Gearing up for September

Alas, summer has come to and end, and we will soon be heading into September. The Robotics club starts this week on the 23rd, the LEAP co-op starts September 3rd, and the LOL co-op starts on September 5.

We are very excited about this year's programs. Beth Thompson and Barbie Johnston will once again be coaching a First Lego League (FLL) Robotics team, building on what they learned last year. Last year the FLL robotics team, the SCIENEERS, won the 2012 WV State Championship and traveled to the World Festival in St. Louis. Will the SCIENEERS win again? Stay tuned...

On Tuesdays, there is a new co-op focused on ages 4-8 called LEAP (Learn Explore And Play). LEAP Day Co-Op is an educational, fun and supportive group. We envision a place where we can come together, have our children learn and socialize and also get family/homeschool support, positive encouragement and maybe even make a new friend. We hope to incorporate holiday-themed activities, plan an evening Art Show, family picnics and other activities involving the community (Adopt an Angel(s)/family, etc.), Mom’s Nights Out and curriculum support meetings, just to name a few.

Learning Out Loud! is a cooperative-style weekly enrichment program serving a diverse group of home-schooling families. LOL! meets the first three Thursdays of each month during the school year at the Songbird Learning Center. We invite you to schedule a visit to see how we function.

End of the Year Showcase for 2012 - 2013

On April 18, 2013, we celebrated the end of the 2012-2013 year with our End of the Year Showcase. Words cannot express the awesome showcase of talent this last day of LOL. We have some amazing and talented students. There was singing, dancing, skits, and poetry readings. The Scieneers presented their presentation for St. Louis (they leave on Tuesday!). We gave thanks to some amazing people who've been a part of the co-op this year. And, we sent our graduates off into the world with hugs and wishes of wellness.

Greek Mythology - Today, students answered the question, "If you were a god or goddess, what would you be?" Students presented their favorite god or goddess, and answered questions from the class about them.

The Africa Class finished making their animals.

Playing the game of Telephone to see how stories change when shared verbally.

Ready to see the Showcase!

Poetry Reading

Song

Reading a Story

Dancing

Doing the "Robot" dance.

The Scienceers present

Behind the scenes.

The Scieneers Team

Our graduates of 2013.

2013 - LOL's Big Happy Family

Pirates - They came, they recruited, they taught navigation!

On April 4th, the LOL (Learning Out Loud) program that meets on Thursdays dressed in pirate garb to welcome a visit by Seaspray and Dangerous Dan, who spent time interviewing new recruits to join their ship "The Black Wing". Students offered their thoughts on who a pirate was and what they did. They heard stories of Black Beard the Pirate, Sir Francis Drake, Captain Henry Every, and William Kidd.  Seaspray told tales of some female pirates like Anne Bonny and Mary Read, Grace O'Malley, and Cheng I Sao. And they learned what privateers and Letter of Marques were - basically pirates with authority to be pirates though only against the enemy via a Letter of Marque.

 

Dangerous Dan looking over the new recruits.

When recruits asked a question or gave a wise answer, they were given payment to join the crew. This meant they had to honor the Pirate Code of Conduct.

Seaspray and Gordon (the parrot) evaluate the future crew, getting ready to make payment.

Dangerous Dan demonstrated the types of weapons a pirate used.

Dangerous Dan demonstrates dual weapons.

Future recruits ponder what they are signing up for.

And when the recruiting session... er... class was over, students could sign up and join the crew in exchange for a share of the treasure.

Recruits sign the pirate pledge and receive their fair share of treasure.

After recruiting a slew of scallywags, Seaspray and Dangerous Dan met the next batch of recruits... er... class, many of whom had made astrolabes beforehand. With the sun out, student learned how to use them to determine where they were.
How to make 2 types of astrolabes:  http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/AtHomeAstronomy/activity_07.html or http://www.thepirateking.com/historical/astrolabe_lesson.htm

For more information on how to calculate the sun's position  and information on navigation, click the links in this sentence.

Seaspray and Gordon (the parrot) show students how to use their astrolabes.

Students using an astrolabe.

And what good pirate doesn't show recruits how to sword fight?

A great day of fun and knowledge was had by all.

Thank you Dangerous Dan and Seaspray for sharing your stories and navigational knowledge with us! (And giving us the excuse the dress like pirates for the day!)

Beware... there be pirates coming (to the LOL program on April 4th...)

The pirates are coming! The pirates are coming! On April 4th, 2013, LOL will be visited by Dangerous Dan and Seaspray who will teach our students about "Pirates through History" and "Navigation in the 16th Century."

Rumor has it they are bringing pirate booty to share with new recruits and there might be a sword play demonstration for the students of the Thursday LOL Program.

In their presentation on "Navigation in the 16th Century", they've recommended two links in the event that students would like to build their own astrolabe and learn how to use it in class. In real life in the 15th and 16th century, students did have to make their own - it was part of their education.

Here are the links: http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/AtHomeAstronomy/activity_07.html or http://www.thepirateking.com/historical/astrolabe_lesson.htm for anyone who might be interested in making their own.

If you are interested, but haven't signed up for the classes, be sure to let us know.

Stay tuned for more details and photos of the classes!

This Week in Review

Chemistry

African Studies

Mmmm.... Lunch

Voting for the SongBird Lane Volume II Photo Contest

Working hard in STEM Club.

Team work in STEM club

Science Club

Science Club

Writing Club

This Week in Review

Just a few photos from this week's programs. As tomorrow is our Science Saturday with Gene Turchin, and since so much happened this week... stay tuned for a separate post on that.

STEM Club

STEM Club on Fridays

Working together in Science Club

Science Club

Creating a story in Writing Club

Learning Python - LOL

Africa - LOL

Grammar -LOL

Chemistry - LOL

Greek Mythology - LOL