Apr. 24, 2006 - Fellow Aussie post on ANZAC Day in their home...
Ive just had a really wonderful morning. As all Australians/New Zealanders would know, today is ANZAC day. ANZAC stands for Australia New Zealand Army Corps, and because my three boys are scouts they were asked to participate in the dawn service with the war veterans . Our household was up at 5.15am, I made hot chocolate for everyone, we wrapped the 2yo in blankets, bundled her into the pram and we walked the 15 minutes to the war memorial. [click HERE to view her post].
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Apr. 24, 2006 - ANZAC DAY - down under...
Abigail writes:
The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed at Gallipoli in 1915, during the First World War. The ANZAC ships came ashore about a whole mile north off course their intended landing point. Instead of finding gentle slopes and beach which originally awaited them, they came to steep cliffs and rough beach (eventually known as Anzac Cove.); an ideal defensive position for Turkish soldiers. Considering the circumstances, and their position, the Anzacs found it impossible to advance, and after about 8 months of stalemate between the two battalions, the allies withdrew and 10,000 dead were left among the Anzacs. They left in the year 1916, at dawn.
The Anzacs are widely knows for their courage and grunt on and off the battle field. They dug endless trenches that were literally kilometres long. Skilled snipers were used to shoot the few who became in range. As much as these two armies were enemies, they also respected one another. On Christmas day there was no fighting at all.
The dawn services traditionally started in Albany, Western Australia in 1923. Dawn services are now held at all War Memorials around both countries at dawn.
ANZAC biscuits were originally made and sent over to the soldiers from the Red Cross, because they can last up to a whole year. The ingredients included never went off (stale) and the biscuits kept for a long time and were quite a fulfilling meal.
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup plain flour
1 cup sugar
125g (4oz) butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup (I usually add a lot. Especially if you like a chewy strong biscuit =D )
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon water
Preheat oven to 300F (150C)
Mix oats, flour, sugar and coconut together.
Melt syrup and butter together.
Mix soda with boiling water and add to melted butter and syrup.
Add to dry ingredients.
Place 1 tablespoonfuls of mixture on greased tray (allow room for spreading).
Bake for 20 minutes.
Loosen while warm, cool on trays.
(Makes about 35)
Some useful links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANZAC_day
http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/ww1.htm
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/For_the_Fallen (Poem by Laurence Binyon) http://www.worldwar1.com/sfanzac.htm
Abs
[Susan]I'd like to add what a usual ANZAC Day can look like for Aussies.
What Aussies do on this day?
Well, everyone is different but many Australians attend a Dawn Service. The reason for the Dawn Service is that this was the time of the original landing by the ANZACS. After the service, ex-service men and women march through their cities while ceremonies are held throughout the country. It is a time where many Australians reflect on the different meanings and times of war.
You can see more information about the ANZACs and the Dawn Service here:
http://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/anzac/anzac_tradition.htm
Regards,
Susan <><
HomeGrownKids
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Feb. 23, 2006 - Australia Needs Your Emails Immediately!
Dear HSLDA members and friends,
Recently, Home School Legal Defense Association was contacted by
Anthony White, the homeschool leader in the State of Victoria in
Australia. Their state is facing a bill that will cause homeschoolers
to be placed under the Department of Education's arbitrary authority.
At this time, out of five states in Australia, Victoria has the best
law. Homeschool parents have the freedom to train their children
without any regulations. Unfortunately, this is about to change.
Our brothers and sisters in Victoria are few and not currently
organized. As a result, these homeschool restrictions cannot be
stopped...unless there is an international outcry from the homeschool
community. We are asking you to help our homeschooling friends "down
under" when they need us most. Take a moment and write an email as
soon as possible.
We will send the email, under your email address, to 131 members of
the Victorian Parliament.
You have made the difference before on behalf of homeschoolers in
foreign lands. Please read our "Background" below to see examples of
other countries where homeschoolers in America have stopped bad laws
and help lift restrictions on fellow homeschoolers.
ACTION REQUESTED:
Please write an email to the members of the Victorian Parliament in
Australia and give them this message in your own words:
Please keep homeschooling free in Victoria and amend the proposed
Education Bill. Homeschooling works and parents and parental freedom
to homeschool without these unnecessary proposed regulations is needed
to protect parental liberty. We urge you to remove the need for home
educators in Section 2.1.1(b) and Section 4.3.9 to register and comply
with the Department of Education administrative regulations. If this
is passed homeschoolers will be subject to arbitrary regulations by
the Department of Education who has a prejudicial interest in
homeschooling.
Also, amend Section 2.1.1(b) so that the attendance requirements are
in line with current legislation of the Community Service Act of 1970.
The current legislation already allows the Victorian government to
prosecute families if they are not doing a good job of delivering
"regular and efficient instruction" as is mandated by the code
requiring homeschoolers to provide "regular and efficient instruction"
is all that is needed to protect the welfare and future of the child.
In fact, the current law in Victoria is similar to laws in the various
states in the United States.
If it's not broken, there is no need to fix it. Homeschoolers in
Victoria have been doing a good job training their children. Let
homeschooling remain free in Victoria.
You can also add a paragraph about the tremendous success academically
and socially you are experiencing with your own homeschool. Personal
anecdotes of success are very effective.
