Home Education Primary Curriculum Resources Copyright H. Turnbull 2002 Comments or reviews to : henrietta.turnbull@ntlworld.comINTRODUCTION This is intended as a brief guide to some of the curriculum-type materials which are available. Most of these correspond to the National Curriculum (NC) as it is followed in schools. Legally, there is no obligation to follow the NC, or anything like it. For more legal information copies of EO's 'Summary of the Law' should be consulted, or the 'Elective Home Education Guidelines' produce by Choice in Education. How to home educate, what materials to use, and whether to follow a curriculum are all personal decisions, this leaflet is only intended as a brief guide, giving you some starting points for further research. Where possible, the resources are followed by details such as cost, and comments by home educators who have used them. Where materials are more expensive, they can perhaps be shared with other home educators - ask your EO coordinator! Although educational publishers are happy to supply parents, the materials will have been produced for use in schools, and some materials such as maths workbooks can only be purchased in multiple packs. Expensive 'teaching materials' which may not transfer easily into a home context accompany others. One suggestion is that where you are unsure of whether the material will suit you, you purchase it from a source which will allow you to return it if it does not live up to your expectations. Most of the educational suppliers will not allow you to do this. I order much of my educational material from Amazon (www.Amazon.co.uk ) or from the cheaper www.streetsonline.co.uk Another useful internet site for discounted workbooks, reference books, etc is www.thebookpeople.co.uk If you are home schooling after taking your children out of school, or until you can get them into the school of your choice, it may be helpful to you to find out which major schemes your school has been using, and to continue to follow those schemes at home. Home education can be much wider than the resources mentioned here, and much wider than the National Curriculum. For a better idea of what home education can include, I would recommend an annual subscription to Education Otherwise[1], look at the Choice in Education website[2] or the Education Otherwise website [3]. Another useful place to start is www.home-education.org.uk There is also a UK Home Education E-mail discussion group, which is an excellent forum for information gathering and support. To subscribe to this, send an email with SUBSCRIBE-UK-HOME-ED in the body of the email to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM. Education Otherwise also have an email list for members, see the website. Another organisation that provides information and support to home educators in Scotland is Schoolhouse Home Education Association, 311 Perth Road, Dundee DD2 1LGTel. 01382 646964 Fax. 01382 640472 E-mail info@schoolhouse.org.uk or www.schoolhouse.org.uk Most educational publishers will supply their catalogues free of charge to home addresses, and will accept orders from individuals. I have included the contact details of most of the major publishers in the notes at the end. Along with curriculum materials, certain basic resources will be helpful in home education. Other home educators, of course, manage with a lot less. In terms of 'what is really necessary?' the answer probably is enthusiasm and access to a library! These are some basic resources which were recommended by some people: A comprehensive atlas A globe A historical atlas Dictionary, biographical dictionary and dictionary of quotations Roget’s thesaurus Poetry anthologies An encyclopaedia such as Dorling Kindersley's A science encyclopaedia TV/video Science equipment like thermometers, magnets, rock samples, pond dippers Computer with word processing, and CD ROM facilities Maths resources such as scales, measuring tapes, measuring jugs, tens and units blocks, a fraction board, dice, etc. Maths dictionary Art and craft materials - too numerous to detail here Design and make it materials, again too numerous to detail here, things like electric circuits, model making, etc. Storage boxes/trays A list of general educational suppliers is given at the end. Along with those general materials there are a lot of more specialist materials available, depending on your child’s interest, from mechanisms for measuring wind speed to Viking costumes to build-it-yourself burglar alarms! Of course not all home educators will have or want to use all of these things. Some get by on a lot less. There can be a tendency, especially when beginning home education, to buy almost everything in sight, in the belief that it will make home education easier: 'a home school mum and her money are soon parted!' As well as basic resources, there are also curriculum materials to be considered. These come in the shape of books, workbooks, photocopiable sheets; and increasingly, videos and software. Channel 4 produce an excellent range