| Any subject: Visual teaching. Brilliant resource! |
www.brainpop.com (can be used
in restricted form without subscribing.) |
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| Ch 1 - Social Studies, Prep - Gr 6 |
Child is introduced to/learns maps/map making skills.
I've used my (as in my!) original 1977 copy of the Jacaranda Junior
World Atlas for Victorian schools. I'm about to look into what they have
currently available as well.
A good resource is also the Usborne Children's Picture Atlas, it walks
the kids through the components of a map. Adding layer upon layer before
they see a whole map with all the information. It's very well set out.
Succeeding in Social Studies 3 also deals with maps and is a useful
resource. (Homeschooling
Supplies Australia) |
| Ch 1 - Social Studies, Prep - Gr3 |
Child becomes familiar with different service jobs of city people.
Succeeding in Social Studies 1 (Years 1-2) has a few pages including
policemen, Firemen, SES, Hospital, Dentist, Council, Post office.(Homeschooling
Supplies Australia): for the preppy this is a good read aloud
activity and you can print off colouring sheets or make your own. For up
to grade 4 you can do the activities included or beef it up even more if
you're child is showing a particular interest. |
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| Ch 2 - Science |
For giving a cooking illustration of metamorphic rocks: click on
this link (to be ready soon) |
| Ch 2 - Science, Gr3 - Gr4 |
For examples of shelters to build and instructions try...http://www.zoomwhales.com/crafts/dwelling/
and
http://www.ugandanetwork.org.uk/activity/beavers/homes.htm |
| Ch 2 - Social Studies, Prep - Gr6 |
Child becomes aware that God instilled a sense of architecture in
birds.
Whilst this next resource is American: it's a great one for this
objective and well worth looking at
http://www.50birds.com/GNest1.htm |
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| Ch 3 - Science, Gr1 - Gr5 |
Child is introduced to radar and bats. Check out this site: really
great resource!
http://members.aol.com/bats4kids/ |
| Ch 3 - Social Studies, Prep to Gr4 |
Through Helen Keller, child is introduced to different ways of
communicating, especially sign language. Something to be aware of is
that America uses a one handed sign language and ours uses 2 hands.
This website will show you the signs for Australian finger spelling...http://www.dba.asn.au/schools/deafblind-communication2.htm.
New Zealand finger spelling...http://www.deaf.co.nz/fingerspelling.html.
Read a little about Alice Betteridge (an Australian version of Helen
Keller ...http://www.ridbc.org.au/institute/pressreleases/pr200410_melba.html.
(Unfortunately a biography about Alice titled "A girl
like Alice; The Story of the Australian Helen Keller" by Valerie
Thompson is out of print and outrageously expensive to buy 2nd hand from
biblioz. See if it's at
your local library, it's your best chance.)
A support and information site for Australian Deaf kids online...http://www.aussiedeafkids.com/.
A unit study on Helen Keller...http://www2.una.edu/history/helenkeller.htm.
And, if you can get a hold of it, the very first episode of "The Waltons"
is about a little deaf mute girl "The Foundling". Watching it is a great
opportunity for review. (Amazon.com is one source for it).
We also borrowed the movie version of Helen Keller's early life
(original, not the remake). It's a brilliant movie but I wouldn't
recommend anyone under age 10 watching it, it's just too traumatic,
violent and emotional. But Bill and I really appreciated watching it
when the kids were in bed one night. We borrowed it from the local
library.
For some good fun and good information try this website "Braille Bug"...
http://www.afb.org/braillebug/
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| Ch 4 - Language Arts objective #6, Gr2 - Gr6 |
I also read to them a poem about the Australian Flag found in Col
Stringer's book "Discovering Australia's Christian Heritage" and we did
the pages in "Succeeding in Social Studies 2" (available from
Homeschooling Supplies Australia) related to the Australian flag.
Kidcyber also has information
on the Australian flag, national anthem, etc. At this webpage you'll
find colouring pages for Australia and the Australian flag...http://www.coloring.ws/australia.htm
. |
| Ch 4 - Social studies objectives, Gr5 - Gr6 |
Child memorises the Prime Ministers of Australia - This website will
give you a list of the Prime Ministers and a brief synopsis of each one.
Kidcyber |
| Ch 4 - Social studies objectives, Prep - Gr6 |
Child is introduced to or studies in greater detail, famous persons
in Australian history. I used "Discovering Australia's Christian
Heritage" by Col Stringer (available from Koorong and Word Bookstores),
in there you'll find explorers, governors, prime ministers, the light
horsemen and many others. In "Succeeding in Social Studies 3" (available
from Homeschooling Supplies Australia), you'll find the story of Ross Smith.
