Home Education - Australia
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Australian Pictorial Social Studies
This term we’re studying Australian explorers, specifically our Inland explorers. When gathering resources I recalled this set of books with great fondness. The series is titled ‘Pictorial Social Studies’ with a little logo labelled ‘Australian Visual Education’. Published in 1958, with 55 books in the set, covering not only Australian history but social studies worldwide. My favourite however are the Australian history books, covering the Settlement and expansion, exploration, Gold and more. Written in comic form they are chock full of information without overloading and the visual presentation totally engages the children, ‘whetting the appetite’ for more information. Australian history buffs, I suggest you check out ebay and gumtree. One reason I know they…
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The Big Day Has Arrived!!
Today is the day! Mary MacKillop is to be cannonised today. Searching through the 4Real forum I found a summary I shared five years ago. (I’ve altered slightly) Do read the conversation as some great links are shared. I realise many outside of Australia may not have heard of Mary MacKillop, but it is a special day for us here. She will be the first canonised saint of Australia. I have a particular love of her as I was taught by the ‘brown Joey’s’ (the order of nuns she started). Mary MacKillop was born in Melbourne. Her family fell on tough times financially so they were moved around amongst relatives.…
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Countdown – Three Days!
This coming Sunday Australia’s first saint Mary MacKillop will be cannonised! I have long had a love for Mary MacKillop, a love nurtured as a child by the St Josephites nuns who taught me. Yep I’m proud to be a Brown Joey kid, I loved the Joey nuns, in particular I loved St Mary H. My grandmother and her siblings, my mother and her siblings and in turn my brother, cousin and I were taught by the Joey nuns. We had a solid education both spiritually and academically. The direct result of Mother Mary MacKillop’s vision to provide Catholic education for all Catholic children of Australia. In my late…
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‘Traveling’ to Australia’s ‘Top End’
This week we ‘traveled’ to the Northern Territory. Unfortunately we were unable borrow the core book, Nardika Learns to Make a Spear by Chris Fry but we used all the extension books:) Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo – Alison Lester Ernie is a city boy who moves to the Arnhem Land for a year. He flies over the desert for hours, travels over the floodplains, crosses the East Alligator River and arrives in Arnhem Land. He writes back home to his friends telling of the seasons, of the everyday simple amusements, of the cultural life of the children of Arnhem Land. Interesting, informative and flows naturally. Held the attention of…
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We’re ‘Traveling Around Australia’
Today we started our ‘travels’ around Australia with the aid of Downunder’s Australian Book Traveler. An easy picture book tour of our nation. The first core Travel book is The Australia Book by Eve Pownall. This is a meaty book chock full of Australian history, we used it earlier in the year for our history studies. It contains so much information we never finished. To be totally honest I thought it too long for our travel needs. So instead we substituted with Possum Magic by Mem Fox. Possum Magic tells the story of Hush and Grandma Poss. The travel Australia in search of the magic to make Hush visible again.…
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Studying World War 1
This coming term we will be studying World War 1. I have been compiling lists of books to read and planning research questions and activities. I thought I would share here as they may be of use to others, obviously the questions are of an Australian nature. Movies * Dad to preview suitability for Koala (15) Gallipoli Cooking Make Anzac Biscuits Activity Create a Soldiers or Nurses Uniform, or Dig a Trench. Research and Writing Each of the following should be at least 1 paragraph long, many lend themselves to longer.Create a personal timeline of important dates, also add dates to the Family Timeline book. Include maps where relevant to…
