Coming up next...the Aboriginals

I just realized that it has been a week since we last updated this. We have been studying Australia's geography as we laid out in this entry. The topographical map is interesting. We had a harder time finding a map to copy from than I had anticipated, but finally settled for merging two maps we had found in books. She colored the Great Dividing Range brown (because they were mountains), colored in a couple of lakes, traced out the few major rivers, colored the rainforests green and most of Australia yellow since it is semi-arid.

Suddenly, it became obvious to my daughter just why most of the population is concentrated along the East Coast of Australia.

I have started looking to next week's focus which will be the Aboriginal people of Australia. I am having a difficult time determining just how I want to approach the topic. Just like in our own history, there are some difficult themes coming up. The main text I'm using at the moment is Among Cannibals by Carl Lumholz who spent four years among the Aboriginals in Queensland and wrote about his experiences back in 1889.

I won't be using this directly with my daughter, or if so only certain passages. There is significant author bias that she would need to be able to discern before I would give her a text like this. He makes several comments which are somewhat racist and I do not wish my daughter to determine that groups of people are of less value because of the color of their skin or other such determinations. At the same time, I believe this is the book I read which gives credence to the general philosophy that all cultures are equal.

That is a difficult and somewhat charged discussion to try to get into, and not really something I'm going to get into with an eight year old. Suffice it say that I do not think that the marriage customs of the aboriginals are "equal" to our own:

Near Herbert Vale I had the good fortune to be able to witness a marriage among the blacks. A camp of natives was just at the point of breaking up, when an old man suddenly approached a woman, seized her by the wrist of her left hand and shouted, Yongul ngipa!--that is, This one belongs to me (literally "one I"). She resisted with feet and hands, and cried, but he dragged her off, though she made resistance during the whole time and cried at the top of her voice. For a mile away we could hear her shrieks.

Nor am I about to condone cannibalism.

We are going to look at this in the light of scripture. I haven't read as much on how the aboriginals were treated by the British, but I know it wasn't pleasant. I viewed a re-enactment on a video in a museum in Melbourne that sickened me. Not even so much for what was done back in the 1800s but for what was done in the name of memorializing the event in the 20th century. This should provide a very nice opportunity to take a closer look at how the seeds of local self-government are planted. The British were somewhat appalled by what they saw in the Aboriginals and attempted to "civilize" them...or they would kill them.

Christianity, on the other hand, teaches that change comes from within. I am hoping to find at least some examples of missions evangelizing in this manner, but I'm guessing it will look much like our own history with a mixture of motives behind many of them. Christianity was widely accepted by the native people of Australia, and today approximately two thirds consider themselves Christians. I think this continues to be a relevant issue in Australia today as there has historically been a debate about how to best support Aboriginals (through assimilation or through supporting their native cultures on the various lands, I'm guessing something like our reservations). Of course, religion isn't a part of this debate, but how do you "assimilate" a culture?

These are some interesting topics to explore with older children, perhaps, but we will be taking a look at some of them, scaled down to the understanding of an eight year old.

Note: There is some debate about the term "Aboriginal." I'm not exactly one for political correctness, but I'm also not one for offending groups of people. It is a British term which was applied to the native peoples of Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea. There are a number of terms which the Aboriginal themselves prefer, many of them providing a sense of identity with their own unique communities.

Related Tags: homeschooling, Australia, Aborigine

Individuality and the Emu

For this lesson, we started with one of my children's favorite songs, Old Man Emu by John Williamson, a popular folk artist:
At the end, Williamson sings,

Well there is a moral to this ditty - Oom ba da little da da da
Thrush can sing but he ain't pretty - Oom ba da little da da
Duck can swim, but he can't sing, nor can the eagle on the wing
Emu can't fly, but I'm telling you, he can run the pants off a kangaroo.

My daughter reasoned that the moral of the song is that each animal has its own unique gifts. She recognized that this is related to God's principle of individuality in that we are each a unique creation in Him. We have different talents, strengths and weaknesses. Likewise, God gave each of the animals different means of protecting themselves, communicating and finding sustenance. The emu may not be able to fly, but he is an incredibly fast bird, topping speeds of 30 miles an hour.

In scripture, we find this principle applied directly to His church:

Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.--1 Corinthians 12:4-6

To learn more about the unique characteristics of the emu, my daughter read a brief informational text about emus. To record the information she learned, she made a wanted poster about the emu in Williamson's song. I got the template for the wanted poster at Education World. Scroll down to "Icebreakers" and one of the choices is "Wanted Poster." This will open in a Word document and you can modify the text to fit the questions you want your child to answer. I also gave each of my children a coloring sheet to color.


We will be studying more about the animals of Australia using simple nonfiction texts and this wanted poster, but I probably won't post on each one unless we find something truly unique. It is a fairly basic format that can be used with anything and is a nice precursor to the more formal research paper that she is not ready for, yet.

Australia, emu, homeschooling, home school

Our study: A Vision and an Outline

My educational philosophy states that I am educating my children for liberty. Thus liberty is a frequent underlying theme in all of our studies, and an important historic principle according to the biblical principle approach.

