{Exams} :: Term 3, Years 1 & 3

Here is a peek at our Third Term Exams. We actually finished mid-November, but have been busy with a flurry of fall friends & family activities so I am just now getting around to posting...

After taking the Ambleside Online suggestions as a basis for our exam questions, over the course of two days I sat at the computer while my 7-year-old and 9-year-old dictated their answers to me. This has proven the most efficient use of my time. I used to record them with an audio app, but then going back to re-listen and try to keep up with the typing proved a more difficult (and time-consuming) job.

I am so impressed with their progress in narration. It is amazing to see how far they have come and to compare the quality of narrations between my Year 1 and Year 3 students. Granted each child is different; however, I remember my oldest's Year 1 days, and his abilities have greatly improved.

Year 1, Term 3

Bible

First of all, I have to say I was rather stunned when my daughter failed to produce hardly anything of what we had read of the Bible. (!) Either I get an "F", her attention is lacking (quite possible!), or she is just having a hard time ingesting what we were reading.

For example,
1. Tell what happened at the tomb after Jesus died on the cross.
The mother of Jesus was very sad, but when she heard that Jesus had risen she was very happy.

2. Tell one story of Jesus after He rose from the dead.
???

Eek!!!

Writing/Penmanship

Copy “No storm stayed the ships.”

Tales

1. Tell one of Aesop’s fables.
2. Tell about ONE of these Just So stories: How the Alphabet was Made, The Crab that Played with the Sea, or The Cat that walked by Himself.

History

1. Tell a story about King Alfred: (1) how he learned to read (2) when he stayed with Denewulf & his wife in the country cottage (3) when he went to spy on the Danes in their camp 

I was actually pleasantly surprised when she recounted how King Alfred learned to read:

Once upon a time there was a little boy with his two big brothers and one day his mother was out reading and the boy saw his mother and he went over and looked at her book and it had so colorful pictures and she said whoever can read this book will get the prize and she loved the little boy the most and she hoped he would get it. And one day when the two big brothers were trying to read it, the little boy said let me see that so he took it and when he tried to read it he could read it better than the others so he got the book and his mother was really glad.

     2.   What do you know of Harald as a little boy in Norway?

Geography/Map Skills

1. Label as many countries in Europe as you can.
2. Name some things Paddle passed as he traveled through the Great Lakes OR trace Paddle’s journey on a map, from Canada to the Atlantic Ocean.

I wrote the names of the countries as she pointed them out.

Natural History & General Science

1. Describe one of your favorite times in nature you have had during our morning Nature Focus time and what you found.
2. Tell about all the new things we saw on our camping trip to Daingerfield State Park.
3. Identify these six birds. Choose one to imitate or tell a little about.

Math

Spanish

Look at these pictures and talk about what the children are doing. (Google “kids doing chores” in Images)

Artist/Picture Study

Choose one of Corot’s paintings we studied this term to describe in detail.

Free Reads

Tell about one of the wishes the children made in Five Children & It.

Draw a scene if you like.

She explains:

They wished for wings. They were so hungry when they had wings and they found this garden with lots of peaches so they got some and they ate them. 

But at sunset when their wish had gone away, the wings would turn to stone.

.....


Year 3, Term 3

Bible

1. Tell about Moses striking the rock with his staff OR about Baalam.
2. Tell the story of the 10 men Jesus healed of leprosy OR about the rich man asking Jesus how to gain eternal life.
3. Tell one story of Jesus after He rose from the dead.

Writing/Penmanship

Copy “Let the jungle listen to the things I have done.”

1. Print

2. Cursive

History

1. Tell about the Union Jack.
2. What do you know about how Canada was won?
3. Talk about the first experiences of the Separatists who came on the Mayflower to New England OR about Squanto.

Telling about how Canada was won (although he couldn't remember the Generals' names):

The British colonies in America didn’t like that there were French colonies on both sides of them so they decided to take over the French. They went up the St. Lawrence River into Canada and they came to a fort which was commanded by General M. and the British were commanded by General J. But the fort was heavily guarded, but General J saw a way to attack the British fort. It was a small pathway leading up to the wall on the back side which was not heavily guarded and the French thought that no one could get through there because it was such a tight squeeze. So as they were going up the pathway the French heard them moving in the bushes below the wall so they shot into the bushes and out came the angry British soldiers and a great battle began. And General J got shot in the wrist then he got shot a second time and then he got shot a third time in the chest and fell down with a groan and British troops immediately came to his side and said that they didn’t have anything to fix him up, and they said “but look sir the French troops are retreating. We have won!” And General J said “well, at least I lived to see this.” Then he died. But when England heard of the great victory that their soldiers had won, they rejoiced.