(this book is great to have on hand anyway for other subjects too! Don't
be concerned that it's for years 3-4. I use it as an Australian based,
non-consumable social studies resource for my Kinder kids through to
Kira in Gr2 (and for a visiting Gr4 girl). We also read about The Flying
Doctors history and again Kidcyber
is a great resource (look under People and Places) |
| Chapter 4 |
We purchased the "Bible Time Line" from
Kingsley Educational for $27.50
(needs to be hand delivered or delivered by Parcel Post). It's really
nicely laid out, not crowded visually (which is great for the primary
students) and a great price. There's just one adjustment that needs to
be made and that is on the 3rd page. Where it refers to Israel being in
Syrian captivity it should say "Assyrian captivity". It then refers to
both the nations of Israel and Judah being re-united but Bill say's
there is no biblical evidence for this. We've just made a note on that
on the timeline itself for future reference when I'm teaching or the
kids are looking over it on their own. I highly recommend this resource! |
| Ch 4 - Library Books we used |
Henry and Mudge in the Family Trees/An I can Read Book
(Cynthia Rylant, ISBN 0689811799) - Great for the 3-8 year olds. |
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| Ch 5 - Excursions |
Deborah Gold Mine in Bendigo, Victoria |
| Ch 5 - Library Books we used |
To the Goldfields! (Rachel Tonkin, ISBN 1864484101) If this
were the only book I brought in during this chapter I'd have been happy.
Great telling of a child's perspective on moving to and living in the
goldfields.
*I didn't get to use these but if you're local library carries these,
check these 4 books out: (search by author - David Morrisey) A
History of Rail Transport/Water Transport/Road Transport/Air Transport
in Australia. All Juvenile literature. |
| Ch 5 - Videos/DVDs |
All the Rivers Run (Australian Mini Series) - whilst not
suitable as a whole for children, I showed them the race down the river
between the paddle steamers as well as a few other scenes with the
steamers. Construction Site and Thomas the Tank Engine for
the littlies. Any number of videos on Steam engines! |
| Ch 5 - Computer |
Cars, Planes and Trains (CD ROM) Ages 5-12+ (www.nodtronics.com.au)
We bought ours from Windmill
Educational Toys, Victoria. |
| Ch 5 - Social Studies, Prep - Gr6 |
Transportation
One resource I used for this was Succeeding in Social Studies 3. I used
it for Prep through Gr4. It involved reading a passage and then
recalling answers to specific review questions. I would bolster it
though with good colour illustrations and video or live visuals as well
if possible before the review. They'll remember more that way.
I really enjoyed getting to use stories this time to help out as well.
We read: The Big Balloon Race, Stone Fox, The True Story of Balto (not
the animated version) Good Driving Amelia Bedelia, Katy and The Big
Snow, Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel.
We also watched "The Return of the Black Stallion" which has camels and
a "highly unusual truck in it. Not to mention a plane (clipper ship), a
horse float, a big ship.
"The Waltons" with the old cars and trucks is great.
We took an excursion to Bendigo and had a tour on the trams up there. |
| Ch 5 - Social Studies, Gr 1 - Gr6 |
Child is introduced to 2 mass migrations of population in history.
In Weaver they have chosen the Pilgrims and the Californian Gold Rush.
Well, isn't that just perfect. I did "The First Fleet and the Convicts"
and also "Our Gold Rush"! We had an excursion to the Deborah Gold Mine
in Bendigo and the 3 eldest went underground for a tour. I would say
ideally probably age 6 and up would cope fine with it. It's not cheap
but it's a fantastic experience!
Lesson 14 in History of Australia by LEM (available from
Kingsley Educational) is on the
Gold Rush and nicely condenses things for you.
Lessons 8, 9, and 10 deal with the First fleet and the early days of
settlement. The book is supposed to be middle primary but is easily used
as a teacher resource across a broader range of grades.