The Principle of Individuality, emphasizing uniqueness and diversity, has a natural connection to Australia. As an island continent, it remained separated from the "known" world for many centuries. There is great diversity of life found nowhere else on earth, interesting land forms and a unique culture. The Australia of today is influenced by all of these factors as well as its English heritage.

This English heritage is very interesting to look at in connection with thoughts on liberty. Australia's government is born out of some of the same traditions as our own with one marked difference: we were a nation of religious dissidents while they were a nation of convicts. There is a long period in Australia's history that is wrought with violence, class struggle and yearnings for a degree of liberty from British rule which represented oppression much more vividly than it did here. I am reminded of an Australian folk song highlighting this aspect of its history:

You beat your drum
You drink your rum
You threaten' me with hangin'

Such was the life of a convict living in a penal colony. Being a penal colony, however, one thing was noticeably absent from Australia: education. While America quickly became one of the most literate nations of the world given its people's desire to educate children in the scriptures, little attention was given at all to the education of Australians.

After all, they were only convicts.

We will continue to share our studies more or less in the same format as we have been. We will try to provide some interesting information, thoughts from our discussion and plenty of links so you can learn more. The following is an outline of what we roughly have planned for the summer. This will get extended as we progress, and I will continue to update the links to individual posts regularly (although not necessarily after every posting). We will be studying three days per week, and will generally look at some children's literature on the fourth day. I may include some thoughts and reflections on other days.

Alongside the documents, we will also be utilizing a number of Australian folk songs, well-known poems, and other products of Australian culture to illustrate historic principles and to provide a glimpse of what Australians think of their own history.

Feel free to ask any questions or provide any resources you know of. We certainly are not experts!

Unfortunately, I don't know how to make a simple outline look nice in this thing, so here is my best alternative:

I. Introduction
Studying History: scriptural premise, research practice
Australian Geography: procedure

II. Before the colonists
The People
The Landscape

III. Rumors of a Southland
Early tales of "australis incognito"
The first explorers: Captain James Cook

IV. Australia as a penal colony

V. Toward liberty (significant events shaping the history and character of Australia)

Australian Geography

Today's lesson was just a continuation from yesterday. We are still working on the idea of research and "searching out the land" as it applies to Australia. The focus, however, was on geography. To set the mood, we listened to this little spin off of a famous Johnny Cash song by George Mack. FYI: "humping my bluey" means about the same as "waltzing Matilda" or "toting my pack" as Johnny Cash begins. It refers to wandering and hitchhiking.



We began our map study which is probably going to be the most in depth map study we have ever done. We are beginning with a basic topographical map. You can make one by printing off a blackline master of Australia, or by tracing the outline of a map out of an atlas. We will then trace the outlines onto a transparency and label the map. A second transparency will show the major resources of Australia so that when we lay them all on top of each other, we will get a good idea about the relationships between the environment and land usage.

As we come across places during our study, we will add them to the appropriate map.

The Map Standard (summary from the Noah Plan History and Geography Curriculum Guide):

1. Labeling with block letters.
2. Blue caterpillar lines for all shore lines.
3. Green pencil for plains.
4. Brown pencil for mountains.
5. Yellow pencil for deserts.
6. Ice masses left white.
7. Bordering continents, countries, states colored with contrasting colors. Outline only to leave room for labels.

This is the same procedure we use every time we study a place, whether it is for history, literature or some other subject when relevant.

Researching general information

Continuing yesterday's idea of research, we looked at another bible verse where a little research proved important. We read Numbers 13 and talked about why people were sent into Canaan, and why they were scared. We copied a portion of verse 2 since that related directly to our lesson for today:

Send thou men, that they may search the land of Ca'naan, . . .
Numbers 13:2

We certainly are not researching information about Australia for a military campaign. The Christian Church is not commanded to take territory or conquer in this way. We are to advance the Kingdom, however, through discipleship and ministry outreach efforts. Like the Israelites, missionaries begin by learning more about the people they will be serving. Sometimes they may become fearful. Other times, they may choose to depend on God like Joshua. As we minister to the nations, however, we need to remember that the goal is to preach Christ, not American Christianity. That is why it is vitally important to know about the areas we are trying to reach and the needs of their communities.

To learn a little about how to research, I typed up several general questions. Today at the library, my daughter will look for some books that she thinks might answer the questions. We will read more about Australia and learn a little about the country today before delving into its history. From her knowledge of books, she has been able to determine that we will need to look at nonfiction books whose purpose is to inform.

Specifically, we will be using the books' text structure to try to find information quickly. Here they are:

1. How many people live in Australia?
2. How big is Australia?
3. Who is the prime minister of Australia?
4. What is the national capital of Australia?
5. What is Australia's national anthem?
6. How many aboriginals live in Australia?
7. What sports are played in Australia?
8. What form of government does Australia have?

The internet could also be used to find this information quickly. However, we are learning about researching in the library.

This short video gives some general information about Australia. The segment on Melbourne is very short, but I have been to all the places mentioned in it!



homeschooling, Australia, history, home school

Australia - Land Down Under

Today was the first day of our Australia study. It served as an introduction both to the purpose of studying history and to Australia. As we go through this, I will provide links to everything we use so that you may study Australia along with us if you choose. My daughter is also learning to type and she will be inserting any quotes. Please forgive any typos. The rest is a result of our discussion or her dictation of what we are learning.