Tales

1. Tell your favorite story from The Jungle Book.
2. Tell about either John Henry or Joe Magarac.

Geography/Map Skills

1. Label as many countries in Europe as you can.
2. Talk about Marco Polo’s return trip to Italy.
3. Tell about three things or places in China you have learned.
   
   
   

To highlight one of Royal's responses, I absolutely loved his descriptive recounting of things he learned about China:

Cathay is a beautiful place with many creatures of many kinds and it is also the home of the great Khan. 

The Great Wall of China spreads for many miles over the mountains and it once was a fort that was all over China to protect themselves from the Mongolians. 

The Yellow River spreads 10 miles wide and there is even a bridge going across it that is wide enough for 10 horsemen to pass each other and the waters of this river are beautifully clear.

After he narrated this to me, he said, "Doesn't it sound like a commercial?" :-)

Natural History & General Science

1. From Secrets of the Woods, explain “tried to stalk a bear … but a kingfisher scared him.” OR tell all you can about Meeko the red squirrel.
2. Describe one of your favorite times in nature you have had during our morning Nature Focus time and what you found.
3. Tell about all the new things we saw on our camping trip to Daingerfield State Park.

Math

Spanish

Look at these pictures and talk about what the children are doing. (Google “kids doing chores” in Images)

Artist/Picture Study

1. Tell a little about Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot’s life.
2. Choose one of his paintings we studied this term to describe in detail.

Free Reads

Choose one of the following books you have read & draw a scene from the story; explain.

1. The Boy in the Alamo
2. Annie Oakley, Little Sure Shot
3. Quanah Parker, Great Chief of the Comanches
4. Stories of the Texas Rangers
5. Five Children and It
6. Amos Fortune, Free Man
   
   

   

   From Stories of the Texas Rangers

Especially interesting were some of the stories from Stories of the Texas Rangers, as this particular one took place where my husband and I grew up and the kids have visited a couple of times. This is Royal's narration:

Packsaddle Mountain

Captain Dan and his men heard reports of Indians raiding in that part of the country and the Indians were supposed to be Comanche. 

They started tracking down the Indians and then they saw them making camp on Packsaddle Mountain and so they snuck up on the Indians and started firing upon them. 

The Indians immediately grabbed their guns and started shooting back. 

And then they started to retreat and as one Indian was retreating one of Capt. Dan’s  men shot it and it fell down as dead as a doornail.

 But when they checked the dead Indian it still had its gun tightly grasped in its hand.

.....

TOGETHER:

Recitation

1. Psalm 139:1-6
2. The Arrow and the Song, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
3. Motto: I am, I can, I ought, I will
4. One of your memory verses from Sunday School

Singing

1.  The Bold Grenadier, Along the Road to Gundagai, OR Home on the Range

2.  Que linda manito

Now on to Years 2 and 4...

Alice's Exam :: Year 1, Term 2

As discouraged as I caught myself being after last term's Exam with Alice, I am pleased to say that I see progress in her narrations and recall of information! It really is a joy to be a first-hand witness to your child's educational development that homeschooling affords, and the day-by-day process of reading and narrating definitely shows dividends if we parents just hang in there long enough to take notice.

Bible

1. Tell about the crossing of the Red Sea OR how the Israelites were fed in the Wilderness. (could not recall)
2. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego: They wouldn’t bow down to this statue and he said, “if you don’t bow down to this statue you will be thrown into this fiery furnace.” And they said they were gonna do it one more time and if they didn’t bow down, they would be thrown into the fiery furnace. And then they didn’t bow down to the statue so they got thrown into the fiery furnace and then when they saw them in the furnace they said, “didn’t they throw three people in?” Then they said, “yes”, then  he said, “why do I see four?” And then Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stepped out of the furnace and they didn’t even see a burn on their skin. 
3. The Good Samaritan: This is Jesus telling it. There was this preacher that passed by him and when he saw him he just went away. And then another preacher passed by and he saw him and he just went away. And then this Samaritan came by and saw him and then put him on his donkey and then he went home and took care of him. 

