School: STEM Club & First Lego League (FLL)
An awesome and delicious brownie cookie made by one of the Mom’s!
As the school year comes to an end I want to share with you a few highlights over the last couple of months. I was going through my pictures recently and realized I hadn’t posted on some of the kids big activities for the school year. We have been so busy trying to wrap up everything that needs to be done with the end of school some things just got away from me.
It is hard to believe that my babies will be finishing up 4th grade in just a couple of days. Although they put in a lot of work, time, and energy this school year we managed to learn a lot and have some fun along the way too. I am thankful for the teachers and administration who helped our girls throughout the school year.
The girls had a blast in STEM Club this year! It was a great year of learning, working together with other students, competing, and many other wonderful activities. It was a big time investment especially at the beginning of the year when they were meeting twice a week after school, but it paid off and they won a trophy and the golden ticket to state competition (a picture below)! Very proud of their hard work!
First Lego League: Robotics STEM Competition – Solar SySTEM!
Party celebrating their achievements at district level!
They went on to compete at State and did very well. This was their first time at state (the club started last year). They competed not against a lot of other elementary schools, but also against middle schools as well. It was neat seeing all the kids work so well together. The coaches did an amazing job encouraging the kids. Grateful for this opportunity to our kids to learn and compete!
They won the judges award at State Competition! First Lego League (FLL): State STEM Lego Robotics Competition
Cute treat made by one of their coaches for their Congratulations Celebration! STEM Club & Lego Robotics
Thankful that the girls had the opportunity to participate in STEM Club and First Lego League competitions this year. It was a lot of fun yet big learning experience. They couldn’t have done it without the assistance of all their coaches who invested a lot of time into the kids. It has sparked the girls interest in robotics and technology as well as developed more team building, life skills, and so much more!
First Lego League (FLL): State STEM Lego Robotics Competition
So proud of the girls and their teammates! They won a Judges Award Trophy at State!
Last weekend we had the privilege of going with the girls to State STEM Lego Robotics Competition. The competition is called FLL or First Lego League! The state competition was in Columbia, South Carolina and they had to be there by 7:45 am on Saturday morning. It was a full day, but it went by quickly. The kids had several presentations in front of the judges as well as three rounds with their robot completing various tasks. In between they had the opportunity to trade swag with other teams and doing various other activities.
There were 60 teams participating at the event. They were competing alongside a variety of great elementary and middle schools from around the state. Even with that many teams and their first time at State they ended up bringing home a Judges Award trophy for the Rising Star. The kids were so excited!
Both the kids and their coaches have put in countless hours of research, programing, practice and more since October. Thankful for a great team of coaches who volunteer their time after school twice a week to help mentor and encourage these kids to learn. There are 4 faculty members from the kids school who help – Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Ponder, Mr. Moore, and Mrs. Husso. They have truly been an amazing blessing to these kids!
The quote the coaches gave at the beginning of this club year was – “It’s the hardest fun you’ll have!” It is hard work, yet a great way to learn not only about STEM, robotics, research, but also how to work effectively as a team. Proud of the team and coaches for all they were able to accomplish this year so far and looking forward to the fun things they have in store for the remaining meetings this year.
One of the few times all 4 of us are matching (well 5 if you include Skipper who was not cooperating for the picture). Jake and I had team shirts too! 🙂
Solar SySTEM in the parade at the beginning of the event!
First robotics map round!
The kids were troopers and had great attitudes all day with all the activities, events, presentations, and more!
Cheering and clapping for their team!
The coaches put together goody bags for the kids to trade with the other teams at State! Lots of good loot. Not sure if our girls came home with many items that were originally in their bags!
Listening intently to Coach Johnson’s instructions for an upcoming presentation.
The kids designed and decorated their table displays, posters, presentation props, and more.
Hanging out for a few minutes in between events with Coach Ponder!
They had a few moments in between to relax a little and even play a game with friends.
Ready for the next event!
Watching closely!
There were a lot of people at State FLL
Waiting for the awards to be presented!
Their team number was drawn to come up in front of every person and team at the FLL Competition! They did a great job. Karlie was the first one to answer a question in front of a huge crowd and she was so excited about her project she wasn’t nervous talking with a mike in front of a very large crowd!
They won a trophy! WOOHOO!
Way to go! Solar SySTEM team with 2 of their coaches.
Yay! It was a great day for the team!
Love the FLL trophies! They are made out of legos! Very neat!
Slogan and shirt designed by the kids! “Stay in Orbit!”
Teaching Our Children: How to Build a Catapult
A fun little experiment for the whole family
The girls were talking with Jake recently about catapults. He decided to make it a teachable moment for the kids. They worked on designing and building a catapult. It was a lot of fun to watch them working together. The girls were super excited to see how well their catapult experiment worked! Thankful for a husband who takes the time to do fun and educational activities with the kids. Great memories with their Daddy!
Jake & the girls catapult design
Little pieces of the catapult that the girls have sanded
Brina working hard
Karlie sanding her piece of the catapult
Teamwork!
Ready to launch the first unsuspecting acorn across the driveway! It worked really well! 🙂
Teaching Our Children: Teamwork and Manners
Playing outside with the neighbor kids. Karlie and Brina working together to push their friend up the driveway!
Our neighborhood is pretty small and currently we are the only family on the street that is not retired. I am thankful for our neighbors and we have grown to really enjoy them over the past few years. A year ago another family lived on the street with kids about the same age as the girls and they would come over a couple times a week to play. They only moved a few miles away and since their grandparents still live in our neighborhood they come over every couple weeks or so to play.
If it is a nice day the kids have a blast outside running, swinging, riding bikes, and playing together. I am thankful for the opportunity to spend a few minutes with our neighbor and the kids love being able to play with their friends. The picture above was taken a few weeks ago when their friends come to play. The kids took turns riding the “go cart” as the girls call it down the driveway and pushing each other back up the driveway. As I was watching the kids play together I was reminded of the importance of having friends over to play. There are many valuable learning benefits to having friends over to play, here’s just a few:
- Taking Turns – it teaches the kids the importance of taking turns so everyone has the opportunity to enjoy playing.
- Sharing – a toy may have been given to your child, however, when friends are over your child will learn how to share those toys and have fun.
- Teamwork – when siblings or friends work together it is pretty amazing what they can do. Even though this “go cart” is pretty heavy for one kid to push up the driveway when they work together they can get it up the driveway more quickly thus giving the kids more turns to ride the go cart.
- Friendship – having guests over allows your kids to learn valuable characteristics in a friendship.
- Conflict Resolution – When you have a group of kids for an extended period of time something is bound to happen (someone’s not taking turns, a child is losing a game, a toy gets broken, someone skins a knee, etc..) Sometimes you need to step in and play referee during the event and other times it is best to speak with your child after the activities once the friends have gone home. Life doesn’t always go perfectly which allows great teaching moments for children.
Next time your children have friends over don’t worry about the mess, instead focus on making that time a learning opportunity for your children. When everything goes well thank them for playing nicely, using their manners, and being a true friend while their guests were over. If something happens (not taking turns, sharing, showing characteristics of a true friendship) take the opportunity to talk about what happened and how to do better next time.
These activities with our children provide great reminders for us as parents as well. Are we being a good friend / hostess to guests who come into our homes? When our children see how we interact with our friends we are giving them an example of what manners and friendship characteristics are acceptable. Our actions speak volumes to our children so make sure your are practicing the principles you want to your child to learn.
