Online Learning

R using Open2Study

Lately we have been trying out lots of different websites for online learning. We have found that those aimed at children are almost universally full of idiotic cartoons and dumbed down beyond belief. There are however a couple of exceptions:

Maths Online is a subscription based website for maths that we have been using for several years. It covers maths from K to year 12 with explanatory videos and interactive questions. They also do a home education 60% discount.

Another free website we have been using is Big History. This covers history from the big bang all the way up to the present day, featuring videos, articles, quizzes and a teachers guide for further activities.

The free Khan Academy is another website that has been around for a while. Aimed at older kids and adults it mostly covers maths and computer programming with a smattering  of the other subjects.

Perhaps the best website for children that we have found is Scratch. This is a free computer programming site used in UK schools, you can download the software for free.  There's also a teachers guide with several lessons and links to programs you'll need. We have also found a fabulous book at our library with more programs and activities to do with Scratch.

Here is an example of what the children have made with it so far:

By L

By R

There are several websites that offer free courses aimed at adults. Some of these courses are also suitable for children and benefit from the lack of patronising graphics and dumbed down content.

Our favourite by far has been courses from the Open University (UK) on FutureLearn. You can see what we got up to on their basic science course in these previous posts:

Here
Here
Here
Here
and Here

There are many other universities offering free courses on FutureLearn, some suitable for older children.

L using Khan

For free courses from OU Australia try the Open2Study website. R has been enjoying the chemistry course.

More free courses of all different levels can be found on Coursera, which has everything from science to music, art to maths, computing, history, languages and more.

For free courses and tutorials in computer software you could try GCF. This website covers Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and more.

There are many other providers of online learning out there, but the quality varies enormously. I've given you links for those I consider to be the best providers. Enjoy your learning and please share below if you find any other websites worth exploring.

Coasts

We have spent the last 2 weeks learning about coasts. You can download some of the resources, lesson plans and worksheets we used here:

Tide pool lessons and field activities
Australian identification guide and resources
TES teaching resources

Of course, to study coasts properly, we needed a camping trip! We visited the South Coast of NSW between Ulladulla and Mystery Bay staying at basic bush camp-sites. The children explored the coastline by making drawings, collecting shells, fishing, beach combing, taking temperatures of rock pools, identifying man-made features, walking, rock scrambling, swimming, snorkelling, visiting the lighthouse and more. We even managed to find a ship-wreck.

Australia Rock

Shipwreck

Craft Fair Creations

By R

The children and I attended a craft fair recently. They had a go at some kids workshops where they decorated jars with fake icing and decorations.

By L

L and I also tried out some Powertex hardener to make this rusted metal effect panel.

Light And Shadows Project

This week we are working on a science project on light and shadows.

First we gathered books from the library and our own collection.

We have been doing lots of hands on experiments including, mixing coloured lights, making shadows, reflecting light around the room, investigating day and night and phases of the moon. We got many of our experiments from the 365 experiments book.

Deer and cockatoo shadows:

The children used shadows to draw a profile silhouette of each other.

We'll be doing some more experiments this week and hopefully it will stop raining and we can make some sundials.