of videos covering all the primary subjects in a fun and interesting way; and most of their programmes have accompanying pupil material. The National Curriculum has two 'Key Stages' in primary school, KS 1 from 4 - 7; and KS 2 from 8 - 11. For parents who wish to use a very structured approach, Pearson produce sets of Lesson Plans covering the five main subjects (Maths, English, Science, Geography and History). These are quite expensive (£22 a subject), but they are sold with a licence to copy. This means that they can be shared with friends or other EO members. Pearson will send out sample sheets if you are interested, and their lesson plans look very comprehensive, with details of books, materials etc. to collect beforehand, how to present the lesson, and how to evaluate at the end, with extension activities. Again for parents who wish to be more structured, there are various correspondence courses available. None of them are cheap - a year with the Worldwide Education Service at KS 1 and KS 2 will cost around £1,300 per child. Details of correspondence courses are given later on. An organisation which seeks to help with the transition between home and school is Herald[4], which produces study packs in various subjects for home educating parents. They say: "We produce three topic-based study packs a year for members. These are on themes, e.g. Food, Water, Gardens, Circles and Cycles. From each central theme, eight areas of the school type curriculum which would be familiar to new home ed parents (and their LEAs) are derived, and about six/eight activities for each curriculum area are suggested. For example, on the theme of Circles and Cycles we suggest exploring the structure of a circle in Number, Circles in Art, the use of circles and arcs in the built environment (CDT), poetry on the same theme in Language, Life cycles in science...etc. This is shown as a diagrammatic study web, backed up with notes on the development of each activity." They also offer a telephone advice line, and will lend science, etc. equipment to members. ONLINE LESSONS Recently I have come across 'Einsteinonline' (www.Einsteinonline.co.uk) which claims to be the UK's first on line primary school. For £5 a month (or £55 a year) if offers half an hour's interactive tuition and testing on the core NC subjects - focussing most on literacy and numeracy - with termly reports for parents. It is not intended specifically for home educators, but might be useful to some. Children get daily spelling and times tables tests, and get feedback on their previous day's activities. It is probably most useful to parents who have free or unmetered internet access - otherwise there is the phone bill to consider too! Einstein do discounts for second children. COORDINATION GROUP PUBLICATIONS These publications are so good, they merit a whole paragraph to themselves! CGP books (www.cgpbooks.co.uk) are excellent and cover most subjects at most stages from KS1 to A Level! Mildly amusing, they are cheap, simple workbook type books which explain complicated things very plainly. We use them at almost every stage of the curriculum and rate them very highly. They are also use in many schools. If you order from them, you can have the “schools’ discount” if you explain that you are a home educator. This makes the books (which are not expensive to begin with ) even better value, and many workbooks cost £1 or £2 each. ENGLISHReading There are a variety of structured ways of teaching reading, both 'phonic' schemes and 'look say' schemes. Ladybird produce a look-say reading scheme, Peter and Jane[5] which has been around for years. They have recently produced another look-say scheme, using much the same words as before, but with more modern storylines and illustrations. The Oxford Reading Tree[6] is very commonly used in schools, and has been recommended by some home educators. It is an enormous, comprehensive scheme, with phonics, core reading books, reinforcement, play scripts, workbooks, spelling tests, poetry, consolidation, language work and associated software and audio tapes. The cost depends very much on which of the variable components you buy. The cost of the basic reading books is about £2 each at the initial stages, rising to £3 each for the older levels. This scheme goes up to 11 years old. The following was written by a home educator about the ORT scheme: "We have a good collection of these books now and, although we have had some of them for 4 or 5 years now, everyone still seems to enjoy reading them. It is a graded scheme with about 18 stories in each stage. The idea behind the series is that children start by 'reading' the books from memory after having them read to them previously. They follow the words with their fingers and gradually link the words they are 'reading' to the words they are saying". Most of the educational publishers have their own reading schemes for children from 4 - 8, some from 4 - 11. These vary in approach and in cost. Since they are designed for school use, some of them come in multiple