Robinson Curriculum Examination Collection

This special collection contains examinations for use after the student has read a particular book on the Robinson Curriculum. A total of 37 examinations are included, covering 33 of the books on the core reading list. These examinations were written by and under the direction of Dr. Jane Orient.

As described in our course of study, we do not use regular examinations in the Robinson Curriculum with the exception of practice SATs and Advanced Placement Tests starting around ages 16 and 17. It is helpful, however, especially in reading, to have examinations available that test reading comprehension and vocabulary development. These serve as a means to evaluate student progress, and also as goals for students that may cause them to concentrate more upon the books that they are reading.

The format of most of these examinations is identical to the pre-1995 College Board Scholastic Aptitude Tests of verbal ability. This has not been done to prepare students for the SATs. The SAT testing system ( especially before politically correct modifications were initiated in 1995) is an excellent testing procedure that has over half a century of experience, hundreds of millions of tests, and the work of great numbers of scholars and institutions of higher learning behind it. We see little reason to believe that we could devise a better test format. Therefore, we have used the SAT format, but have restricted the questions to reading content and vocabulary based solely on the book matched to the individual examination.

Some students find these quite difficult at first, especially younger children. During one summer, an 11-year-old child progressed from a score of 9.25 (out of a possible 40) on Pinocchio to 22.5 on Christopher Columbus, 27.75 on the Pied Piper, and 32.5 on the Just So Stories.

These exams assume, as have virtually all scholars throughout recorded history, that the author has placed his meaning in the written text as carefully as his skills permit and that it is the job of the reader to accurately extract that meaning.

Our examinations test the effectiveness with which the student has accurately extracted the meaning of the text of each book and has understood the author's vocabulary and sentence structure. As the student progresses, watch the book list for books that have associated examinations. After the student reads one of these books, he should take the associated examination.

These examinations and your daily interaction with the children should assure you that their reading comprehension during the reading hours is satisfactory. If, however, you wish further information, simply ask that the student's daily essay be written about the book he is currently reading during the academic hours. These essays will demonstrate reading comprehension on a daily basis.

This boxed collection should be treated as a consumable for an individual student. The student should write their name, score, and the date in the front of each exam, and they can be kept as a record of progress.

The collection contains 37 exams keyed to the following 33 titles in the Robinson Curriculum core reading list.

Christopher Columbus by Josephine Pollard

Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney

The Adventures of Pinocchio by C. Collodi

Aesop’s Fables by Aesop

Heidi by Johanna Spyri

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggins

Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Bob Son of Battle by Richard Olivant

Little Men by Louisa May Alcott

Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

The First Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

The Second Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

The Law by Frederic Bastiat

Not Yours to Give by David Crockett

The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith

Economic Sophisms by Frederic Bastiat

Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt

On That Day Began Lies by Leonard Read

The Holy War by John Bunyan

Heather and Snow by George MacDonald

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

The Federalist Papers by Alexandar Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison

Julius Ceaser by William Shakespeare

United States Historical Documents

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott

Fiat Money Inflation in France by Andrew Dickson White

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli