Are you considering implementing our integrated HASS+Science program, but getting a tad confused by the pricing? Our subscription model didn’t not provide a So nowstraightforward calculation for a whole school or year-level. However, it generally works out to $4.40 (inc.GST) per student. So now we’re providing this as an option directly: implement our integrated HASS+Science program school-wide from just $4.40 per student. Easy!
Just like with the subscriptions, we do price on the basis of at least 100 students, which means that very small schools see an effective higher cost per student compared to the above stated. However, we’ve done a few projections and because of composite classes and the like this approach often still works out cheaper than the old subscription system. Plus, our materials provide for multi-year integration which are a lot of work to achieve. So you get proper solutions for your education needs, and at an unbeatable price.
Try our calculator with the numbers for your school!
This is such an important topic to raise and discuss – many countries are sending their little tiddlywinks to school earlier, and Australia has done this too. But does it actually improve outcomes? The following article from David Whitebread at Cambridge University already dates back to 2013. Noting several studies, he indicates that sending kids to school at a younger age might not improve outcomes at all: the studies across many countries found that there is no long-term benefit in terms of (for instance) literacy outcome, and there are distinct disadvantages.
Being involved in developing classroom programs based on the Australian Curriculum, it struck us early on what high demands are placed on little five year olds. Particularly if this does not yield long-term benefits in terms of educational and well-being outcomes, I think we need to consider this more. We make our materials as engaging and fun as possible anyhow, but when our national Curriculum prescribes certain things, students and teachers are “required to deliver” and that can create a lot of pressure.
Earlier this month the “Too Much, Too Soon” campaign made headlines [in the UK] with a letter calling for a change to the start age for formal learning in schools. Here, one of the signatories, Cambridge researcher David Whitebread, from the Faculty of Education, explains why children may need more time to develop before their formal education begins in earnest.
In the interests of children’s academic achievements and their emotional well-being, the UK government should take this evidence seriously. — David Whitebread
In England children now start formal schooling, and the formal teaching of literacy and numeracy at the age of four. A recent letter signed by around 130 early childhood education experts, including myself, published in the Daily Telegraph (11 Sept 2013) advocated an extension of informal, play-based pre-school provision and a delay to the start of formal ‘schooling’ in England from the current effective start until the age of seven (in line with a number of other European countries who currently have higher levels of academic achievement and child well-being).
This is a brief review of the relevant research evidence which overwhelmingly supports a later start to formal education. This evidence relates to the contribution of playful experiences to children’s development as learners, and the consequences of starting formal learning at the age of four to five years of age
There are several strands of evidence which all point towards the importance of play in young children’s development, and the value of an extended period of playful learning before the start of formal schooling. These arise from anthropological, psychological, neuroscientific and educational studies. Anthropological studies of children’s play in extant hunter-gatherer societies, and evolutionary psychology studies of play in the young of other mammalian species, have identified play as an adaptation which evolved in early human social groups. It enabled humans to become powerful learners and problem-solvers. Neuroscientific studies have shown that playful activity leads to synaptic growth, particularly in the frontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for all the uniquely human higher mental functions.
In my own area of experimental and developmental psychology, studies have also consistently demonstrated the superior learning and motivation arising from playful, as opposed to instructional, approaches to learning in children. Pretence play supports children’s early development of symbolic representational skills, including those of literacy, more powerfully than direct instruction. Physical, constructional and social play supports children in developing their skills of intellectual and emotional ‘self-regulation’, skills which have been shown to be crucial in early learning and development. Perhaps most worrying, a number of studies have documented the loss of play opportunities for children over the second half of the 20th century and demonstrated a clear link with increased indicators of stress and mental health problems.
Within educational research, a number of longitudinal studies have demonstrated superior academic, motivational and well-being outcomes for children who had attended child-initiated, play-based pre-school programmes. One particular study of 3,000 children across England, funded by the Department for Education themselves, showed that an extended period of high quality, play-based pre-school education was of particular advantage to children from disadvantaged households.
