We are suffering from the ‘rushing syndrome’ as a society. We rush from dawn to dusk to conquer tasks and tick off to-do lists. Life throws us many balls, some of them unexpected that we need to juggle at a moment’s notice. Our bodies are constantly in fight-or-flight mode which contributes to stress and adrenal fatigue. We have become overachievers…
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Homeschooling has been on the rise in Australia, even more so with families spending an increasing amount of time at home. Yet, as we cozy up indoors, our children are missing out on the wonders and lessons that the natural world offers. Australia is a continent teeming with unique flora and fauna, making it a perfect natural classroom. In this…
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Have you ever been amazed at a firefly or inspired by a sunset? Are you fascinated by rainbows and awed by the stars? Then come along with us and discover how we explored the wonder of light! I think all children love things that glow in the dark. To spark the interest of my kids, I gathered some fun glowing…
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Animals, birds, and insects write diaries with their feet and we can read them to determine who wrote them. Indigenous Australians relied upon their ability to read the stories in the sand told by footprints and scats to direct them toward food sources. It is challenging to distinguish tracks at first, but once the skill is mastered they are a…
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Hi! I’m so glad you are here to join us for another year of exploring math in the world around us. This year we are going to put together a portfolio of fun investigations and activities. Each month there will be a new file for you to discover. As we investigate each topic, I encourage you to collate your children’s…
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These visual math challenges have been created to intrigue and inspire your children. They are designed to be hands on, open-ended inquiries, to challenge them to think deeply about the world around them.
I sometimes cringe when I look at the map reading activities in some math books. These are designed to teach our kids spatial reasoning, mapping skills, distance, ratio, and loads of other skills. The maps are basic grids with perfectly spaced streets and the usual buildings and spaces – school, library, sports oval, and parks. They have questions like: What…
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Dry forest and woodland fauna have a wide diversity, and rainfall is frequent in good seasons. Wildlife in these areas experience regular drought and bushfires but they show resilience and have recovered after such catastrophic events with occasional above-average rainfall. Dry forest and woodland areas occupy a niche in between deserts and rainforests or coastal regions. It provides woodland creatures…
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Mathematics is not a careful march down a well-cleared highway, but a journey into a strange wilderness, where the explorers often get lost. Rigor should be a signal to the historians that the maps have been made, and the real explorers have gone elsewhere. — W.S. Anglin, Mathematics author A Playful Math Carnival considering the random, the unexpected and the…
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Our Autumn Easter Holiday project was to create a handmade, mixed media, nature journal. These journals are fun to make. They are beautiful keepsakes that you will be proud to display! The idea for them is not my own but a combination of ideas that I gathered scrolling instagram and pinterest. Check the end of this post for links to…
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Food Chains are the who eats who of nature! Plant nectar eaten by ants, eaten by a Thorny Devil, eaten by a Wedged Tailed Eagle. They are the pathway of energy in an ecosystem. Because nature is complex, food chains in turn become complex, creating a food web. Different habitats and ecosystems sustain different food chains. Scientists study the different…
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How would you describe a cloud? Artists describe clouds as ‘the soul’ of all scenery. In the words of a poet, clouds are ‘lying pendent between two worlds.’ ‘A mass of tiny water drops or ice crystals that floats in the air above Earth‘, is what a scientist would say about a cloud. And a meteorologist would tell you the…
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