We began by reading Esther, chapter 6. Because we are looking specifically at the purpose of studying history, we copied a portion of Esther 6:1.

...and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.

Apparently, the king wished to study the history of his kingdom because he had trouble sleeping. Curing insomnia is perhaps not the best purpose for studying a subject, but the result of this changed the course of history for the Jews in Babylon.

It reminded him of the past.

Studying history reminds us of our past. In this case, knowledge of history allowed the king to honor a man who deserved honor, saving him his life. One of the most important tools of the historian is research.

RESEARCH [Fr. recherche; re and chercher]

To search or examine with continued care; to seek diligently for the truth.

As we progress through this study, we will be researching Australian history, using a variety of sources. We will look at excerpts from primary source documents and utilize other sources to find out some information about Australian history, geography, wildlife and culture.

The following clip presents a sort of collage of images from Australia. We will look at some of this in more detail as we study. The music is A Land Down Under by Men At Work, an Australian band that was quite popular in the 80s. (The links will take you to the lyrics of the song and information about the band.)

What images stood out to you? How many of the things do you recognize? What do these images tell you about Australia?

To begin researching, one important thing to know is what we already know and what we would like to learn. The KWL chart is a good way to help a child begin a research project. It also helps the teacher ensure that the child has an opportunity to learn things of interest to the child. Here is the KWL chart that we used and also a good one for older children.

Simple KWL from Eye on the Sky.
KWHL from NCSU.

For the KWL, help your child fill out the first two columns. This will help you see what they know about the subject and some of what they would like to learn. The final column will be filled out at the end of the study. It is ok if false information is put in the first column. This will be corrected in the course of study and will help your child see the importance of researching a topic.

The KWHL is similar, but there is also a column for your child to fill in about how they plan to go about getting this information. This is good for students who are beginning to research more on their own.

Mouse chose four things she would like to know more about:

1. Animal populations
2. Why the Aboriginals make art in the sand
3. What made Ayer's Rock
4. What the people are like
5. How fast emus can run

Please share any thoughts or ideas. We would love to hear the things you would like to learn about Australia. If you let us know, we will try to make sure that we cover that topic sometime during the course of our study.
Related Tags: homeschooling, Australia, education, Principle Approach

Studying Australia, a starting point

I am starting this blog to share our summer study about Australia. My children are all half Australian and know little about their father's homeland, so we are embarking on this study as a nice change of pace and to provide them with a little more knowledge of their heritage.

We use the Principle Approach (PA), an educational method that most of us seem to have a hard time explaining. I hope the entries here may show one way the PA may be implemented in the home, although I am far from a "master teacher." In a way, what I do in my home is a PA inspired approach, but that is part of what attracted me to this approach. It seeks to equip you, the parent and teacher of your child, with the basis of a solid education so that you may effectively disciple your children.

For a more official outline of what PA is, here is an excellent summary by the Foundation for American Christian Education. For me, the heart of the PA is about:

Discipling my children, leading by example more than by words. I seek to teach as Christ Himself taught: through His example, through stories, through imagery, through symbols and through history.

Inspiring my children and breathing life into their studies. I seek above all for them to take ownership of their learning and responsibility for their lives.

Discovering the heart of the subject area. Each subject is its own method of reasoning and means of discovering more about our world. They each have their own individual principles which drive their study and proper execution.

Hopefully you will see these expressed as I post outlines of our plans each week. If you look over the summary of PA provided by FACE, you will note that the study of history involves seven principles. We have covered three of them so far: Individuality, Self Government and How the Seeds of Local Self Government are planted. Australia presents a wonderful opportunity to discover the principle of individuality. It also provides a unique counterpoint to the other principles.

With these principles as a foundation, we will be taking a look at Australian history, geography and culture. Some things which will be of help to you if you wish to join us in these studies:

These are available online to print out.

Captain Cook's Journal, chapter 8
Southland of the Holy Spirit

Also, a jar of Vegemite. (And don't substitute the easier-to-find Marmite.)

This is available at some stores. If your local world market-type store tells you we no longer import it, they are victims of an urban legend. After the FDA stopped the importation of Vegemite from the UK, a rumor went around that it was banned because of the Vitamin B content. This is not true. It was banned for improper labeling. This, however, does not effect Vegemite coming from Australia. It is widely available on the internet, but often out of stock due to the limit in supply and steady demand. Should you purchase it, don't eat it. You will think I'm nuts and likely throw it away before we get to the wonderful lesson. The stuff is horrid, but the lesson is good. I will then provide some recipes so that you may economically and tastefully dispose of the rest without feeling like you wasted your money. And, at the end of it, you may actually learn to like it. I almost hate to admit it, but I have. And so long as you have your credit card out, you may as well try some Tim Tams, Arrowroot cookies, Anzac biscuits and some other treats to satisfy your culinary curiosity. They would also make a nice end-of-unit party.

I think everything else I'm planning on using is short enough to be acquired when I post it.