Nervous about CM-style exams? Don't be.

Way back in 1919, an enquiry was made into the methods and results of the PNEU schools... here is what the examiner had to say after witnessing Charlotte Mason style exams:

There is the answer to that examination bogey. Let the teachers and the children lay it. There is no need of other words than theirs.

An Assistant who teaches the eight-year-olds in M. writes, “Miss Mason’s Scheme is at present one of the great surprises. We did not take any examinations at the end of the Summer Term, and many sighs were uttered and great dread felt when we heard we were taking the Christmas Examination. The feelings of utter helplessness and chaos grew worse as the dreaded Monday morning came. There was no relief when the questions came, many of which were on the first lessons of the term. The teacher stood before the class and gave out the first examination, a history question on the very first story told in the last week of August.

For a moment or two there was a blank. Then one by one the children pulled themselves together, and gathered up from the backs of their memories with most wonderful results. Hardly a tiny detail was missing by the time they had finished. After the first plunge the teacher breathed, and each examination was waited for with greater and greater serenity.”

From an early enquiry into CM's theory taken in 1919.
From the Digital Archives (by searching for cmc65 or here).

This week is exam week at Fisher Academy. 
I admit to feeling pretty nervous even after the first plunge, but now on the third day, I am much more serene. You might even say, I'm quite pleased. :)  I'll have more to say about exams in another post.


More exam posts here:
AO Thoughts on Exams
Charlotte Mason and Tests
Why Do I Give Examinations?
A Charlotte Mason Examination {AOy2, term3}