Use our online form to send your email.
http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=2863
Your email to Parliament needs to be sent immediately because one of
the key votes is taking place on Monday, February 27. Since Australia
is essentially 14 hours ahead of us, their Monday is our Sunday, so
please send your emails immediately!
BACKGROUND:
Australia needs your help. You can make a difference for the fledgling
homeschool movement in Victoria.
You can view some of our work in other countries by visiting the
international section at http://www.hslda.org/hs/international .
In the past, U.S. homeschoolers have had similar opportunities to help
struggling families in other countries. We have seen some dramatic
results.
South Africa: two homeschool parents were freed from prison and,
eventually, homeschooling was legalized.
Germany: a case against a homeschool family was dropped.
Ireland: home visit legislation was defeated.
Thank you for helping your brothers and sisters in Australia.
Sincerely,
Christopher J. Klicka, Esq.
HSLDA Senior Counsel
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Feb. 22, 2006 - Outback Adventures...good book.
The outback in Australia is one of the wildest places there is, yet humans and animals survive in this hostile environment. Kangaroos, wallaby's, emus, all live and thrive alongside ranchers and merino sheep, swagmen and dingoes. In the shadow of the great Uluru or Ayres rock tourists and wild animals bake in the hot sun.
People dig for gold and other treasures but the greatest treasure we can find anywhere is the word of God and the truth it tells us about God our Creator and our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
ISBN : 1 85792 9748
Christian Focus
There are other great titles in this series...we've used a few of them and the children have enjoyed them. The series is aimed at 8-12 year olds.
African Adventures by Dick Anderson
Amazon Adventures by Horace Banner
Rain Forest Adventures by Horace Banner
Rocky Mountain Adventures by Betty Swinford
More titles at Christian Focus
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Feb. 14, 2006 - Aussies excited about Australian H-S Conference
Why are we so excited? Well, not only do we have the chance to get together and make new friends and fellowship with old ones, but all the homeschool suppliers will be there. Local Aussies will be running various workshops and giving talks and I'm sure that much coffee will be drunk and heaps of chocolate eaten but, the most exciting factor of all would have to be the guest speakers:
Aaackkk, is that excellent or what???
It's exciting. I can't wait. I know I'm going to be like a kid in a candy store. Vendors will include, Open Vision , Character First, Total Learning, Always Learning Books, Homeschool Favourites , and Adnil Press.
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Feb. 11, 2006 - G'day...from the Land Down Under!
G'day,
It's great to be here! I'm going to enjoy this a lot. I love learning at home with my children; I love my beautiful country and I like to ramb...er , write!
By way of short introduction: I'm 30 year old Susan and have been married to John for 16 1/2 years. Together we have four children aged, 8, 10, 13 and 14yo. John has a 22yo son also.
John is in the army and so we move around a fair bit, which we think is a fantastic way to see this beautiful, varied country of ours. We started learning at home 'officially' in 1998 after Abigail had attended Kindergarten and Year One at a small, private Christian school. We started homeschooling using a traditional "school-at-home" approach to our learning. We had a school workbook for each and every subject and we started 'school' every day at the same time. Our schedule was very 'schooly'. The children did very well that year, academically speaking, but I was getting a little bored. I was wondering how I could keep this up for the next 10 or more years. I really thought that there had to be more to this homeschooling than I was experiencing.
Toward the end of that first year, we connected to the Internet.
I started hunting for ideas to teach more than one child at a time.
This led me to KONOS. I purchased KONOS and I really loved the idea of
it but thought it was a little too *hands-on* for me. So, then I tried
my hand at devising my own unit studies. This was great, I learnt heaps
but was also quite tired at the end of it all. Soon, I stumbled across
some websites about Charlotte Mason and started to implement some
changes that have not only changed our homeschool experience but
aspects of our life as well. Although I have learnt a lot from Charlotte Mason, I don't adhere to the methods strictly. I used to try, but ended up being confused and our home was not a harmonious one as I struggled to mold our family into shapes that were not us. Thankfully, God showed me a way out of this. I have also learnt a lot from other popular homeschool methods like 'natural learning' and unit studies and even 'school at home'. Yes, for a person as undisciplined and easily distracted as I am there is something I can glean from a traditional school-at-home approach. I guess I could describe our family as "eclectic, thematic, literature loving, natural learners who are trying to cultivate good study habits while pursuing our interests in a Spirit-led way".
There are some subjects where we will employ the use of textbooks and others where we simply read good, living books. We use textbooks for maths and science and sometimes, English, whereas we enjoy living books for history, geography, nature study and fine arts.
Anyway, that's enough about me...I have my own blog where I ramble on incessantly.
Speaking of Australia, ( stay on topic, Susan!) how about a few details:
Homeschooling in Australia.
Home education is a legal alternative to traditional school in all states of Australia. However, not all Australians choose to register or apply for an exemption of attendance from school. Some homeschooled graduates have gained and are continuing to gain entrance into Australian universities. There are as many different homeschooling philosophies and methods as there is anywhere else in the world and not one type of learning dominates.
We have an Aussie blog-ring as a way of bringing the Aussie home-school bloggers together. You might like to have a wander there and check out a few different blogs.
I guess that's about it from me...for now. I'm looking forward to being part of the International blogging team here at Around the World.
Cheers,
Susan <><