packs. They include things like 'big books', teachers' guides and assessment books. If you buy the whole scheme, a standard sort of price for a year's reading scheme is about £150; with the reading books on their own (minus the teaching materials) may cost around £40. Other resources which have been recommended are Jolly Phonics, particularly the two videos, work books and handbooks, from Jolly Learning Ltd tel 0208 501 0405; and Complete reader Rabbit Learn to Read system from Mattel Interactive 01293651 710 Again, a video scheme which is very good for teaching reading is Words and Pictures from the BBC. This is a phonics scheme covering (on several tapes) the letter sounds, spelling and other phonics. CGP have various English workbooks, starting with KS1 English. Comprehension This may be taught along with a reading scheme, such as ORT, or separately, using a variety of materials. Again, most of the major publishers do their own versions of these. They vary in approach, presentation, etc., but the content is much the same, as they all follow the NC requirements closely. OUP produce Comprehension Success, 'a dynamic new comprehension scheme for 7 - 11 year olds. It is a modern up-beat course that meets the requirements of the NC and National Literacy Strategy'. The teachers' book is £10, and individual pupil books £5 each. They also produce Oxford Junior English, which is a topic-based English course, and has been enjoyed by some home educated children. Other books used by home educators include Early English Workbooks[7] by Collins, which are cheerful two colour workbooks with lots of fill-in-the-blanks. They are also probably a little old fashioned. If you like a workbooks approach, Schofield and Sims[8] produce lots of them from Nursery Activity Books 'intended for preschool children to help them apply their practical and oral skills to more concrete written work', to Early Writing and Basic Skills Workbooks, at KS 1. They also produce Springboard, for 6 - 11 year olds, 'covers such essentials as word construction, spelling, vocabulary, comprehension and creative work'. If you like to buy in bulk (or have several children) there is a substantial discount on Schofield and Sims workbooks if you order more than 20 at a time (check that this offer is still valid before you try it!) Nelson[9] also produce workbooks which cover much of the same material, as do Ginn[10] (theirs are more colourful/expensive and have teachers' handbooks to go with them), and Longmans [11]. Letts[12] Back to Basics Series have colourful workbooks covering comprehension, and are highly recommended by some home educators. Other materials recommended include Read Write Remember[13] in the early stages, moving on to Workbooks in Primary English[14] at later stages. CGP’s Practice SATS for KS1 are good for practising comprehension. Handwriting There are again a variety of 'learn to write' books available as workbooks from most of the major publishers. WH Smiths have quite a range. Pencil grips, to make sure a child is holding a pencil correctly are available from educational suppliers - see lists at the end. Nelson produce a comprehensive hand writing scheme, from pre-school squiggles to joined up hand writing. The workbooks are about £2 each. There are a couple of excellent little workbooks produced by Philip & Tacey which take a very logical approach to learning handwriting. They are only available in packs often, but even then are not expensive. Creative writing The NC contains an element of creative writing, and the major primary publishers produce books to help teach this. Another resource which might be interesting is the Channel 4 video Write Away[15] which is 'a new programme to introduce 7 - 9 year olds to the world of writing and aims to inspire children to write, and to give essential practice in a wide range of skills'. Spelling This can be incorporated into reading and comprehension, or taught separately. There are many schemes available including the Essential Spelling List (by Nelson). This is a list of the words which it is considered ought to be learned by children by a certain age. It has lists for 7 - 11 year olds. It is also possible to teach spelling through software such as Dorling Kindersley I Love Spelling[16] Grammar This might be taught in the materials mentioned under Comprehension, and will obviously also be picked up from general reading. There are also separate schemes available, such as Nelson Grammar[17] suitable for 8 - 11 year olds. CGP have literacy workbooks for each year of KS2 which are excellent for teaching the mechanics of grammar, spelling, etc. Video resources for English If you are interested in video courses, Cap & Gown[18] produce English videos for 7 - 11 year olds, covering the whole of the National Curriculum grammar requirements. These are produced by an organisation which works closely with schools and colleges, and feature a 'teacher' type presenter sitting by a board. They have been recommended as very useful, and criticised for their lack