L: Now that I am big: Anthony's story
This book features a military family.
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Nick Smolders is the reader of the interactive version of this story. Nick was born in a rural community in Holland, but at the age of 4, he travelled together with his parents and 12 siblings to Australia on a ship. His family of 15 settled in rural Victoria, then later rural NSW where his father worked on various farms. Nick attended school and helped on the farms where his father worked and started his career in agriculture. Nick then trained as a deisel mechanic and worked in different rural towns in NSW. You can learn how to say 'hi' and 'bye' in Dutch, the language of Holland, by listening to Nick in the recordings below.
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Read-along versions
Audio
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Video
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Dr Rhonda Forrest is the reader for the video readalong version of this story. Rhonda was born in Sydney but moved around every few years because her dad was a bank manager. She went to many schools in NSW and then went to teacher’s college in Wagga Wagga. She started her kindergarten teaching career in the ACT and also taught in NSW and QLD. Rhonda then undertook studies in leadership in Queensland, eventually doing her doctorate in early childhood leadership. She taught pre-service early childhood teachers at UNE for 18 years before retiring to have more time with her grandchildren.
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Personalised storybook templates
These templates are designed for parents/carers (or older siblings), educators or family workers to assist children in creating a personalised story that is an adapted version of the storybook in this module. To do this, you can:
- change the text as needed
- add photos
- add children's drawings,
- add decorations (e.g. collage materials (please avoid glitter for environmental reasons), including leaves, dried flowers, and feathers).
Read the finished storybook with your child(ren) often, then ask them to help you tell the story as you show relatives and friends (in person or via a video call). -
N.B. The interactives DO NOT work on phones. They are for iPads, tablets, PCs and Macs.
Before you use interactives with children, please make sure they:
1. know the story really well (at least read the book 4 times)
2. explore the interactives 5-10 pages at a time to deepen their understanding of specific ideas in the book.
For more information on why this is important, please view this video.