Writing/Penmanship

Copy “The boy took the gold, and thanked the giver.”

History

1. Tell about how Arthur became King: Everybody tried to pull the sword out of the rock, but they couldn’t, and then Arthur said, “Let me try.” And then he tried and he pulled it out like it wasn’t even hard.
2. Tell about Gregory and the pretty children: There was this guy called Gregory walking through the town and he saw three pretty children running around and so he was thinking. Then he saw the chains around their neck and then he decided to buy those children. And so he took them home with him and then he taught them about Jesus and then they were going to go home and they were going to teach their brothers and sisters about Jesus, but the other people wouldn’t let them. But then he sent them to this other guy and he took them there and then they arrived at an island, but that wasn’t it. And then they went to another place and when they got to that place, that was it. What’s "it"? England? (LOL!)

Tales

1. The Monkey and the Cat: There was nuts in the fire and then the monkey wanted the cat to take them out and so she reached her paw in there and took one out very fast. And then she kept doing that and then the monkey kept sneaking and sneaking all the nuts and the monkey kept letting the poor little cat’s paws get all burnt. That was a mean little monkey!
2. The story of Grace Darling: Grace Darling lived in a lighthouse and she was in a storm and there was people on a wrecked ship out on a big rock. And she wanted to go save them but her father said no. And she kept saying please until her father said ok. So then they took a little boat and they went out to the rock and got the people who were half drowned and then they got back to the shore safely and went back to the lighthouse and the people who were on the wrecked ship stayed there until the storm went away and then they could all go back to their own homes.

Geography

1. Find Lake Michigan on a map. Can you show where Gary is?
2. Label the Great Lakes region on the map.
3. Talk about how we have daytime and nighttime. Use balls if you like. 
   
   
   

Natural History & General Science

1. Describe something you found on a walk: Down at the lower pond of the dining hall there is a fossilized shell in a rock. It felt like a rock because the shell was out. The fossilized shell was bumpy.
2. Tell what you know about the Great Blue Heron: Whenever he flies he folds his neck up. When he is not flying, his neck is out and his neck is very, very long. It could be as long as my mom’s arm. Not the bird, its neck. His beak isn’t slippery because if it was slippery, he couldn’t catch the fish. We’ve seen them at Big Rocks Park.
3. Tell what you know about Cardinals, their nests and their babies: The first time we’ve ever seen baby birds is when we saw a mama Cardinal making her nest and then she laid 3 eggs and the first egg that the mama had laid hatched. The first day we saw a crack in the egg and the birdie was so cute! And then the next day we saw another baby bird and then the day after that we saw the other baby bird. It was so cute. When the baby Cardinals had been set free when we see other baby Cardinals they have red blotches all over them. And the daddies are all red with orange beaks and the mamas are grey with orange beaks.

Math

1. Mom buys a bag of 10 apples. You, Bethany & Mackenzie each eat one apple. How many are left? __7__
2. In a fish tank, you count 3 goldfish, 3 angelfish and 3 guppies. How many fish are there altogether? __9__
3. A dime = __?___ cents
4. A penny = __?___ cents 
5. How much would 2 dimes and 3 pennies be? __23 cents___ (after a quick reminder of a dime & penny, she was able to answer this easily)

Spanish

1. Name each room of the house: el garaje, la cocina, el comedor, la sala, el dormitorio, el baño
2. Choose one of the following rooms & tell me what you do there: (She ended up saying what she did in each room)

1. the bathroom - Me quito la ropa. Me ducha. (ducho). Me seco con la toalla. Me pongo los pijamas.
2. the bedroom - Me quito la ropa. Me pongo los pijamas. Me meto en la cama. Duermo.
3. the living room - Me siento en el sofá. Prendo la lámpara. Leo el libro.

Free Reads

Choose one of the books we read together this term & draw a scene from the story; explain.

Alice in Wonderland - Alice is sleeping and the leaves are attacking her. Then she woke up and then her big sister fell asleep. Now it’s, “Who in wonderland?”

Composer Study

Draw a scene from on of the following & talk about it:

1. Peter and the Wolf
2. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
3. Hansel & Gretel - Hansel is picking up strawberries. Remember that time that he dropped the strawberries? So he’s picking them up. And there’s a big pile of rocks behind them. Right beside Gretel is a big rock and there was a witch out in the woods trying to find people. And Gretel told Hansel to pick up the strawberries because he had dropped them.
   