of graphics, music, etc. These are probably most useful for periods of specific learning, and might need to be followed up by extension work. The videos cost £50 for a set of three, though there is a money back guarantee if you buy them and don't like them. And, as mentioned above, Channel 4 do a variety of videos on reading and writing, so do the BBC. MATHSFor informal maths and maths investigations home educators use a wide variety of equipment (scales, weights, measuring tapes, jugs etc ) and books. QED[19] and Tarquin[20] produce catalogues with books and much more for maths extension activities. Commotion[21] produce counters in different shapes and colours for counting and sorting activities; and Compare Bears[22] are used by some families for early years sorting, counting and mathematical comparisons. Compare Bears come with workbooks, to give a do-it-yourself early years maths scheme. To teach maths in a structured way, many home educators use maths schemes. These are produced by all the major publishers, and have the same content, which follows the NC, and the National Numeracy Project. The Longmans scheme, for example, covers National Curriculum maths from the age of 4 upwards. It is fairly comprehensive, covering shape, time and measurement activities as well as number. This scheme has assessment materials, in the form of photocopiable test sheets to be done at the end of each unit. Diagnostic advice is also provided - that is, if you buy the whole scheme including workbooks, practice books, teachers' book and assessment sheets. A maths course will cost about £70 a year, though again the maths books on their own are substantially cheaper, as the more costly elements of a course tend to be the teaching materials. The SPMG scheme (by Heinemann) is also popular with home educators, though it is slowly being replaced in schools by more modern schemes. Another course recommended by home educators is Steps Maths by Collins (which has been happily used without the expensive teachers' books) For more practice in basic computations it is possible to use workbooks. Schofield and Sims produce Number Workbooks for 4 - 7 year olds, and a Mental Arithmetic series for older children. These are simple, fill in the blank, two colour workbooks and are about £1.50 each. They are not particularly lively or appealing, if you like a lot of colour and variety. If, the other hand, you want pages of sums to practice with, their 4 - 7 range is ideal. Quick testing in oral mental maths, as done under the NC can be practised with any of the many books produced for this purpose. WH Smith is a good place to look if you want to cover this part of the NC. CGP have various maths books, from KS1 and KS2 maths, homework maths books and maths SATS practice books. There is a wide variety of maths software around, for example the shareware Mathsrescue, or again Dorling Kindersley have an excellent range. Video resources Cap & Gown also produce a maths course, the initial set of videos goes from 7 - 11, though their material can be continued up to A Level. Again, this approach may be too 'schoolish' or old fashioned for some. For a more fun approach, Channel 4 produce The Number Crew for 5 - 7 year olds, and TVM for 7 - 11 year olds. SCIENCE Since it is a core subject in the NC, all the major publishers produce at least one science scheme. The choice may be a bit bewildering, and the cost a bit of a shock! They are all designed to be used in schools, with large groups of children, and are largely experimental based. This may be hard to replicate in a home environment, where you don't have five groups of children to try five versions of the same experiment! Also, they assume you will have access to all sorts of equipment which is expensive - and largely unnecessary for the early stages of science. The school schemes tend to consist of experiment cards (about £70 - £120 for a years supply), and photocopiable fill-in-the-answer sheets. Some schemes have little paper back books on various topics - hot and cold, life and growing, etc. There are many other science resources available, from workbooks to videos. For example, Oliver & Boyd[23], produce a scheme called Science from the Beginning. There are four books, intended to cover the age group 7 - 11, and are in the format of a passage of information with questions to follow, plus extension activities. This scheme has been used (with revisions) since 1970, and whether that suggests that it must be worth having since it has stood the test of time or that it is old fashioned, depends on your point of view! A scheme which is similar and may well replace the O&B scheme is now being produced by Oxford University Press. Science Success is not yet fully published, but is billed as 'an exciting new series which offers a 100% fit to the new NC Scheme of Work for Primary Science'. It's strength from a home educating point of view is that the pupil books concentrate on content and comprehension questions - rather than involving a lot of practical activity. There