Australian History

Australian History Curriculum
(includes some literature & art selections)

This is only an outline only, and not a full course. If time permits, I hope to add more specific suggestions for the different levels. Till then, I hope this is some help to those of you looking for ideas.

We focus on Australian history in three different years: roughly grades 3, 6, and 10 (though these grade levels are flexible).

General Notes:

	CM&Friends compiled an excellent booklist covering Australian History in Chronological Order, which may be found here
	A list of Australian picture history books is online at Downunder Literature
	See also my page of Australian living books
	Sydney University Library has a collection of Australian texts here
	Titles below marked *** indicate that the author wrote other books which are also worth reading
	If you are studying Australian history, be sure to check out Janette's Pictures of Australian History and Timeline Figures: this is an excellent resource, which can be used with all grade-levels. Janette has some wonderful ideas on her website, her blog and her discussion list for learning (and enjoying your study of) Australian history.

GRADES 2-3

Resources

	Eve Pownall, The Australia Book [Available from black dog books; a set of free teacher's notes are also available]
	Nadia Wheatley & Donna Rawlins, My Place

Read-alouds
(Choose from among the following):

Doris Chadwick, John of the Sirius; the other two books in the series are John of Sydney Cove, and John and Nanbaree
(Fiction – the First Fleet and the early years of the colony of New South Wales – Very highly recommended)
[Out of print – available second-hand]

Ruth C. Williams, Verity of Sydney Town
(Fiction – set in the times of Governor Macquarie. An exciting story about bushrangers)
[Out of print– available second-hand]

Eve Pownall, Cousins-Come-Lately: Adventures in Old Sydney Town
(Fiction, set in Sydney in 1832)
[Out of print – available second-hand]

Ethel Pedley, Dot and the Kangaroo
(Fiction – this is an Australian “classic”)

Matthew Flinders, Trim
(Matthew Flinders’ tribute to his ship’s cat.)
[In print, or available online]

Colin Thiele, River Murray Mary***
(Fiction – set in the years between the wars)

Australian art: Susan Venn, Roy and Matilda: The Golden Locket (or others in the same series)

Poetry by:

	A.B. “Banjo” Paterson, including “The Man from Snowy River”, “Mulga Bill’s Bicycle”, “The Man from Ironbark”, Clancy of the Overflow” (and others)***
	C.J. Dennis, A Book for Kids

GRADE 5

Resources
(Choose one of the first three books as a spine; the Adams books are good supplementary resources)

Arthur Baillie, Our Sunburnt Country: An Illustrated History of Australia
[Originally published 1964, but recently updated and now available from Downunder Literature]

Eve Pownall, Australia from the Beginning
[Out of print – available second-hand]

H.E. Marshall, Our Empire Story
(Read the Australian and New Zealand sections)

K.M. Adams Seeing History series [Out of print – available second-hand]:

	1. The First Australians, Prehistory – 1810
	2. Australia: Gaol to Colony, 1810-1850
	3. Australia: Colonies to Commonwealth, 1850-1900
	4. Twentieth Century Australia, 1900-1960

Supplementary reading:

Australians in History series: [Out of print – available second-hand]

	Joan Phipson, Bennelong (Biography)
	Ian Mudie, River Rivals (Paddle steamers on the Murray River)
	Nancy Keesing, The Golden Dream (The Gold Rush)
	Eve Pownall, The Singing Wire (Story of the Overland Telegraph)
	Nance Donkin, Margaret Catchpole (Biography)
	George Finkel. Matthew Flinders (biography)

K. Langloh Parker, Australian Legendary Tales
[Online at Project Gutenberg]

H.J. Samuel, A Saddle at Bontharambo
(True story of a pioneering family in northern Victoria) [Out of print]

Kathleen Monypenny, And the Children Came, Too
(True stories from Australian history, seen through the eyes of the children who were there) [Out of print]

Mrs Aeneas Gunn, We of the Never Never
(Autobiographical account of life on a remote cattle station at the beginning of the 20^th century) [In print; also available online at Project Gutenberg]

Mrs Aeneas Gunn, A Little Black Princess
(Biographical account of an Aboriginal girl)

A.B. Paterson, Illalong Children
(Autobiography of his childhood)

Ethel Turner, Seven Little Australians
(Fiction – this is an Australian “classic” – set in the late 19^th century)***

Ethel Turner, The Cub
(Fiction – set during World War 1 – A good title for learning about Australia’s involvement in, and the attitudes of ordinary Australians to the war)

Mary Elwyn Patchett, Ajax the Warrior
(Account of the author’s childhood in the early 20^th century)

Mary Grant Bruce, the Billabong series
(Fiction – Some titles are available online at Project Gutenberg)

Colin Thiele, February Dragon
(Fiction – modern story about a bushfire)***

Independent reading from among the books listed as read-alouds for level 1.

Short Stories, including Henry Lawson, “The Loaded Dog”

Australian Art – the Heidelberg School & other artists
(See In the Artist's Footsteps)

Poetry – Choose poetry from the following writers (and others). Be sure to include the following:

	Banjo Paterson, “Pioneers”
	Dorothea Mackellar, “My Country”
	C.J. Dennis, “Green Walls”
	Mary Hannay-Foote, “Where the Pelican Builds Her Nest”; “The Australiad”
	Henry Lawson, “Andy’s Gone with Cattle”

GRADE 10

Resources
(Choose one of the following three books as a spine – Note that I haven’t yet seen either the Manning Clark book, or Blainey, so can’t vouch for them, though they are recommended by other home schooling families):

	Ernest Scott, A Short History of Australia [Available online at Project Gutenberg of Australia – other titles by Scott may also be worth finding online]
	Manning Clark, A Short History of Australia
	Geoffrey Blainey, A Shorter History of Australia

Supplementary reading:

Primary documents: Project Gutenberg of Australia includes links to a timeline of Australian explorers, a chronology of Australian history, and more.

Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms
(Fiction – bushrangers) [Available online at Project Gutenberg]

Alan Marshall, I Can Jump Puddles
(Autobiography – early 20^th century)

Ion Idriess, Flynn of the Inland
(Biography of the founder of the Flying Doctor Service)

Ion Idriess, The Cattle King (biography of Sir Sydney Kidman)***

Sally Morgan, My Place
[Either the adult version, or the three volumes adapted for young people] (Biography/autobiography about an Aboriginal family)

Iain H. Murray, Australian Christian Life from 1788: An Introduction and an Anthology
(Non-fiction, published by Banner of Truth Trust)

Short stories by

Henry Lawson (including “The Drover’s Wife”)

Poetry from

	The Oxford Book of Australian Verse
	Henry Lawson, e.g. from Mary Called Him Mister” (Australian Picturemac, Illustrated by John Anthony King – ISBN 0 7329 1266 0), or other collections; Lawson’s poetry may be found online.

NOTE for Catholic homeschoolers:

Erin of Aussie Book Threads recommends the following books for studying Australian history:

	The Australian Pictorial History of the Catholic Church (3 volume set), edited by C.J. Duffy.
	Derring-do Mary: The story of Mary McKillop, an Australian girl who tried always to say “yes” to God, by Sister Margaret (1965)

Our heritage: The story of the Catholic Church in Australia from the First Fleet to the Second Vatican Council, by C.J. Duffy

[Page last updated 25 May 2009]