Subjects - Mathematics

Mathematics is the one core subject that is not fully covered by HomeLearn Launchpad program itself. We have done this because there are a few excellent Australian resources that cover maths skills very well, so we have not tried to compete with this niche.

Our pick of available programs is Maths Online. This is well organised, and directly related to Australian curriculum. We have looked at negotiating a special pricing for HomeLearn Launchpad students, but they already offer a 60% discount to homeschoolers, so we can't do much better than that.

We can give some advice on setting an appropriate level with this, but generally you will be directed to organise this separately.

However, sequential development of 'maths skills' may be an important part of the curriculum, but it is not the 'whole' of the Australian Mathematics Curriculum. Good maths education also requires students to cover practical 'real-world' uses of mathematics and, unfortunately, this area is very poorly covered by all of the niche maths resources.

The HomeLearn Launchpad program fills that gap by including a 'Maths Project' with each Unit, where an aspect of mathematics related to the theme or the readers is presented - generally in the form of an 'investigation'.

These 'Maths Projects' are an integral part of the thematic Units, and often complement or complete the subject and content being done in other subjects. For a Unit where the topic in the Science or Society has a significant link to a maths concept, the Maths Project would be used to help the students through the mathematics involved in this as part of the Unit. For example, any consideration of the science related to possible 'global warming' totally relies on the interpretation of "lines of best fit" through data on graphs, so the 'Maths Project' for that Unit looks at this aspect of mathematics. This is just one example of the integration of 'real' maths into the context of other subjects.