Star Night -Bendigo
| 15 November 2007 7:30 pm | to | 16 November 2007 5:00 pm |
The Bendigo and Castlemaine home educators have a star night with the Bendigo and District Astronomical Society.
We have a nice dark sky site. Contact Sue for directions:
at robwight@optusnet.com.au or 5439 5134
Time: 7.30 p.m. Thursday 15th November
cost: $2 per child or $5 per family
Deakin Science Classes
| 4 December 2007 | ||
| 9:30 am | to | 1:00 pm |
Venue: Deakin University (Waurn Ponds campus: Melways ref: Edition 35, Map 464)
Date: Tuesday 04th December 2007.Practical Sessions for Home-Educated Students
To the Home-Education Community, Deakin University at Geelong Waurn Ponds offers 3 different, simultaneous practical sessions for middle and high-school aged students.
Session 1: Computers: Developing Computer Games
The School of Engineering and Information Technology offers a 2.5-3-hour computing session with a focus on developing computer games. The aim of the workshop is to introduce students to the important design issues and technologies used in computer game development.
Time: 9:30 AM for a 10 AM start. Finish by 1 PM.
Cost: $10 per student, cash on the day.
Ages: 14-18. The minimum age of 14 strictly applies.
Limited to 25 students maximum.
Session 2: Fun with Electronics
The School of Engineering and Information Technology offers a 2.5-hour session in basic electronics.
Time: 9:45 AM for a 10 AM start. Finish by 1 PM.
Cost: $10 per student, cash on the day.
Ages: 10-13.
Limited to 30 students maximum.
Session 3: Physics and Optics
The School of Engineering and Information Technology offers a 2.5-hour session in physics and basic optics. This is a proper class learning about lenses, optics, magnifiers, microscopes, and telescopes. The session is aimed at students who want to learn some physics.
Time: 9:45 AM for a 10 AM start. Finish by 1 PM.
Cost: $10 per student, cash on the day.
Ages: 16-18.
Limited to 12 students maximum.
Students (and parents) must wear closed-toed shoes for lab safety. Sneakers are OK, but not Ugg boots. The physics and electronics sessions are in the same building as last year, games development is upstairs in a nearby building.
The three sessions overlap to make travel more convenient for families.
Queries about the sessions to: John Long jlong@deakin.edu.au phone 5227 2896.
Bookings: Contact Sue Wight email robwight@optusnet.com.au or ph 54395134
We will meet outside Engineering at Deakin’s Waurn Ponds Campus.
During the sessions, John will speak to the parents on how his proposal (on Deakin entrance for home ed students) is going , and investigate activities for next year.
The same three classes will also run on Wednesday 5th Dec for Kingsley educational families, and on Thursday 6th for those associated with Australian Christian Academy. Last year we had an arrangement with them to accept families from each others’ groups into spare places in our own sessions in order to accommodate as many families as possible. Sue will be talking to each group to set up the same system this year. So if you are unable to attend on the Tuesday but interested in attending on one of the other days, let Sue know.
Mums, Babes and Little People Support Group
| 14 November 2007 | ||
| 10:00 am | to | 12:00 pm |
This is a support group for mums with babies and younger children.
We will be meeting every Wednesday morning from 10am starting November 14th at Lenister Farm, 70 Homestead Rd, Eltham. Mel Map 21 J11
Cup along for a cuppa and a chat.
Further details contact Anne Hall 9435 0748
Home Education on a Budget
By Susan Wight
So you’ve decided to home educate but now you are worried about how you will ever afford all of those flashy curriculum resources, especially if home education means living on one income as it does for most families.
The good news is that home education does not have to be expensive.
You don’t really need that $1,000 Maths program you saw, nor do you need to purchase an entire curriculum or even a reading program.
Less than a Dollar a Day Home Education
By John Peacock
1. Flip an encyclopaedia
Encyclopaedias are so cheap from Op. shops these days that you could probably get a few for nothing. They have one feature that I like and that is even better than Google. Because there is so much knowledge these days encyclopaedias tend to edit old stuff out to make room for more recent stuff. This means that there are things in the older ones that you won’t access in the more recent versions. In any case, this activity involves choosing a volume and one person riffling the pages while the other sticks his/her finger or hand into the pages being riffled. Wherever it lands that is what you study. If it is just too boring or way out, try again!
Science Classes in Mount Waverley
| 20 November 2007 | ||
| 11:00 am | to | 2:00 pm |
A new venue has been found and science classes are on again.
Venue: Mount Waverley Guide Hall, Fairway Reserve, Fairway Avenue (just off the Forster Road exit on SE Freeway). Melways Map70E5. There is ample off-street parking and a kitchen available for parents to have a cuppa during the session.
20th November with Karen from Department of Sustainability & Environment
WATER, PLANTS & ANIMALS
Junior (Code J7) 11am-12pm
Meet Karen from Toolangi State Forest to ‘touch and feel’ some of our native animals, looking at their habitat and needs for survival. Using ‘hands on’ activities to demonstrate the importance of our natural environment and how human influences can upset the delicate balance Focus on our vital water supplies. Using visual activities such as ‘A drop in the bucket’ and ‘The Story of a River’ to demonstrate how we influence the quality and quantity of water available.
20th November with Karen from Department of Sustainability & Environment
GLOBAL WARMING
Senior (Code S7) 1pm-2pm
Debate issues that are effecting our natural environment, focusing on our precious water supplies.
Discuss the problems associated with climate change. Investigate the carbon cycle to understand how forests are able to store carbon, therefore reducing the greenhouse effect. Look at how human activities can have a positive and negative impact on climate change. Analyze the strategies that the government is using to deal with climate change
Thanks to all those who have assisted with getting our science classes back up and running at this new venue and also to all those who have kept our program going since 2002. Our short break has certainly reminded many of us of how valued this program is!
Cost per session: HEN members $8 per child, non-members $10 per child.
Bookings are essential
It is important that if you cannot make it to a science session that you give the organisers enough time to inform people on the waiting list that there is a place for them.
For bookings, please use the booking form which will ask you to provide the following:
- your name
- your home phone number, mobile phone number & email
- your HEN membership number (if you are a HEN member)
- course code of the session you want to book
- children’s surnames, first names and ages
You may email queries to Kirsty at science@home-ed.vic.edu.au.
Sessions are published for HEN members in Otherways Magazine before they are published on the website to non-members.