Charlotte Mason Exams

We just finished exams last week!! These were the first I've ever given in our 3 years of homeschooling and boy, oh boy! were they telling. I don't mind though, I certainly need an external way to hold myself accountable and these exams certainly fit the bill.

In order to prepare for exams I went back and listened to A Delectable Education's podcast number 64. Then I went on the hunt looking for exam questions to use as samples for my own. I also dug around the Ambleside Online site to see what they had to offer up. Some of the ones at Ambleside though didn't seem as "general" as the ones from PNEU. Ambleside Online is a great jumping off point, I just wouldn't want to use their questions verbatim. Oh! Ambleside did offer exam questions for Plutarch! Big plus there!!

The best source is the PNEUs Programmes with the examination questions behind them. I found a lot of Form I programs, and one Form II. I haven't dug much further than that to see what else is out there but I will provide links to what I found. I'm not quite proficient at searching the Charlotte Mason Digital Collection (CMDC) but they have a lot in there!

When I modeled the outline and questions that were in the Examination Programme I realized there were things I wasn't staying on top of. (ouch!) As we covered the questions during exams I definitely identified where I wasn't having them narrate like I should or when I wasn't scaffolding a lesson. Term 2 is going to be a game changer for us and I'm already excited about next terms exams just to see how we improved!

I found 39 exams HERE in the Internet Archive. I'm not sure if this archive is a duplicate of the individual 39 but there are10 volumes of PNEU Teaching Programmes and Examination, 1921-1968 at this link. 

Once I had all our exam questions typed out and organized I set it aside and gave myself a break. The kids were nervous because the only exams they had ever taken were through the public school system. After our first few questions though they weren't so nervous. They realized they were basically narrating like usual. They sure had a lot to say!! I typed nearly 5000 words that week! I kept our schedule the same and just asked each child their particular question in their timeslot. They had the same amount of time to answer their question as they would have for class. It took three days to answer 3 Bible questions, one question per day, per subject. It worked well for us.

I tried to type exactly what they were saying. I typed their errors and left questions blank that they couldn't begin to answer. I didn't "grade" our exams and I don't think the ADE ladies or Charlotte even recommend keeping them. But I'm going to file them away. I like keeping that stuff as mementos to smile over later in life.

Now we're on a week long break. We start back up next with refreshed minds and heart! My view is clear and motivation encouraged! Yes, definitely looking forward to next terms exams!!