[katpaws]

I was reflecting on DD's learning at school recently and I am a little bit concerned that the curriculm is not very extensive. She is in Grade 4, in a Vic state school. I had a look at the VELS website, which said that the curriculum for that grade includes Arts, English, Humanities, Mathematics and Science. While DD's class does cover English and Maths, they don't seem to be doing anything much on history, geography, science etc. Even with the English and Maths - not a lot of focus on grammar and the Maths i think they have just touched on volume.

When I think back to when I was DD's age and grade, we had covered early explorers, the European settlement of Australia, geography and geology, percentages and long division, and so on - and i would not say my primary school education was of the highest quality. But DD seems very unaware of countries in the world, Australian references (ie explorers, Australian history etc)... things that i knew about at her age.

I don't know if I should be concerned. I ask her what she learns and she says it is mostly English and Maths and her portfolio of work supports this. Occasionally her class delves into history but I am not sure how much in-depth study this is or how accurate. One thing she learnt this year was the Ned Kelly stole from the rich to give to the poor, which was news to me and I went through some resources about Ned Kelly to discuss how this really wasn't an accurate portrayal of him. She spoke to her teacher about it but she said her teacher was not interested. The class actually presented this information to the school - where teachers who watched it were heard to say they found that information incorrect.

Certainly a lot of what DD knows is what she has gathered from reading, independent to the school learning. She is very inquisitive and asks a lot of questions, which I do my best to answer or we look it up on the Internet or in books.

Am I expecting too much for her class to learn about the Humanities, Science, History etc in a bit more in depth (that is appropriate to the class age and VELS)? I am concerned that she is not getting a broad educational experience and that she will be disadvantaged in high school if she does not know a lot about, for example, Australian history, compared to students from other primary schools that cover more than just Maths and English. Or is this the way it is?

This post has been edited by katpaws: 22/11/2012, 08:33 AM

[Ianthe]

That does not reflect what my children have learned in their NSW school at all and my older boys are in Years 10, 6 and 4. Max who is in Year 4 has learned about different countries and the Olympics, the bones/muscles etc in the body, environmental stuff and that's just what I can remember off the top of my head.

[Heather11]

Not indicative of what my children have learned either.

My DS in year 2 last year learnt about the solar system, they did recycling etc. DD in year 5 did a whole term focused on the convicts. Another one on indigenous cultures and our Asian neighbours. My other DS in Reception have looked at China and I know they did weight and volume in maths.

Does your child's teacher send home an overview of what will be studied for the term? We have always received a sheet with what they are focusing on that term. You can always ask for this information from the teacher.

ETA: The above is just a small sample of what they covered. It's what I can remember them doing LOL. They of course covered a lot more.

This post has been edited by Heather11: 22/11/2012, 09:02 AM

[rastamum]

DD2 is in grade 4 in Victoria and this year has covered the Gold Rush/Eureka Stockade/early exploration, natural disasters, the Olympics (the sports, people and countries), the human body/healthy living, and everyday heroes.

She has done science experiments, had a puppet making workshop (after a puppeteer came and performed), cooked with the grade 2s, and learnt about Anzac Day/Remembrance Day and taken part in services.

Maths has covered times tables, number facts, time, fractions, decimals, probability, polygons, measurement, volume and lots more I'm sure.

English has covered punctuation, grammar, creative writing, persuasive writing, recounts, procedures, information reports, and comprehension (literal and inferential).

Add to this a good dose of religion (Catholic school), computers, sport, library, and at the moment, art (they are preparing for their annual 'Arts Exhibition').

And this isn't even the best school we've been to!

Edited to add - they also do Japanese from grade 3.

This post has been edited by rastamum: 22/11/2012, 09:07 AM

[~maryanne~]

I have noticed they don't put the emphasis on australian settlement and explorers that they used to, but really it was pretty much all from a very british perspective when I was at primary 20 years ago. I'd rather they not learn that much on it at all if it is still going to be taught that way. (Aborigines as savages on the beach waving spears, stealing their sheep, no touching on the problems settlement caused for the indigenous - disease, not understanding the concept of ownership)

They do learn a fair bit about other countries and cultures, including major events in their history.

They learn about botany and biology and entomology, human bodies, how the earth formed, evolution, ancient history, all sorts of interesting stuff really.

This post has been edited by ~maryanne~: 22/11/2012, 09:14 AM

[Heather11]

Oh and I noticed that the school advertised recently for a specialised Science Teacher. They are obviously looking at focusing more on this in future. This of course maybe due to the new Australian Curriculum being introduced.

The school already has specialised LOTE, PE, Drama and Music teachers.

[mindy05]

My son is in a 3/4 composite. All the class teachers of this age (6 classes) plan together and the integrated studies work is quite extensive. This year they have studied forces (project was to build a toy showing 2 types of forces being used to make it move), Olympics, and this term they are doing the solar system. The children are very engaged in their learning. In maths, DS has brought home quite complicated work on algebra and fractions. I think you might find, OP that long division isn't taught as extensively as it once was, but the other areas are more advanced than even when I taught Grade 3/4 20 years ago. I would suggest that either your DS's teacher isn't communicating effectively with you (we get a level newsletter each term outlining what the children will be learning) or she just isn't extending the children enough. Confusing Ned Kelly for Robin Hood is a worry. ETA- And the work they cover in grammar amazes me. DS is able to tell me all about different types of texts- expository, descriptive etc and uses terms which surprise me.

This post has been edited by mindy05: 22/11/2012, 09:19 AM

[niggles]

I think your first port of call should be the teacher. You could start by asking what they are covering in the humanities this year.

I don't think you are expecting too much but your memory of what gets covered in what year may be skewed and the curriculum has certainly changed from when you were in school. So don't get too concerned about the whats and whens. The teacher is the one to ensure all curriculum requirements are being met.

It's also possible the teacher is taking a thematic approach and is covering many history and geography requirements, not to mention science and maths and english and art all while learning about one 'topic'. This is very common. This means you won't necessarily see kids working away at history one minute and then pulling out their art portfolio the next.

[Taff]

I thought Victoria was ahead of QLD. My DS is in grade 2 ( in QLD) and his class covers Science , geography and history.

Ds 's school - solar system - year 1
Different countries , languages, their traditions - year 2

maths - grade 2 they have been doing volume, division, and touching on fractions. DS finds grade 2 maths far too easy ,( but he's beyond his years in maths- he was at that level when he was 4 yr old) , so we have to support him in mathmatics outside the school (he's basically on a 10 yr level.)

English - grade 2 , in his school they are very, very much focused on Grammar.

No you're not expecting too much. I am actually very surprised that your class, grade 4 sounds way behind my DS's Qld grade 2 class.

If it was me, I'd be talking to the school to find out exactly what they are teaching, or go looking for a new school.

Kind regards

[mumto3princesses]

My twins in Year 3 this year have covered A LOT this year. (They covered a lot last year too) Some of the things they have been working on this year even touch on some of the things DD1 learnt in Year 7.