Way to go, Buggy!

Saturday morning Younger Brother had his subject mastery testing for CC. CC (Classical Conversations) is the national, tuition-based, Christian homeschool program that we are a part of. Mastery testing is not mandatory, but it is highly esteemed, and the title a great accomplishment. These kids are truly incredible! I'm reasonably sure that I would not even be able to recite all of what they know.

There are two forms of testing; Memory Master and Subject Master. Memory Masters are able to prove that they know 100% of the material for the whole year in all subjects. Younger Brother is Kindergarten age, so I thought that might be a bit much for him. Subject Masters are able to prove that they know 100% of the material for the whole year in a specified subject. Younger Brother chose Science. And I just have to say of his accomplishment, that this is no Sesame Street science curriculum. I don't have video of him doing his proofing, so I am going to list out the questions he had to answer to pass his test.

While he was off meeting with his tutor, I sat anxiously across the table from Grandpa M. As is always the case with my children, I was far more nervous for him that he was about it! I'm pretty sure he didn't give it a second thought. And I'm told he transformed the Indiana Jones Lego guy in his hand into another character as he was answering the questions. And that is why homeschool is awesome. ;)

Growing more and more anxious as the minutes ticked by, I fiddled around with my camera.
And then, he emerged!


Victorious!


In fact, the reason it took so long was because he had passed his Science proofing with flying colors and decided to go ahead and ace History too!


I hadn't even prepared him for that!


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(Above) He is holding the cards I use to quiz him on his memory work. He does not get to use them for the test. Here is a sample of his testing. He must restate the question in his answer.



Question: What is Newton's first Law of Motion?


Answer: Newton's 1st Law of Motion is...An object at rest tends to remain at rest and an object in motion tends to continue moving in a straight line at a constant speed, unless an outside force acts upon it.


Question: What are some parts of the sun?


Answer: Some parts of the sun are...Core, Radiative Zone, Convective Zone, Sunspots, Photosphere, Solar Flare, Corona.


You get the idea.


Here are the questions he answered correctly to earn the title of Subject Master in Science:


1. What are 7 types of biomes?

2. What are 3 types of consumers?

3. What are the parts of the food chain?

4. What are the natural cycles?

5. How do animals react to environmental change?

6. What are 6 forms of pollution?

7. What are 5 kinds of stars?

8. What are some parts of the sun?

9. What are the names of the planets?

10. What are the phases of the moon?

11. Name the other bodies in our solar system.

12. What are some names of U.S. space missions?

13. What are the states of matter?

14. What is the difference between an acid and a base?

15. What are the 2 forms of energy?

16. What is Newton's 1st Law of Motion?

17. What is Newton's 2nd Law of Motion?

18. What is Newton's 3rd Law of Motion?

19. What is the 1st Law of Thermodynamics?

20. What is the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics?

21. What is the 3rd Law of Thermodynamics?

22. What are 3 characteristics of light?

23. How does heat flow?

24. What units are used to measure electricity?



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I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty darn snappy for a 6 year old!
Of course, I am a little biased. ;)


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The history facts are a little more lengthy, so I won't list them all out.

CC uses history sentence songs to help the kids remember names and dates, and they are tremendously effective!

He correctly answered all 24 questions on history facts beginning in 800 A.D. with Charlemagne and ending in 1994 with the election of Nelson Mandela and the ending of apartheid.


And the crazy part is, he enjoys it!

He loves reciting everything he's learned for grandmas, uncles, friends, whomever.

Clearly a trip to get a special celebratory treat was in order!

So he picked out pretty much the biggest ice cream cone of all time on the way home!

Way to go, Buggy!

You have earned it.

We are oh so very proud of you!