Using it before I lose it . . .

The program I use for schooling our boys at home falls under the Washington State Alternative Learning Program.  Some of these programs are Parent Partnerships with a public school and some of them allow a parent to purchase curriculum and services that are paid for by that school in exchange for weekly and monthly student updates and reviews.  That's how the program I use works.  But it may come to a screeching end this year.  At the moment there are two Bills in Olympia that would end the funding of all services (music and sports lessons) and mandate 5 hours of classroom hours a week.  (EeeeK!)  That doesn't fly with me.  I chose to school at home for lots of reasons and I will have to leave the program if these Bills become laws.

But I don't just lose funding if I leave the program, I'm looking at having to return many of the non-consumable items purchased over the 3 years with school funds if I leave the program.  One of the neat things I purchased a few years ago for my older two was WeDo Robotics by Lego.  This is the same program used by the "Bricks and Beyond" class at Launching Success Learning Store.

WeDo Lego uses Lego and computer programming to illustrate and teach basic gears and simple machines.  It's science and engineering and my boys love it.  I've been using it this year for the Scientist (age 7.)

 This lesson was about crown gears and sound sensors.  

After building the gear assembly, he then uses the icons to program the motor which is connected to the computer via a USB cable.  This usually goes pretty quick and then he ends up experimenting with his own programming.

 The teacher's manual has questions to ask after the building and testing.

I'm trying to get my youngest student through the lessons because there is a real possibility that we will leave the program and have to return items like these.

The Brick Testament...

Look what I found at Costco.

I couldn't resist picking up these Lego illustrated, highlights from the Bible. 

After just a few minutes the boys were saying how violent they were.  Well, the Bible isn't a book of fairy tales boys. This just makes it a bit more visual. 

In our home we use The Picture Smart Bible Curriculum.  We found out about it last year at the Christian Heritage Conference.  It's been great for teaching each book of the bible thoroughly.  It's given us a good understanding of each book with visuals we draw and color to back up what we learn.  

About a year ago I looked at The Action Bible but wasn't impressed.   It was too graphic, too much info in pictures.  So what was I thinking with these?

Spies at the house of a prostitute.  Hmmmm.  What was I thinking....

The Philistines gouge out his eyes.  Hmmmm, what was I thinking...

The Wise Men with Lego coins.  Hmmmm, what was I thinking....

The Book of Revelations. Angels with machine guns...  Hmmmm, what was I thinking!!!

I heard the boys say, "Whoa! Is that really going to happen?!"  "That dragon will be cool."  

Let's be ready boys, let's be ready!
 
UPDATE:  I will be returning these books to Costco.  I don't want it in my house.

Lego Dragons...

The Architect had an idea and made it a reality.  Fusing the worlds of Pokemon and their different types plus a little iPhone Dragonvale gaming and you have Lego Dragons.

 The red ones are "fire" types.  The brown is an "rock" type, white is an "ice" type, yellow is "thunder' type and  I forget what the green one is and I'm not going to go ask at the moment because the boys are getting pajamas on and brushing their teeth and I don't want to get them distracted. 

Lego at the Library...

 This was our first year attending a Lego show 'n tell. 

Putting it together after transporting it from home.

 I got a kick out of a young kid who came over to talk to the Professor about his upgraded Hero Factory guy.  They discussed the blades on his hand and that they were from some old bionicles from a consignment store and that it was "so old fashioned" but "cool!"

This is how the Architect feels about crowds.

His Transport Ship

Other creations.

This one impressed me.

Each child had a opportunity to talk about their creation as the librarian went to each table and introduced each entry.  Prizes were awarded through a raffle ticket draw.  Some children didn't receive a prize but I think they all walked away confident in their creations.  It was a positive experience in my opinion.

A Week in Review...

Wowzer!  We have had a busy 8 days.  I already shared with you the 4 days at Hovander Twilight Camp and now I'll share the 4 days after that.
On Friday, the day after my two older boys were finished with Twilight Camp they were up bright and early and got ready with Papa for two nights at Fire Mountain Resident Camp.  This is a rise at 7 am, flag ceremony at 7:30, eat at 8 and go, go, go until lights out at 10 pm.  My 7 year old also turned 8 out at camp and even though he was well prepared for that fact... he still let it get him down that he wasn't at home opening packages of Lego.  This non stop pace was also NOT his idea of camping.  Needless to say he was soooo happy to get home.  When it was time for bed at home he got into his freshly made bed with clean sheets and gave me the most honest and heartfelt "Thanks Mom."  A man of few words.  Future wife be warned.

Good Job Boys!

Doesn't this look FUN!

Professor's Creation...

My 10 year old has spent the last week working on a tower.  He finds a few pieces each day and adds them in.  When he was done I had him take a picture of his creation. 

I said it looked like the Empire State Building and asked him if he had ever seen a picture.  He didn't remember seeing one so we googled it and he agreed it looked a bit like the Empire State Building. 

He's helping me write this and wants you to know that he first stacked them by size, then by color. 

He is curious what my readers think of his tower.

Please leave a comment.

Time with Papa

I picked up this Lego Creator game at a home school swap meet last year. I figured the boys would enjoy it because they like to build with legos.  It ended up being a little too simple for the older boys but our 5 year old sure loves it.  He's always asking us and the grandparents to play it with him.  Thankfully it's not as dull or mind numbing as Candy Land.  That game makes me want to bang my head on the wall over and over until its over.     

Lego Free Zone

In the car, in a tent or on a boat are Lego free zones in our world.  The parents in this house have learned a long time ago that legos don't travel well.  Mini vans are notorious for swallowing up small pieces of lego, never to be seen again.  So this rule is in place in order to minimize lost lego pieces and keep mama sane.  On our recent sailing trip I brought a small bag of ZOOB building pieces for the kids to play with and hopefully keep them occupied.  Well that worked for a few days but we had 5 days to fill.  So on the last night the boys found a large bag of clothes pins and the oldest started building with them.  Later the 7 year old spent some time creating with them.  I can say with confidence that this would not have happened on land with all the other toys and stimuli around.   I'm really happy the boys got creative and found something on their own to build with.  So much learning can happen in those times where nothing is planned or scheduled. 

The fighter jet.

The large ship.