are five books in the series, covering science from 5 - 11. Schofield and Sims produce two-colour Science Workbooks with fill in the blanks, if you like that approach, for KS 1. These are modern and up to date, and cover the NC requirements at the is level, though they do warn that they are not 'stand alone' material - i.e. they suggest that a child should not be left to work through them on his own, but explanation, discussion and experiments will be necessary. Pearson[24] produce modern, experimental based, science workbooks, which have been used and recommended by home educators. These cover the NC programmes of study at KS2. There are three - life and living processes, materials, and physical processes. They cost about £2 each. Pearson also produce posters of the body, plants etc, for extension work, and other interesting science worksheets and posters. LDA [25]sell useful little science kits. These cover different topics at KS 2 (light, electricity, sound, weather etc), and you get enough equipment for 10 - 12 different practical experiments. The kits come well packaged in plastic 'tool boxes' and are probably most useful for parents who have neither the time nor the imagination to improvise. They cost between £18 and £30 per kit. If you want something really comprehensive, and really straightforward, that covers the NC exactly, then you need CGP science! There is one workbook for KS1 and a set of six covering all the NC units of study for KS2 Video resources There are a lot of valuable video resources for NC science, including the Channel 4[26] Stage One Science, and Stage Two Science schemes, both of which come with photocopiable workbooks and teachers' notes. The videos are about £15 each, or can be taped off the TV. (They obligingly screen them in blocks at night for easy recording). Fourways Farm is a C4 scheme for 4 - 6 year olds, and is accompanied by a CD ROM.The topics covered by these scheme are in line with NC requirements. Software Home educators have recommended the Dr Brain series, Bodyworks for Windows, Pinball Science, How Things Work and the Mad About Science Series. Also worth a look are I love science by DK, and Test for Success Science, also by DK. HISTORYAt KS 1, history is taught in a topic based approach, whereby children should develop an awareness of the past and how it differs from the present. There are not a huge number of school schemes available covering KS1, but Ginn produce one, (the books cost about £50, and the teachers' materials about ,£75 for the whole of KS1). Longmans also produce a KS 1 scheme, with a series of topic books, teachers' book and supplementary materials, available for £90 as an evaluation pack. Another book which has been recommended for KS 1 History is Forebears by DK. At KS 2 there are more resources available, though they tend to be very uniform in content. The NC prescribes certain areas of study, and these are covered by all the major publishers, for example, Britain since the 1930s; Victorian Britain; Romans, Saxons and Vikings; Tudor Times; Ancient Greece; Ancient Egypt, the Kingdom of Benin, the Sumerians. The NC does not require that all the areas are covered, schools have a certain amount of choice - and as mentioned above, home educators have even more choice as to what to study! The school schemes are more or less the same, information books accompanied by photocopiable worksheets and extension activities. Prices do not vary much, for example Longmans materials on the unit of study Ancient Greece comprise a resource book, a teachers' book, a book on heroes and monsters, six posters and two audio cassettes, and costs £55. Pearson produce workbooks (about £3 each) to go along with each of the units of study, and there are a vast number of information books available covering them - WH Smith is a good place to start. There may obviously be a lot of local history resources near you, depending on where you live, and you may wish to utilise these. The NC allows for an area of study called 'local history'. There are lots of extra curricular history activities and resources available, for example WH Smith produce 'project packs' in conjunction with Dorling Kindersley; and Usborne produce books colourful and appealing books on most of the KS 2 topics, and on cross curricular topics such as food and clothing through the ages. The specialist supplier TTS[27]01773 830255. has all sort of extras - period costume for dressing up in, replica artifacts such as Roman coins or WWII ration books, and the like. These are all useful to give a deeper appreciation of the period of history being studied. Video resources Channel 4 produce the award-winning series How We Used to Live covering the Britain Since the 1930s unit of study. There are also excellent C4 videos on Maths Thru History and The Vikings. LANGUAGESLatinLatin - Although languages are not a requirement of the National Curriculum, the following comments have been made about learning Latin. "We use a Latin Course for Schools published by Duckworth which