"Discovering Australia's Christian Heritage" by Col Stringer (available
from Koorong and Word Bookstores) will be a handy read for teacher and
any high school students. Packed with spiritual information about our
past (including the first fleet). |
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| Ch 6 - Excursion |
We spent a few days at Rosebud (Beach-side in other words!). Perfect
timing! |
| Ch 6 - Videos/DVDs |
Ben Cropp's Wild Australia - Where the Ocean Giants Meet;
Ben Cropp's Wild Australia - Secrets of the River; Platypus -
Worlds strangest Animal (took us through various fresh water
habitats); Discovery Channel - Whales, The Ultimate Guide;
Australian Bushcraft Library - How to Catch Fresh Water Fish;
Joseph - King of Dreams (Famine); The Blue Planet (David
Attenborough). |
| Ch 6 - Library books we used |
Rivers, Ponds and Lakes (Nicola Barber, ISBN 0237513234); Rivers,
Ponds and Seashore (Sally Hewitt, ISBN 0749646098) |
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| Ch 7 - Library books we used |
A Year on our Farm (Penny Matthews and Andrew McLean, ISBN
1862914419) Available in Picture books and Junior Fiction. Highly
recommended by us. Australian farm.
We borrowed several books by Michael and Jane Pelusey - Life on a Cattle
Station, Life on a Dairy Farm, Life on a Plantation, Life on a Sheep
Station. All are part of a series called "Outback Australia" |
| Ch 7 - Videos/DVDs |
The Secret Garden, Benjamin's Farm, Journey of Life
(Moody Science Classics) - available from
WORD |
| Ch 7 - Excursions |
We went to the Caldermeade farm (Dairy) to watch milking time with
400 mostly Fresian cows (I'll put a couple of photo's in the photo
album). I then bought a toy Fresian bull, cow and calf for play to allow
lots of opportunities for review for the younger kids in particular. |
| Ch 7 - Social Studies |
We used Kidcyber
pages for Plants and Produce. Look under: Food and my Body, then: Plants
we Eat |
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| Ch 8 - Videos/DVDS |
The library was rich with resources. There was a whole David
Attenborough series on mammals called "The Life of Mammals" (you
just need to be on your toes regarding all the evolution chatter). Also
by David was "The life of Birds", that was lots of viewing! There
was another DVD called "101 Australian Birds" which was like a
media version of a field guide. We borrowed a 3 episode tape of the "Skippy
the Bush Kangaroo" series so the kids could see an Australian
Park Ranger environment. Now they want more of Skippy! |
| Ch 8 - Excursions |
We went to Chesterfield farm for the second time in 12 months to do
a bit of everything We got to feed milk in bottles to the kids and
lambs! At the start of the chapter we also went to the Fish and Feathers
Pet Shop
http://www.fishandfeather.com.au/index.php so we could see and touch
some lizards. We got a good look at the turtles and native birds too! |
| Ch 8 - Helpful Hint |
When making butter, be sure and include a marble in the jar. It will
speed up the process! |
| Ch 8 - Social Studies |
"Professions that aid animals" The following website is not
Australian but it was invaluable for the vet theme
http://www.uga.edu/~lam/kids/day/default.html What was Australian
(extremely Australian!) was a video called "The Flying Vet".
Peter Trembath is a vet in the Northern Territory. |
| Ch 8 - Science, Obj #2, Prep to Gr6 |
The example used in Weaver for an endangered species is an American
alligator. So I took the kids to
www.kidcyber.com.au first and we found out all about Australian
Croc's and then went on to the talk about the US Alligators (which by
the way are now improved in numbers and I think, off the endangered
list) |
| Ch 8 - Health and Safety |
There's a section on how to handle dogs and cats with mention to
rabies. After researching I found out that here in Australia we're
actually free of the disease. That's just a FYI! It's certainly an
opportunity to talk about quarantine laws, etc. A couple of sites:
http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/health/3952.html
http://www.equinecentre.com.au/dw_infectious_rabies.shtml |
| Ch 8 - Note: |
If anyone knows of a comparable Australian wildlife artist to John
Audobon, please let me know and I'll list them in this space! Thanks! |
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| Ch 9 - Library Books we used |
Australia's Money: The stories behind our coins and notes
(John and Jennifer Barwick, ISBN 186391930-9). Juvenile literature:
covers past, present and future of Money in Australia; minting,
lifecycle of money, and a brief history of who's on each note).
Trade: Aboriginal technology (Alex Barlow, ISBN 0-7329-1822-7.
Juvenile literature: deals with the history of Aboriginal Commerce.
Robin Hood (Margaret Early, ISBN 0-949183-94-6) Written by an
Australian, this book is short, visually rich with a picture on every
other page and has a note at the end acknowledging the legend's history
and journey to modern day tellings. You could use it from about age 6-7
and up.
Treehorn's Treasure (Florence Parry Heide, ISBN 0-670-80763 -
note: isbn # is for book titled The Shrinking of Treehorn
and Treehorn's Treasure) Child's reader with a theme of money.
