Well, most of our schools are back, or about to start the new year. Did you know that there are schools using OpenSTEM materials in every state and territory of Australia? Our wide range of resources, especially those on Australian history, give detailed information about the history of all our states and territories. We pride ourselves on having a resource on every topic in the Australian HASS and Science curriculum for primary school, so if you find something that you think is missing, please let us know and if it’s not there already, it soon will be!
This year we are preparing a new suite of Understanding Our World® HASS + Science Units for anyone who wants a bit of variety. If you are interested, do let us know and we might even be able to give you a sneak preview. Remember, all our Understanding Our World units run for 9 weeks per term, giving a bit of leeway for those crazy early weeks of the year!
There will also be some new resources coming out, and some substantial updates to some more familiar resources. Much of our material has been updated for the new year already, so make sure that you update your copies, especially with the 2018 licensed material.
Last year, after requests from some of the teachers we work with, OpenSTEM® started developing resources to assist with the Maths curriculum. Our Diced Maths® resources have been so popular that some students have even asked if they could swap from computer-based Maths programs to the Diced Maths resources! Students report that these resources make them feel more in control of their own learning and love “playing” with the funky dice. Many don’t see the activities as “doing Maths” at all. These activities develop students’ problem solving skills, whilst practising all their basic Maths concepts and operations at the same time.
Stay tuned for some exciting specials coming up in the next few weeks, as well as some more in depth exploration into a range of topics.
Responding to popular request, we have now made our FREE sample resource PDFs available directly from a page: 
OpenSTEM’s 
Student engagement is the primary aim of this curriculum implementation and a range of 
The material is designed so as to provide for flexibility in use. Teachers can choose to utilise the individual resources within their own teaching framework, or they can choose to use the detailed weekly lesson plans as laid out in the Teacher Handbook. A Student Workbook is also provided, with a continual assessment option, to complete the package.
OpenSTEM’s History and Geography program provides a range of cross-curricular options. In particular Science extensions are provided to address the Science curriculum. Some aspects of the Mathematics curriculum also follow naturally from this material.
Homeschooling parents also have great flexibility in their use of this material. The program is designed to be easily adaptable for the homeschooling situation. Parents can choose to use the resources within their own program, or allow the student to explore the material as their interest leads them. Alternatively, the parent can use the Teacher Handbook and Student Workbook to provide a series of lessons, knowing they will thus match all the curriculum requirements.
The material is much more interesting. When I discussed a topic later in the term, I found that the students…
Laura Davidson, Teacher