From Padme's Term Exams

We completed our Term Exams Thanksgiving week. I thought I'd post a couple of excerpts here. The exam is several pages long, and Padme did a fantastic job! I am always amazed at how much detail the kids are able to retain, based on Charlotte Mason's education methods. We use the http://www.amblesideonline.org/ curriculum.



The poem Padme memorized, by William Blake:



Piping down the valleys wild
Piping songs of pleasant glee
On a cloud I saw a child
And he, laughing, said to me,

“Pipe a song about a lamb.”
So I piped with merry cheer.
“Piper, pipe that song again!”
So I piped. He wept to hear.

“Piper, sit thee down and write
In a book, that all may read,”So he vanished from my sight,
And I plucked a hollow reed.

And I made a rural pen
And I stained the water clear
And I wrote my happy songs,
Every child may joy to hear.



And her narration on Christopher Columbus:

There was once upon a time a boy named Christopher Columbus. He believed the world was round and not flat. To prove that he was right, he decided to go west into the water, around the world, and come to the eastern land of India.

So he went to Portugal because he knew they were fond of finding new places, but the king would not listen to him. The king sent, secretly, his own party of ships to go and try this out.

So Christopher Columbus went to Spain, right next to Portugal. But they were in a war and could not listen to him right now. So he just waited. And then he decided to go back to Spain. Hearing that their war was over, he went back. This time the king and queen loved the idea, and gave him three small ships that were easy to find. But the crew? Not so easy! Nobody wanted to go out into the so-called deathly waters! So his crew ended up being criminals, murderers, people who have been in prison! Their choice was either to go sailing with Columbus or to go to prison. And they chose sailing.

But instead of finding India, he found Haiti, which is an island off the coast of America. He thought this was India, because the people didn’t look like Chinese people. They looked different, so he thought they were Indians.

Then he went back home and everybody started going there, and nobody thought he was important anymore. So Columbus held a meeting and he told the servant to bring them some eggs. When the eggs were brought, Columbus said, “All of you try to make this egg stand up.” Everyone tried, but none of them could.

Finally, it was Columbus’ turn. He quickly took the bottom of the egg and smashed it gently on the table so that the bottom was flat and it stood up perfectly. Everyone thought how easy that was, and that they could have done that. And Columbus said, “Of course, now that I have shown you!”

And then everybody hung their heads, because they knew what this was attached to.