A Bargain for Francis (Russell Hoban, ISBN 0-694-01295-5) An I
Can Read Picture Book |
| Ch 9 - Resource or Reading Books |
A Child's Book of Character Building-Book 1 and Book 2 (12
traits in each book - well set out for practical teaching of 3-7 year
olds) Can be ordered from Koorong
Books
The following books are reading books to teach Character:
Wyatt's Wagon (including others),
Tessa's Treasure (cherishing others) and
Ivy's Icicle (forgiving others) from the
Thinking of Others Series by Gary Bower. On order from
Koorong Books.
The Cul-de-sac-kids. readily available from
Koorong Books
The Runaway Bunny (Margaret Wise Brown) Loyalty
Madeline's Rescue (Ludwig Bemelmans) Loyalty |
| Ch 9 - Videos/DVDs |
Robin Hood (The old Walt Disney version. Old enough that it
had no copyright date!) Also tied this in with the next chapter and
"legends" |
| Ch 9 - Creative Writing - DBD Day 3 |
"You are a pioneer woman and money is scarce. Write a few sentences
on how you can use your money wisely." I borrowed "The Yearling"
from the library and the kids watched it a couple of times. It took a
bit of working through when the boy shot the deer but it was a good film
to show some aspects of pioneer life: washing clothes in the river (no
well yet), food - precious and scarce, having to work for everything,
trading, physical dangers and the emotional hardship. |
| Ch 9 - Science Obj. #2 - Prep - Gr6 |
We spent time talking about Mary Reibey. I had read about her in a
National Trust book on Homesteads and we had some juvenile literature
reading on her, "Rogues and Underdogs" by Diana Chase and Valerie
Krantz, ISBN 0-7329-2482-0. We also looked into A B Patterson
(a famous Australian Poet). We have the DVD's of
The Man from Snowy River 1 and 2 so they were familiar with this
very famous poem of his. The kids love them both and we skip over the
unedifying bar scenes in #2. I read through the original poem for them
and explained all the unknown words to them. |
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| Ch 10 A/B - Library books we used |
I've got a stack of books to enter in here. I'll come back to this
one when I've got more time. Two that I found great were (1st) Astronomy
in Ancient Times (ISBN 0836811917) followed by Galileo (ISBN
0027352358). My 8 year old in particular made connections through these
two books, a few more hooks! |
| Ch 10 A/B - Videos/DVDs |
Our Solar System-Journeys to the edge of Creation (Moody Video)
Available from Word Bookstores. I highly recommend this one for any age
child! |
| Ch 10 A/B - Internet resources |
We used www.kidcyber.com.au
a bit throughout this chapter. |
| Ch 10 A/B - L/Arts Obj #2 & #1 -Prep - Gr 1, Gr 2 -Gr 6 |
As well as the legend provided I also went to the library and
borrowed a book of Aboriginal legends and a kids animated video too.
Mainly to make sure that we keep touching base with our local culture
too. It's an opportunity. |
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| Ch 12-Library Books we used |
Henry and Mudge in the Family Trees/An I can Read Book
(Cynthia Rylant, ISBN 0689811799) - Great for the 3-8 year olds. |
| Ch 12 - resource and reading books |
First Encyclopedia of the Human Body/Usborne Books (Available
through us) I'm using it with 4-9 year olds. Much beyond that age and
you'd need to have a book with greater details although it would be.
Fearfully and Wonderfully made/ (Available from Koorong, a little
expensive but I'm finding it well worth it.) I've already used the
example of the bat and white cells to share with the kids, they loved
that one! |
| Ch 12 - Videos/DVDs |
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (Available from Koorong)
The kids loved this. I worded them up before about the "blood and flesh
factor" and emphasised that every time they saw this, it meant someone's
life was being saved. They dealt really well with any gory bits.
Hermie, A Common Caterpillar/Max Lucado (Available from Koorong)
- A story about being unique and special. God loves you just the way you
are.
A Snoodles Tale: A lesson in self-worth (Veggie Tales) God sees
how special and beautiful each of us is. |
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On
this page you will find information on the various volumes in Weaver and where
we have made adjustments to increase study relevance to living in Australia
(mainly Social studies: History, Geography, Cultural Studies are affected). The
recommendations will include: books, places to visit, online links, etc. This
page will grow... oh so slowly, but please keep checking back as we will be
constantly adding to it. If you have any contributions to make to this page we
would be very grateful if you could share them as will anyone else who visits!
If we don't have a category yet that's appropriate for your input, we'll make
one! Please be bold, this is a much needed resource! We will also occasionally
include more general information that proved very helpful to us and that we feel
will save you research time.