he enjoys. This is a traditional Latin text which almost from the beginning has you translating English to Latin as well as Latin to English. Also the texts for translation are interesting bits on Roman and British history. The only thing is that you may need to know a little Latin to teach it. The books cost £9 each, there are three of them". Other languagesOther languages - There are a number of materials available for teaching French, German and Spanish to primary school children, but because there are no NC requirements, these vary in quality and content. Nelson produce 'C’est Facile Comme Bonjours' which was trialled extensively as part of the Early Teaching of a Modern Language project. Channel 4 have a series called Chez Mimi, teaching French to 9 - 11 year olds - available on video for £14.99. There is a similar video available for German, Hennings Haus. Usbourne have an excellent little book called French for beginners which comes with a cassette to aid pronunciation (also available in Spanish). GEOGRAPHY At KS1 there are several schemes available, such as Oliver & Boyd Geography, (by Longmans) a National Curriculum course comprised of textbooks, photocopiable worksheets, and a teacher's manual. It covers all the NC topics, and costs around £150 for the whole scheme, though the pupil books on their own are a lot cheaper. Another similar scheme is Ginn Infant Geography.Alongside standard NC schemes there are map-work schemes by Collins and OUP; comprising atlases and accompanying workbooks. These cover KS 1 and KS 2. At KS 2 there are a wide variety of schemes, such as Oxford New Geography, a complete course in environmental and geographical studies, supported by photocopiable worksheets; or Nelson Geography, which is a more modern version of the same thing. Other publishers also produce schemes: Ginn Junior Geography consists of teachers' materials, pupil books, and photocopiable worksheets; Cambridge Primary Geography[28] is much the same, but also includes a CD ROM and a set of colour photographs; and the Oliver & Boyd KS 2 geography scheme follows the same format as the KS 1 scheme. Pearson again produce workbooks, for those who get tired of photocopiable sheets, on Geographical Themes and Geographical Skills, as well as a variety of posters. Tarquin produce a little book called Know the World, consisting of blank maps to photocopy with rivers, mountains, capital cities, regions, countries, etc to fill in. Video resources Geography as a subject lends itself well to the use of video, and there are many videos available which cover different parts of the NC. Channel 4 and the BBC both produce excellent KS 1 and KS 2 geography videos, for example Stop Look Listen series from C4 or Rivers of the World from the BBC. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGYThe NC at KS 1 prescribes that children should: 'use a variety of IT equipment and software, including microcomputers and various keyboards, to carry out a variety of functions in a range of contexts; explore the use of computer systems and control technology in everyday life; and to examine and discuss their experiences of IT, and look at the use of IT in the outside world'. The nature of this subject means that there are no published resources covering the NC requirements. Any access to computers and software is obviously helpful in this respect, and there is software produced by Ten out of Ten, Essential I.T. which claims to be aligned to the NC. At KS 2 pupils should be given opportunities to: 'use IT to explore and solve problems in the context of work across a variety of subjects; use IT to further their understanding of information that they have retrieved and processed; discuss their experiences of using IT and assess its value in their working practices; and investigate parallels with the use of IT in the wider world, consider the effects of such uses, and compare them with other methods.' Again, I do not know of any books published specifically to correspond to this part of the NC, but the software mentioned above may be useful, as is all practical experience of computers and information technology. DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY This tends to be a hands on subject, and there are lots of technology and design materials available in the catalogues listed at the end. All types of electrical, wooden, etc. components can be bought, as can various kits for designing and making things. There are relatively few written schemes covering this subject. Realization by Heinemann is one, 'an innovative series presenting children with a variety of exciting problems to help develop their knowledge of technology'. This costs around £30. Cambridge produce the most comprehensive D & T curriculum, comprising a teachers' book, story books with audio cassettes, and a 'flip book, containing clear colourful pictures to stimulate class discussions'. At KS 1 it costs £130; and at KS 2 (including pupil books and a datafile) £120. Collins also produce a technology curriculum, with pupil