Plans For 2014

I have finally finished the planning for 2014. As usual we have lots to keep us busy, many trips to go on and plenty of projects to undertake. Here are some of the things we hope to cover in 2014:

• Numbers and number operations, place value and money
• Fractions, decimals and percentages
• Measuring
• Shapes, angles, directions and coordinates
• Patterns and probability
• Spelling, grammar, writing
• Handwriting and touch typing
• Speaking, listening, presentations, and plays
• Lots of reading
• Earth sciences including weather, rocks, minerals and geology
• Gardening, bush walking and nature study
• Using computers to manipulate text, images and data
• Drawing, painting, sculpture, textiles and collage
• Appreciating art from ancient cultures and by Aboriginal Australians
• DIY, working with materials and tools and designing products
• Local Studies
• Romans and Medieval times
• Mapping and data collection
• Festivals in Australia and around the World
• Piano, music reading and composition, music appreciation and dance
• Swimming, gymnastics and team sports
• Cooking and chores
• Camping, day trips visiting museums and galleries

Phew! I wonder if we will achieve this huge list? We have settled into a routine of working 3 mornings a week on the "core" subjects of maths, English, music and computing. We have an afternoon each a week for art, swimming, library and gymnastics. We also go to 2 home education social groups each week. We have been trying to cover the sciences, history and geography in "project weeks". This has seemed to work well and we stay enthused as the topic doesn't drag on for weeks. 

In term one we have a cross curricular topic on local studies planned. We will be doing lots of history, geography, computing, English and technology whilst we investigate our local area. For science we will be looking at weather and doing lots of experiments. We will be visiting some exhibitions this term which feature ancient treasures and we will be creating our own ancient treasure filled chest in art. We have 3 camps planned and also a trip to Canberra and to Sydney to see the musical Lion King. Hopefully we will still have time for some trips to the Powerhouse and Australian museums too. 

Check back soon to see what we actually achieve!