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Hello from Australia | Resources I use with my sons


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Hi WTM Community, 

My name's Andrew and I'm a HS teacher with 2 kids - 8 and 5. 

My eldest was reading early so I came across WTM while looking for resources to extend him. From the WTM series I use the Story of the World, but am looking for materials that align closer with the Australian curriculum moving forward. Any recommendations would be appreciated. 

My wife's Chinese (我也会说一点儿汉语) so we've had him doing some Chinese curriculum materials - the text that he uses is Jinan University's "Zhongwen" series, as well as iHuman (恒恩) apps on the iPad. 

Resource List Summary 

  • Chinese: Jinan University Zhongwen texts, iHuman apps
  • History: Story of the World
  • English: Vic Curriculum Handwriting, phonics; most handled by school, but make reading suggestions; using ABC PocketPhonics with youngest (he's currently seeing a Speech Pathologist and Occupational Therapist; developmental/ADHD/ASD related)
  • Maths: RIC Publications "Mental Maths" series, Khan Academy
  • Music: Blitz Music Theory --> Master your Theory; Suzuki Violin -->AMEB Violin; AMEB Piano
  • Spanish/French: Tutors once a week; Cahier des vacances, 

Some areas which seem promising: RIC Publications, Maths Mate

In particular, if there's anyone who can make recommendations for the Humanities/Science areas of the Australian curriculum, as well as resources for French/Spanish native speakers, that would be appreciated. 

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Welcome to the forum!

That seems rather a lot for small kids anyway, specially if they're attending school, so I'm not sure how much more they could fit into their lives!

To be honest, since you are after schooling rather than homeschooling, I wouldn't give a single thought to what the Australian curriculum has to say about humanities or science. There are greater authorities to listen to...

I'd look at making space for important but low pressure activities to support gross motor skills, real life skills like handicrafts, cooking and camping, to make sure the kiddies have room to move their bodies and develop a bit of creative thinking.

If you google "CSMP materials" and search about in there, there's maths in Spanish that should suit your kids' age group.

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5 minutes ago, andrewfx51 said:

Thanks Rosie, 

"All work and no play" is definitely a concern so we also do judo, scouts and hockey. 

Those are good things, but they are still very much structured and supervised activities so they are still kind of work even if enjoyable work. Strange as it is to think about, bludging off is an important skill too. You might give some thought to the benefits and skills to be learned from unstructured and unsupervised (so they think) time. 

(Also Aussie. Also Autistic. :)  )

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