books and teachers' handbook, for £75 at KS1. There is a video by Channel 4 called Tackling Technology which explains technology, with examples from practical work in schools. This covers a lot of the basics of the subject. C4 also have a KS1 video called Stage One Science, Design and Technology. MUSIC Another practical subject, teaching music may produce difficulties for the non-musical parent, but there are resources available which may help, and it is often possible to arrange music lessons with an external teacher. Cambridge produce a music course called Fanfare, 'a concise new course for the non specialist'. They also produce Music From the Past, a collection of songs from popular periods of history; and courses for learning the recorder. Another recorder course is available from Heinemann, who also make Lively Music, a 'complete programme for 4 - 11 year olds'. Schofield & Sim produce books and tapes to teach singing in rounds. ARTArt is learned more by doing than by being taught, and an obviously vital resource is a good stock of art supplies. OUP do an art course covering the whole of the NC at KS 1 and KS 2, with teachers' book, resource book with photos of famous pictures, and pupil books (£85 at each Stage) Art & Craft (by Scholastic) is a primary school magazine (for teachers) giving lots of ideas and examples of art in schools. Books such as Kids Create or Little Kids Create are available from Commotion, and are full of craft and art ideas to do with children 2 - 9 years. Books about art which have been recommended include "A Work of Art" by Joan Chambers, Molly Hood and Michael Peake, 1995, Belair Publications Limited, ISBN 0 947882 58 8. This has been said: "Says it is adaptable for all ages, but definitely for younger ones, about 7 - 11. Seventeen chapters are each devoted to an artist, with a picture of one of their works and a bit of information. Various ideas for artwork are given. Artists include Leonardo da Vinci, William Hogarth, Turner, Millais, Hokusai (Japanese pictures - waterfalls, mountains...), and only a few really modern ones. Several fairly brief sections at the end deal with subjects like colour, faces, space and distance, and so on." The following has also been contributed: "Dulwich Picture Gallery has produced:"Dulwich Picture Gallery Activity Book" by Gillian Wolfe, 1997, BellewPublishing Company Limited, ISBN 1 85725 112 1 Lots of ideas - pictures are from the Dulwich Picture Gallery. Aimed at 7 - 11 year-olds. No modern art. There is also the "Dulwich Picture Gallery Children's Art Book" from the same authoress; this gives stories and background for some of the paintings in the Gallery, not projects or activities, apart from some recipes for making paints like artists from long ago." PHYSICAL EDUCATION This is also part of the National Curriculum, but there are not many school materials produced which could be used in a home setting. Catalogues such as those listed at the end sell a wide variety of games and gym equipment. There is a book published by Heinemann which might be of interest to some, Minisport, - 'sports adapted for smaller playing areas and fewer children' - £18.50. NC P.E. includes many things which can easily be done at sports centres or in clubs - gymnastics, games, swimming etc. SATsSchool tests, 'SATs' are taken at the end of the Key Stages. For parents who wish their children to sit these type of tests, there are a variety of materials available. OUP produces Practice Tests for KS 1 and KS2. Much material of this sort can be found in WH Smith. Schofield and Sims also produce practice SATs for KS1 and KS 2, at around £1 each. CGP have a great stock of practice SATs workbooks and practice papers – very cheap too. KS 1 and KS tests are also available as software - see the Test for Success ranges from Dorling Kindersley. COURSES There are a wide variety of correspondence courses available This list has been taken from the Choice in Education Website (thanks Choice), http://www.choiceineducation.co.uk/ Junior to GCSE Correspondence Courses, 4 North Fen Road, Helpringham, Sleaford, Lincs NG34 0RR Tel 01529 421218 Maths, sciences, English with literature, law. Approx. £5 per month per subject National Extension College, 18 Brooklands Avenue, Cambridge CB2 2HN - Tel 01223 316644 - Fax 01223 313586 - e‑mail: National Extension College Distance learning courses GCSE to Degree level. Also numerous self‑study courses in areas such as accountancy, marketing, counselling skills, desktop publishing (150 courses). Send for free brochure. GABBITAS, 6 Sackville Street, London W1 - Tel 0171 734 0161 - Fax 0171 437 1764 - Assistance with finding private tutors in the London area. Also find work for teachers. World‑wide Education Service (WES), 35 Belgrave Square, London. SW1X 8Q - Tel 0171 637 2644 - Fax 0171 637 3411 - Tutor led courses to follow the national curriculum for 3 to 12 year olds. Price examples‑ English £313 pa, Maths or Science £295 pa each. Free information pack. Free list of accredited colleges and their