he doesn't know. That is a concept that took me awhile to wrap my brain around since every test I ever took was designed to have questions you didn't necessarily know the answers to.
I try to come up with ways for my children to show how much they know about something or to give them a chance to show what they have worked on during the term. They can put a lot of effort into the exams if they want to and are interested. We had one term last year that they did such a great, over the top job on and then the last term of last year was sort of ho hum. It goes like that.
Today was the first day they worked on their exams and it was fun to watch them go about their business and to plan and to practice the various aspects they will perform for the family. They don't feel any pressure at all but rather a sense of accomplishment.
Amen to that.
Barb
Thank you for your response! Your comments were very helpful. Yes - I love that - let them show WHAT THEY KNOW - that's great. I'll look forward to your post on this topic in the future.
Thank you,
Samantha
Thank you for submitting this post for the upcoming Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival to be posted January 5th.
Tammy
This is fantastic. These kinds of posts inspire me about what I have to look forward to. :)
Wow!! The upper grades just sem so overwhelming BUT I choose to to worry about it right now ( I have a 'K' and 2nd. I am thankful for HS moms like you that have been on the journey longer than I have been and are so generous with your wisdom!! Thank you for sharing this!!
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