Lego Quest

Legos are such an awesome way for kids to work on so many skills.  They help with imagination, visual spatial skills, math, science, and are just plain fun. My boys and my girls love them.  The duplos for the little ones and regular size for the 5 and up crowd.

This summer my children have been following the blog Lego Quest.  They are crazy about it.  Each week the blog presents a Lego challenge.  The kids have a week to complete the challenge, take a picture of their creation, and then send it in.  The pictures are posted on the blog and commented on by Sam the blog owner.  Sam  does a great job affirming creativity, and giving good feedback.  My kids can't wait to see their creations on her her site, read what she wrote,  and check out what everyone else has completed for the challenge.  The range of projects is truly amazing.

This last week the challenge was to make a Lego boat that floats.  My boys spent hours building their boats in the basement and coming up to our bathroom sink to see if the boat floated.  They learned about buoyancy, design, and some engineering skills.  They experimented with many designs before snapping a picture of their final one.  It was amazing to watch all they learned.  I highly recommend Lego Quest!

Happy Building!

The Hallelujah Flight

I love strolling through my library. I love to look for the NEW sticker on the side of books. This last time I found a great book called The Hallelujah Flight by Phil Bildner. This is a picture book about the 1932 flight of James Banning and his copilot and mechanic Thomas Allen, both African Americans. The book tells their story and introduces the readers to dangers they faced flying, their desperate lack of supplies, and some of the prejudice they faced. It is worth checking out to read. All my kids loved the story. A great way to bring in history through a trade book. 
Fly high!

Journey to the Stars. . . from your TV.

http://journeytothestars.org/
Someone sent this to me on a homeschool e-loop. NASA and the American Museum of History are giving away a free DVD.    I thought it might be something everyone would enjoy! The above link explains the DVD and tell you how to order. 

Happy Star Gazing!