courses. Mercers College, Ware, Herts SG12 9BU - Tel 01920 465926 - Fax 01920 484909 - Modules and tutorial support for 5 to 18 year olds. Free brochure. Association of British Correspondence Colleges, 6 Francis Grove, London SW19 4DT - Tel 0181 544 9559 - Publishes a free list of member colleges and their courses The Open School Trust, Park Road, Dartington, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EQ - Tel 01803 866542 - Fax 01803 866676 - e‑mail: Open School Trust - Curriculum planning guides ‑ helpful if following the national curriculum. Tutafax tutoring by fax or e‑mail, includes GCSE, A Level and Languages. Kit to aid untrained people to teach literacy to 5 to 8 year olds who are struggling to read and write. MISCELLANEOUS RESOURCESWhat follows here is a partial list of some of the education suppliers, and some places where home educators have obtained materials. If you have other favourites to add, please let me know. General School SuppliersEverything extra for the primary school classroom Hands On Unit 11, Tannery Road, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1RF 01732 773399 Materials and storage Heron Educational (will not send a catalogue unless you tell them you are home educating) Carrwood House, Carrwood, Chesterfield, S41 9QB 0800 373249 Everything for schools of all sizes GLS Dudley I Mollison Avenue, Enfield, EN3 7XQ 0181 805 8333 General material for primary schools Philip and Tacey North Way, Andover, Hampshire, SP10 5BA Specialist Suppliers Art and Craft S & S Services Station Road, Harvington, Evesham, Worcestershire, WR11 5NJ 01386 870164
Art & Craft Magazine Scholastic, Villiers House, Clarendon Avenue, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV33 OJH 01926 813910
History
TTS Group Ltd, Nunn Brook Road, Huthwaite, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Notts. NG17 2HU. Tel 01623 447800
English Heritage Resources, P.O. Box 229, Northampton, NN6 9RY
Science
TTS Group Ltd, Nunn Brook Road, Huthwaite, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Notts. NG17 2HU. Tel 01623 447800
Heron Educational (will not send a catalogue unless you tell them you are home educating) Carrwood House, Carrwood , Chesterfield, S41 9QB 0800 373249
Commotion Unit 11, Tannery Road, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1RF 01732 773399
Technology
TTS Group Ltd, Nunn Brook Road, Huthwaite, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Notts. NG17 2HU. Tel 01623 447800
Heron Educational (will not send a catalogue unless you tell them you are home educating) Carrwood House, Carrwood , Chesterfield, S41 9QB 0800 373249
Library Catalogues
The following sell a wide range of information and fiction books suitable for all stages of the NC
Wayland 612 Western Road, Hove, East Sussex BN3 1JD 01273 722561
Franklin Watts 96 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4RH 0171 739 2929
Heinemann 01865 314333
Usbourne 83 Saffron Hill, London EC1N 8RT 0171 430 2800
Clipart Sherston Software, Angel House, Sherston, Malmesbury, Wiltshire SN16 OLH 01666 840433
BBC Education 01937 541001
Videos in most NC subjects, not cheap Resource Base, TV Centre, Northam, Southampton, SO9 5HZ
Videos and software
YITM Customer Services, Broadbent Road, Watersheddings, Oldahm OL1 4LB 0161 627 4469
Magazines full of information about the NC, where to get more resources, etc.
Child Education (and Junior Education) Scholastic, Villiers House, Clarendon Avenue, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV33 OJH 01926 813910
Home Service, 48 Heaton Moor Rd, Heaton Moor, Stockport SK4 4NX Tel 0161 432 3782 [1] 0870 7300074. [2] choiceineducation.co.uk [4] http://freespace.virgin.net/paul.stanbrook/index.htm [5] Ladybird, available in bookshops [6] Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP. [7] Collins Educational, HarperCollins, Westerhill Road, Bishoppbriggs, Glasgow. [8] Schofield and Sims, Dogely Mill, Fenay Bridge, Huddersfield HD8 ONQ. [9] Nelson Schools, ITP, North Way, Andover, Hampshire, SP10 5BE. [10] Ginn & Co., Prebendal House, Parson=s Fee, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire HP20 2QY. [11] Longmans, Schools, Orders Dept., Harrow, Essex CM19 5YY [12] Available in WH Smith. [13] Schonnell Read Spell, published by Nelson 01264 342995. [14] Nelson. [15] Channel 4 01926 436444 [16] See www.dk.com. [17] Nelson [18] Cap & Gown videos 01785 713560. [19], Room 1, Stonehills House, Welwyn Garden City, AL8 6NH Tel: 0345 402275 . [20] Tarquin, Stradbroke, Diss, Norfolk, IP21 5JP. [21] Commotion, Unit 11, Tannery Road, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1RF. [22] From Commotion. [23] Part of the Longman Group. [24] Pearson Publishing, Chesterton Mill, French=s Road, Cambridge CB4 3NP. [25] LDA, Wisbech, Cambridge [26] Channel 4, PO Box 199 Warwick CV23 [27] TTS Group Ltd, Nunn Brook Road, Huthwaite, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Notts. NG17 2HU. Tel 01623 447800 [28] Cambridge University Press, Edinburgh Building, Shaftsbury Road, Cambridge, CB2 2RU |
