Society and Environment (SOSE)

Hi Everyone,

Today's post covers Society and Environment (SOSE) which incorporates Geography and History.

Because SOSE covers a wide range of topics, opportunities for weaving into other learning areas such as LOTE and English are numerous.

According to the Education Authorities, SOSE consists of four strands, these being:

Time, continuity and change
Place, space and environment
Societies and cultures
Social systems

Time, continuity and change cover history units ranging from primary to upper secondary ages and from personal to local to world historical study.

Place, space and environment and Social Systems incorporate geographical and environmental study, where we fit in, how our lives are affected by being a part of society. They also look at the impact of choices made by those in power (governments/leaders passing environmental and human rights, scientific laws etc) and by us on a personal level (eating locally produced foods, caring for our beaches etc) and similar sociological concerns.

Societies and cultures incorporates the study of people/religions/living environments around the world as well as closer to home.

We have utilized the National Geographic Website extensively as the information is accurate and up to date. There are loads of interactive educational experiences, and it naturally deals with all four of the SOSE strands. A free bi-weekly e-zine is an extra bonus.

We also use the Story of the World books by Susan Wise-Bauer to cover the history side of SOSE as it's entertaining, fun and grows with the child as he/she gets older and becomes ready for the next stage of learning.

I have used lapbooks often to keep learning interesting as they're a great way to allow your child to run with an interest and incorportate it into specific areas of study. Lapbooks can be made using a template or created according to your child's imagination. The most important thing with a lapbook is that a child can balance their project on the lap (hence the name) and share with others, which can be really validating for a child of any age...Jay's been making and sharing lapbooks since he was quite young and happily pigeonholes anyone who walks through the door to show them his latest masterpiece :)

As a family, we are naturally interested in history, the world around us and how various social structures impact people's lives. As a result, meeting the criteria for society and environment is quite simple, the strands I've just presented are merely a formal way of classifying what a naturally curious child will want to investigate in everyday life. So relax and enjoy!

Talk Soon, Cynthia x

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