Gather Round Homeschool: Australia & Oceania – Free Planning Resources!
For anyone new to the blog, we are a second year homeschooling family and have been doing the Gather Round Homeschool Unit Studies since the beginning! I really love this approach to learning personally and my kids seem to be enjoying it as well which absolutely makes homeschooling more joyful.
When I’m planning for unit studies, I like to utilize and add in a variety of resources such as videos, music, experiments, crafts, recipes, books, etc….that’s just how I roll! I actually LOVE planning out units.
(For the record nothing else is necessary to be added to the Gather Round Units. You can just open and go and it’s still awesome!)
If you’re like me, though, and looking for things to add in here and there, then stick around!
Below you’ll find the resources that I’ve created for my own planning of the Australia and Oceania Unit.
THE RESOURCES:
These “extras” are the things that I love about doing unit studies! It helps make the lessons even more immersive!
Our lessons go so much more smoothly when I have everything that I want to introduce to my kids all organized and ready to go. Sometimes we don’t get to everything I found and sometimes we end up going down a different rabbit trail of learning, but it’s so helpful to have what I want readily available.
It’s pretty time-consuming to do this, though! So, I’m sharing with you some of the playlists and resources we are using for the Australia and Oceania unit study so that you can have what you need but in half the time!
Can these resources still be used alongside other curriculums or studies of Australia? Of course! You can even use these in your own unit study. 🙂
My playlists are mostly geared toward elementary and under because that is where my kids are. There are lots of other videos/books/etc you could add if you have older kids as well.
While I’ve used most of these resources with my kids, I always recommend that you preview them before using with your kiddos to make sure it’s a good fit for your family.
Gather Round Homeschool: Australia & Oceania – YouTube Playlist
The videos in this playlist go in order from Lesson 1 – 20 to make your life easier! Use what you like, leave what you don’t, add what you need.
They can be used during the lesson, after the lesson, or anytime really! How they are used is entirely up to you.
Gather Round Homeschool: Australia & Oceania – Spotify Playlist
This is a playlist I created with traditional music and the national anthems from many of the countries that are discussed in this unit study. I like to use this sometimes during writing time and often during dinner.
At dinner, especially, it adds that little extra touch that helps transport you to that country…especially if you’re eating their food, too!
Gather Round Homeschool: Australia & Oceania – Pinterest Board
I don’t know about you, but I enjoy using Pinterest to gather and organize ideas…and recipes! Sometimes I use the ideas that I find directly and other times scrolling pinterest inspires an idea of my own.
This is yet another thing that takes a little time, so here is your shortcut!
The creator of this curriculum sells a beautiful digital recipe book to go along with the unit if you’d just like to purchase and print that! However, if you choose not to, this board has the recipes that I pinned for every country in the Gather Round Homeschool South America unit…including ones for some of the recipes she recommends. I usually don’t make ALL of them, but I do make many of them.
I’ve also included some extra ideas such as crafts, STEM projects, etc.!
In an attempt to make it as easy to find what you’re looking for as possible, the recipes go in order from Lesson 1-20 with any activity pins being at the very end of the board!
Gather Round Homeschool: Australia & Oceania – Book List and More!
Books, Games, & Extras
Rebecca Spooner, the creator of Gather Round Homeschool, has an amazing book list in the front of every unit’s teacher’s guide. It’s even divided up by levels to make it easy! I’m able to get most of the ones I want from our local library and then use Amazon and Thrift Books to get any that are remaining.
I use these books as read-alouds during snack time, sometimes a read-aloud during morning basket, and in their book tubs for independent reading!
Here are some additional items that I’ll likely use that aren’t on that list:
- The Travel Book: A Journey Through Every Country in the World, by Lonely Planet Kids (A favorite I’ve used through every continent study so far!)
- This is Australia, by Miroslav Sasek
- Australia and Oceania: The Smallest Continent, Unique Animal Life, by Baby Professor
- Guess in 10: Animal Planet (Game)
- Guess in 10: Countries of the World (Game)
- Animal Sewing Kit
- World Map Puzzle
Shows and movies
Here’s a list of shows and movies that can further reinforce the theme!
- Wild Kratts
- “Tazzy Chris” – Episode 14 (Tasmanian Devil)
- “Kickin’ It With the Roos” – Episode 19 (Outback)
- “Koala Balloon” – Episode 22 (Outback)
- The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That
- “Batty for Bats” – Season 1
- “How Cool is Coral?” – Season 2
- “Babies” – Season 2 (How animals carry their babies, including koala & saltwater crocodile.)
- Bluey (Disney+)
- Finding Nemo
- Moana
- Babe (filmed in Australia)
- Where the Wild Things Are
I hope these resources help save you time in your unit study planning! Enjoy!
Make sure to check out my resource pages for Gather Round Homeschool North American Birds, Asia, Space, Europe, Oceans, Africa, Earth Science, North America, the Human Body, and South America too!
If you’re looking for fun thematic units for use with little ones or during the holidays and school breaks then take a look at my Disney Movie Week 1, Disney Movie Week 2, Disney Movie Week 3, Polar Express Day, It’s a Small World, and Valentines Activities.
What are some of the activities you’ve done or are planning to do with this unit? I’d love to know! Share in the comments below!
