We have reached the end of another AO year!
Although I am still working on "fitting it all in", I am making progress. And so is my son Royal, now age 8. And that is the important thing to focus on.
Following are this term's EXAM topics. I have taken many from the Ambleside Online Exam form. I tweaked a few phrasings, and then fleshed out the exam even more with additional ideas gleaned from this wonderful source!
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Bible
1. What did
Joseph tell his father and brothers about his dreams? (Gen 37)
2. How did
Joseph make himself known to his brothers in Egypt? Tell the whole story. (Gen
42-44)
3. Tell the
story of the Ten Bridesmaids OR about when Jesus returns and all the nations
are gathered before Him. (Matt 25)
4. Tell about
one of the events from right before Jesus’ death. (Matt 26-27)
Penmanship
Copy:
“For the sun it is merry and bright” (Robin
Hood)
1.
Print
2.
Cursive as
much as you remember the letter formations.
History
1. Tell about
the Princes in the Tower (OIS, Ch 59: Richard III and Little King Edward and
his brother)
2. What do you
know about the Hundred Years War? (CHOW, Ch 57)
3. Talk about
Columbus OR Joan of Arc.
Tales
1. Tell what
you know about Vanity Fair OR Doubting Castle. (Pilgrim’s Progress)
2. Tell your
favorite story from Robin Hood.
Geography
1. Describe a
Pacific Island/Hawaii (Seabird, Ch 12 or 20) OR describe China (Seabird, Ch 21)
2. Gather
props to demonstrate what causes the change of day and night.
What
are the four seasons?
Explain
how we get the four seasons also using your props.
Natural History and General Sciences
1. Describe
from memory something you drew in your Nature notebook and tell everything you
know about it.
2. Name some
big and little cat cousins OR some of Buster Bear’s cousins. (Burgess Animal
Book, Ch 30 or 33)
3. Talk about
some of the wild animals we saw above the tree line going up Pike’s Peak.
Reading Skill
Read this passage in your clearest voice.
Free Reads
Which was your favorite book, Farmer Boy or Heidi?
Draw a scene from either of these books and tell me about it.
Arithmetic
1. Add 405 +
142. (547)
2. Subtract
378 – 63. (315)
3. Count by 2s
to 20.
4. County by
3s to 30.
5. There are 6
chairs in each row. How many chairs are there in 3 rows? (18)
Spanish
1. Recite the
poem: Soy un árbol.
2. Sing: Juan
3:16
3. Answer:
¿Qué día es hoy?
¿Qué es la fecha?
¿En cuál estación estamos? (invierno, primavera,
verano, otoño)
¿De qué color es …? (use colored item cards and
point to random ones)
4. Mercado:
(set up
a small market and have student be the salesclerk; teacher or other student is
the client; salesclerk must greet client and speak about everything he can in
his market)
Picture Study
1. Describe
your favorite picture you studied of this term’s artist, Mary Cassatt.
2. Describe
your favorite painting from yesterday’s visit to the Kimbell Art Museum.
Bible Recitation
1. Say as much of James
1 as you have memorized.
2. John 5:24
Singing
1. Sing your
favorite folksong from this term (I’ll Tell My Ma OR Billy Boy)
2. Sing your
favorite hymn from this term (I Love to Tell the Story OR O Worship the King)
Handicrafts
1. Tidy your
room and closet for inspection.
2. Do your
best floor and table duty cleanings.
Composer Study
Talk
about the sounds of either Mark O’Connor OR Igor Stravinsky and why you liked
his compositions or not.
Art
1. What are
the primary colors?
2. Draw a
simple example of coloring with line, using horizontal, vertical or diagonal.
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Here are a few samples of written/drawn responses:
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| Copywork in print, then in cursive. I had Royal do the cursive letters as best he could from memory. I told him to just print the ones he could not recall the formation of. Below this are three math problems. Apparently he had trouble with the last one, which is ok. This was still fairly new material. |
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| A scene from Farmer Boy. Father comes down when the children have awoken in the wee hours of the morning on Christmas Day. Almanzo is so excited about his knife and hat. |
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| A simple example of coloring with line. |
Exam time is always enlightening for me. I like to be reminded of things I am doing well in, along with those things I still have need for improvement.
One area I need to focus more on still is Nature Study. Granted we have done more this last term than in previous terms combined (!), but it is still nothing I organize. It is more "on-the-fly" and hoping for the best, as far as finding something to observe or study. Fortunately, nature has presented itself in a timely manner for our weekly scheduled study. I would still like to be more intentional with this aspect of our school though.
Two fails for me, if you will, are:
1. poetry memorization
2. physical education
Poetry is something we read and enjoy; however, I have not encouraged or implemented the memorization of pieces.
Physical education is also something that is not "official". The kids run and play outside, but nothing is organized. Should it be, though?
