The wonderful methods Charlotte Mason used to assess short-term, intermediate, and long-term memory.
Final exams. What memories does that phrase bring to your mind? Too often final exams are approached like evil dragons that students must occasionally slay. And too often a student prepares for the fight much like a foolish knight who frantically stuffs down his throat all the healthful foods that he has neglected for so long, vainly tries to polish his rusty sword, and seeks a friend who might know the best shortcut to conquering the ferocious beast. Only in our case the student probably begs the teacher to tell him what will be on the test and then stays up all night cramming the necessary facts into his short-term memory. Sound familiar? [Continue reading End of Term Exams in the Charlotte Mason Method …]
The past few weeks we’ve been discussing Charlotte Mason methods for assessing what our children remember. Last time we looked briefly at narration.
Now, those of you who have already read it, no peeking. What do you recall about narration? No, you don’t have to remember word-for-word each point that was presented. Just try to draw that memory from last time back out of your mind for a moment. What can you remember? (By the way, I hope you are getting in the habit of mentally narrating what you read.) [Continue reading Pre-reading Reviews …]
Last week we started a new series discussing the Charlotte Mason methods we can use to evaluate, or assess, what our children are learning. If you missed that introduction, you can read it on our SCM Blog.
Today let’s talk about perhaps the most well-known of those assessment methods: narration. In its basic form, narration is retelling in your own words. Such a method may sound easy enough — and in some ways it is a simple and natural method — but it also requires a good grasp of the subject matter. [Continue reading The Charlotte Mason Method of Narration …]
As we wrap up a school year and plan for the next one, the question lurks in the back of our minds: How much does my child remember?
Some assessments are built right in to the subject, like math and spelling. You can tell right away how much your child remembers by watching him solve an equation or spell a dictation exercise.
But what about history, geography, science, and other subjects that we simply read together? How do we find out whether the child is remembering what we’ve read? [Continue reading How Much Does My Child Remember? …]