Year 5 Term 2 Exam

Bible
1. In your own words, tell about one of the days of creation. Also, explain why the activity on this day is important.
2. In your own words, explain why Matthew included the genealogy at the beginning of his book and why this is important.

Writing
Write 4 lines of a poem that you memorized this term. (Type this here.)

Dictation
The boy was very ill, he said, and weak from the loss of blood; but his mind was so troubled with anxiety to disclose something, that he deemed it better to give him the opportunity, than to insist upon his remaining quiet until next morning: which he should otherwise have done. (Study this, then come to me for dictation.)

Composition
1. Describe your favorite scene or character from the Shakespeare play you read this term.
2. Name any of Oliver Twist’s "friends" and tell how their actions effect Oliver’s situation for good or bad. OR tell the story of Antigone or Aristaeus the Bee-keeper

U.S. History
1. What do you know about the Underground Railroad?
2. Describe the taking of New Orleans OR the Battle of Gettysburg.
3. What factors helped the Union defeat the Confederacy?
Show your book of centuries to Dad and explain what you added this term and why.

World History
1. During this term you read about many different people who travelled. Describe one voyage: who took it, why it was taken and why it was important?
2. During this term you read about several conflicts outside of the United States. Describe one war or conflict: who was involved, why were they fighting, and what was the outcome?
Show your timeline to Dad and explain what you added this term.

Geography
If you used Halliburton's The Book of Marvels:
1. Tell what you know about "No Woman's Land" OR one of the wonders of the Ancient World.
2. Describe a place you read about this term that you'd like to visit.

Natural History and General Science
1. What kind of nourishment/food do plants need? How do they take it in?
2. Describe or draw the parts of the eye.
3. Tell of some of the bones in your body OR tell what you know of how the muscles in the body work.

Citizenship/Government (Plutarch)
Why didn't Solon just copy what Lycurgus did in Sparta? How did he fit his laws to the state of things in Athens, rather than making things to fit his laws?

Arithmetic/Geometry
1. If I buy two boxes of cereal at $3.24 each, a gallon of milk at $4.24, and two loaves of bread at $1.81 each, how much will I spend?
2. Multiply 18 x 42 x 73.
3. Divide 3744 by 16.
4. What is 1/4 + 2/3 + 5/6?

Foreign Language
Translate into English:
1. Puella aquam portat.
2. El general cooperó con el presidente.

Picture Study
Describe “The Grand Cascade at Tivoli” by Fragonard.

Year 2 Term 2 Exam

Bible
1. In your own words, tell what it means to be made in the image of God.
2. In your own words, tell about the Magi and why it is significant that God sent the star for them.

Shakespeare
Describe your favorite scene or character from the Shakespeare play you read this term (All’s Well that Ends Well).

Pilgrim’s Progress
1. Tell me about an obstacle Christian faced and how he got past it.
2. Tell me about some help Christian received—who helped him and how?

Little Duke
What was your favorite part of Little Duke?
How did the Little Duke change during the book?

Wind in the Willows
Which character was your favorite? Why?
Did Toad change during the story? How did he change or why did he not change?

Seabird
What kind of ship has Seabird been on so far?
Tell me a little bit about what that kind of ship does.

Parables from Nature
Tell me about one of the parables you’ve read this term.
“The Circle of Blessing”, “Active and Passive”, “Not Lost, but Gone Before”

World History
1. Tell about a good king from our readings. What made him a good king?
2. Tell about some challenges the kings were facing at this time.

Geography
Tell me a little bit about the Santa Fe Trail: who used it and why?

Natural History
Tell me about one animal in each of these orders.
1. Order Artiodactyla (Deer and relatives) –
2. Order Pinnipedia (Seals) –
3. Order Sirenia (Manatee), Order Edentalia (Armadillo), Order Metatheria (Marsupials) –

Poetry
Recite a poem you learned.
Arithmetic
1. Choose two numbers and tell me the times tables for those numbers.
2. There are 5 students in the class and 35 pencils. If the pencils are divided equally among the students, how many does each student get?
3. Ann wants to split a collection of bottle caps into groups of 6. Ann has 30 bottle caps. How many groups will be created?
4. Ronald is inviting 5 friends to a party. He has 15 cookies. How many cookies will each friend get?

Picture Study
Describe “The Grand Cascade at Tivoli” by Fragonard.

Foreign Language
Sing a folk song that you learned this term.

The Strong-Willed Child

"Strong willed" is probably a misleading description.  One thing that drew me to Charlotte Mason immediately was her insistence that the child wasn't strong willed--the child had a weak or untrained will.

Better than the term "strong willed" I think is the term "spirited," because that gets more to the heart of the matter.  Spirited kids are intense, in many different ways, and their intense tenacity is what gets them the label "strong willed."  But just trying to bend their will to yours does not help them to manage their intensity--that intensity is given to them by God and can be an asset, but not until it has been brought under management by their wills.  Perhaps they have those intense wills because they will need them to manage their other intensity!

"Raising Your Spirited Child" by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka provides the best insights I have seen into the spirited child.  She helps you know whether you have one, what is going on inside of them, and how you can best work with them.  Effective strategies for a child who is not spirited will often backfire with a spirited child.  Many times, you can tell a child is spirited from infancy.  Both of my highly spirited children clearly were spirited from birth--there was no avoiding that reality.  Trying to work with them using conventional parenting methods has not worked at all, and anytime I fall back into those methods (often because other parents intentionally or inadvertently make me feel like I'm not doing the right things) we have disaster.

Sometimes people suggest food sensitivities as a contributing factor.  Certainly, if you think food sensitivities could be an issue, you should investigate that, but it isn't necessarily an either/or situation.  Spirited children often are more sensitive to the world around them, so that they might be more strongly affected than other people by certain foods does not come as a surprise.  Avoiding those foods may help tremendously, but if they have other spirited characteristics then other strategies will be needed too.

Parenting a spirited child is exhausting, but your efforts are well worth it.  The characteristics that make our job so hard also, when channelled constructively, can be tremendous assets.