Studies have compared groups of children in New Zealand who started formal literacy lessons at ages 5 and 7. Their results show that the early introduction of formal learning approaches to literacy does not improve children’s reading development, and may be damaging. By the age of 11 there was no difference in reading ability level between the two groups, but the children who started at 5 developed less positive attitudes to reading, and showed poorer text comprehension than those children who had started later. In a separate study of reading achievement in 15 year olds across 55 countries, researchers showed that there was no significant association between reading achievement and school entry age.
This body of evidence raises important and serious questions concerning the direction of travel of early childhood education policy currently in England. In the interests of children’s academic achievements and their emotional well-being, the UK government should take this evidence seriously.
Reprinted with permission under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA).
OpenSTEM’s History and Geography for Primary program provides an integrated curriculum implementation, which aims to provide holistic learning for students in both Key Learning Areas. By integrating History and Geography, not only is the level of engagement higher, as students are able to gain a more rounded understanding of processes in places through time, but the time needed for teaching is optimised.
With complete lesson plans!
Australian Curriculum
The program is tailored exactly to the requirements of the Australian Curriculum so that all curriculum strands in both curricula are addressed efficiently. The focus is on providing a broad overview of global events and then focussing in on specific issues. A particular focal point, as determined by the Australian Curriculum, is Australian History, with Aboriginal History, sustainability and the environment as important foci as well.
Our Approach
Student engagement is the primary aim of this curriculum implementation and a range of activities ensure that learning takes place in a very hands-on and multimodal way.
Scientific research has identified that children are more engaged, with better retention of information, when a range of input stimuli are provided. In particular, visual and kinaesthetic methods of input have the broadest range of uptake of information in pre-puberty age groups. OpenSTEM’s blend of activities and resources addresses these methods directly.
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 uses particular techniques (such as coloured words within the text) which address a range of learning styles and have been shown to increase focus for students with concentration challenges.
Availability
The term 1 teacher units and supporting resources are now available, and already in use by some schools. Additional units and resources are made available progressively during this first year of this program, and updated thereafter.
You may purchase individual teacher units and resource PDFs, or subscribe (from an individual teacher or family to an entire school) and get the teacher units at half price and the resource PDFs for free!
You can also download some sample PDFs (at no cost, no login/details required) so that you are able to see and assess the quality of our materials.
If you need more information and for any questions you may have, please contact us.
Cross-curricular options
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.
These cross-curricular components help students apply newly learnt concepts and skills in a broader context.
Multi-Year-Level
OpenSTEM materials are designed to be adapted for use in multi-year level classrooms. Suggested implementations for multi-year level classes are provided in the Teacher Handbook for each unit.
In some cases the same resources and topics are used by different year levels and it is the depth of understanding and analysis required which is all that changes between the year levels. The Student Workbook for each unit reflects the differing requirements for different year levels. Using this structure, the teacher is not trying to teach different material simultaneously in order to meet the requirements of the National Curriculum.
Homeschoolers
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.
Non-linear learners can approach the student workbook in a non-linear fashion, referring to the matching resources as required in order to engage with the material. Using this material, the parent can tailor the learning to match the speed, abilities and particular challenges of each student.
The potential for extension and acceleration will suit students with those particular needs, whilst the shift between broad and narrow focus in the resources will provide consolidation for those students who need more time to work through learning material.
A beautiful and insightful song. I don’t quite agree with the phrasing of the notes at the end, but I think I understand the obvious expression of frustration behind it.
The things we learn at school, from maths and science to history, are useful – but they often get taught lacking context, and in a way that doesn’t connect with students. This makes for disjointed snippets of information, which consequently can’t really be regarded as knowledge.
Thus, I think the issue is not directly about “proving” that there is a practical use for what is getting taught. When we teach differently, its meaning, context and relevance becomes apparent. We see this in practice all the time. When students understand the why, they immediately become much more engaged.
Are you considering implementing our integrated HASS+Science program, but getting a tad confused by the pricing? Our subscription model didn’t not provide a So nowstraightforward calculation for a whole school or year-level. However, it generally works out to $4.40 (inc.GST) per student. So now we’re providing this as an option directly: implement our integrated HASS+Science program school-wide from just $4.40 per student. Easy!
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.
The 
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 activities embedded in the programs make the subjects more engaging for the students as well as the teacher.
Trent Perry, Teacher