Picture Study

Haystacks - There’s these haystacks and there’s little piles of hay around them because some of the hay slipped off. The haystacks look like little houses, but they’re really not. It looks like there’s a house in the background and there’s another house over in the trees and where one of the houses is there’s a fence and a tree hanging over the fence and it looks like it is summer and it is very grassy and it could be spring. It’s very sunny and the sun is shining right on the haystacks and there’s trees in the background and also a mountain.

My Best Laid Plans

Well I feel as if my brain and the computer have been having a discussion now for several weeks on how to better a working (yet not quite perfect) schedule. (Is there such a thing, though?) I am on the hunt for it and will let you know if I find it! I also suppose that what may work right now may not work in a Term or two... we will see. Things always change and education is a life, as you know. It grows right along with us. And if there is one thing (out of just a handful) that is certain in life...it is change.

Ok, all that said... back to the conversations between brain and computer. I actually love plans. I love planning, so I really don't mind all this labor so much - except when I have a deadline in my sights. And I really want to start this next term with a fresh start. It will be Term 3 of Years 1 and 3. So perhaps this is a good "test tube" to see if a decent rhythm can be achieved before more change comes when I begin Form II (Year 4) towards the end of 2015.

So I really want to thank all you that have been posting your own plans and how you hope to work through your school days! It is a tremendous help to so many :-)

:: This last term I have employed the idea of scheduling by week that Celeste over at Joyous Lessons uses. This has helped a lot. Oh, and I just love filling all those bubbles in :-)

:: This summer I also read through Brandy's summer loop schedules on her Afterthoughts. I had desperately been needing to do some house cleaning. Ahem. And *I* don't want to do it, so I was looking for a good way to get my kids teamed up with me on this not-so-likable task and just GET.'ER.DONE! 

:: Finally...such a timely post at A Sabbath Mood. Thank you, Nicole!!! I so needed to be reminded of working, not only on a weekly schedule, but on a time-based one. As mentioned above, I love filling in bubbles ... which also translates to checking things off lists ... which can lead to GMS (Grumpy Mama Syndrome) if things *don't* get checked off (or I keep pushing to finish it all), which tends to make the environment of education not so educational. Hmmmm...

So for those of you that like to look at schedules and other people's ideas, I post mine here. Maybe you are like me. Maybe you need inspiration from without to muster up the inspiration from within.

Starting with Nicole's time-based weekly schedule inspiration, I have worked out the following:




This is the sheet I will print out for myself to have for the week in my binder. A few notes:
:: You may notice the circled numbers. This actually corresponds to the following Weekly Worksheet in a couple of categories, as there are choices for Alice in Year 1 under Natural History and Literature. Here she may choose which reading, if more than one is scheduled for the week.
:: There is also a Key of sorts on the right, grayed area. In addition to this being (hopefully) more of a day to do nature-focused things, I also wanted to provide myself with a list of the Clean Zones for the month as well as to note that (E) means information can be found on Evernote and (K) signifies a Kindle book.
:: The Spanish cells are for me to plan out language activities for the week. If I don't write it down, I have no idea what I'm doing!
:: Focus on Nature (under Day 1) is something I would like to start incorporating into our mornings once a week ... basically just a time for each of us to sit still for awhile (alone) with our eyes and ears attuned to the sights and sounds around us. This can be entered into a Nature Journal or not at this point. I just want to start encouraging more opportunities to find "friends" in nature. We'll see how this goes!
:: Under the days' headings are Handicraft, Drawing and Nature Study. This reminds me of our afternoon focus (since I ran out of space at the bottom!)
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Now the Weekly Worksheet is what the kids see, and hopefully they can become more and more independent in reading, doing and checking off what they've completed as the days go by.


This sheet will hang on a clipboard for the kids to check off as we go along. A few notes:
:: Titles with bubbles are readings to be completed as per the Weekly Schedule. 
:: Titles with the # sign are books scheduled throughout the term; however, they are not in the current week's assignments. This way I can just change bubbles to # (or vise versa) and not have to re-type things.
:: Math is at the bottom. I really need space to write out assignments. (Again, if I don't write it down, I don't know what I'm doing)! This seemed the most logical place. The kids can see it also and know what to expect.
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Finally, here is a closer look at our Cleaning Charts. I have printed these, cut them into strips, laminated them and hung them under a light switch in one of the Zones. Kids (minus Almanzo) can read what his or her work is for that area and continue to work until they finish their jobs or the time is up. (Scroll down to see page 2)

Now, after all this brain-stretching work, I hope that at least something is a wonderful addition to our life as a family and as students in general. I do know that the hardest part of making this work is ME. I have to be the one to get things going and *keep* them going. 
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13
And I like what Silvia mentions at the end of this post: "if you are learning, your children will too."

All in a Day's Lessons: Term 2 of Year 3 and Year 1

Juggling two students in two separate years can be challenging. When I first began this school year with Royal (Year 3), it was more difficult than it is now because he wasn't reading as much or as well as he is now. AND it took Alice (Year 1) several weeks before she was able to gain some traction with the pace & challenge of the lessons.

Now that we have one term behind us, things are moving along a lot more smoothly and easily. And it really helps that Royal is able to read more of his books himself. (I was really praying for this last year because I was a tad concerned about getting it all done!)

So today I decided to keep track of our lessons just to show how a typical day can go with students in different years. 

We begin at 8:30. (Actually today we began at 8:40 because the kids were late in getting their morning chores finished. She this post about how we now do our morning schedule with alarms)

~ Morning Round-Up

• Read & tell together: Exodus 20:1-17
• Memory Work - Philippians 1:6 and Sara Teasdale's Twilight 
• Read from A.A. Milne's Now We are Six
• Spanish: Calendar, weather, review of family tree and listen to/sing José Luis Orozco's "de Colores"

~ Math Drill
~ Alice & I read from The Blue Fairy Book's The Master-Maid (continuing the story - this is Day 3 of this selection by the way. We should finish tomorrow.) & Royal reads by himself This Country of Ours' How the Colony was Saved (finishing from yesterday). He tells me how the chapter ends, then...
~ I go over Alice's Math pages for her to work on while Royal & I buddy-read Our Island Story's How a Woman Struck a Blow for Freedom (he on the Kindle and I out of the book)

10:00 Snack Break; Royal chooses to begin reading "Along Came a Dog" (from Ambleside's Year 2 free reading list)

At 10:15, when Break is over...

~ Alice finishes Math, with a little help from me. I start Royal on Ch 11 of Children of the New Forest (He listens to the audiobook while following along with the story on the Kindle); Mom fixes lunch! Royal tells me everything that happened in Ch 11 (talks about 5 minutes - he really likes this book!)

At 11:30 we eat lunch.

At 12:30 Royal and Alice do some cleaning duties for 10 minutes to pay back their tardiness from this morning before they have some free time outside.

At 1:15 Almanzo goes down for a nap.

~ Alice & I continue reading Shakespeare's As You Like It (started yesterday) & Royal works on his Math word problems
~ I work on some reading skills and word-building with Alice.

~ Alice does her copywork.
~ Alice & I read from 50 Famous Stories:  The Inchcape Rock.
~ I check Royal's math and help him with one he couldn't figure out.
~ Almanzo wakes up from his nap & Alice plays with him for a few minutes while Royal does copywork.
~ Royal and Alice do Music Study with Almanzo listening in. This is our 2nd week on Paul Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice. We review the story/poem and watch the short video clip of Disney's Fantasia on YouTube.

3:00 - We are done!

{Scrapbook} :: A Peek into our School Days of late...

So many things go into this wonderful world of a Charlotte Mason education.

Here is a photo gallery of all we've been up to lately...

Catching little minnows in a pond after a good rain.

Looks like a Great Blue Heron has been fishing down here too!

It is quite impressive how large this footprint is!

This is little Almanzo's "math", as he refers to it :-)
I am quite impressed with his coloring skills!
Alice helped him make the flowers.

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Some keeping...

Copying a passage from Heroes

Copying the hymn Jesus Paid it All

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Artist study...

Sketches from memory of Monet's Haystacks, end of Summer

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Drawing Lessons

practicing contour lines, drawing with one continuous line

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Math...

Multiples of 4

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Mapping

with Paddle-to-the-Sea

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Composer Study...

Drawing scenes from Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf while listening to the pieces

one of the hunters

drawing Peter, with the cat, bird and duck under the tree

Happy Spring!

Royal, Almanzo & Alice :-)