It's been a while since we've shared any of our LEGO escapades with you, hasn't it?

LEGO® Education Mindstorms EV3 in your homeschool

To be honest, this is because we've hit upon a LEGO® Education product that has truly challenged (and sometimes stumped) my almost 11 year old.

Up to this point we've been using a lot of the LEGO® Education products for the elementary ages (you can read all of our reviews and experiences if you'd like). Now, however, LEGO® Education Mindstorms EV3 has taken our home by storm and I have a husband and son that are completely in love with this challenging robotics set and software!

Mindstorms enable students to build, program, and test their solutions based on real-life robotics technology. It comes with the EV3 intelligent brick - basically a powerful small personal computer - that allows students to control motors and collect sensor feedback.

I know, I know.

It all sounds very confusing, doesn't it? I had been very intimidated by this set and software (so much so that it just sat on our shelf for nearly a year before I mustered up the courage to delve into the Mindstorms world!)

My son, however, (with a little help from his dad) jumped right in, has figured out basic programming and is motivated to learn MORE.

LEGO® Education Mindstorms EV3 has been the perfect addition to our homeschool. I don't have to tell you what valuable skills programming, building, problem-solving, and patience building are in today's world.

About LEGO® Education EV3 Core Set

The LEGO® Education EV3 set is different than the LEGO Mindstorms retail set sold in most stores. The education version has more motors, sensors, and more advanced programming.

I would HIGHLY recommend this set. I know it's a HUGE investment, but if you have a STEM minded kid, you will get your money's worth.

I promise.

(You can read ALL ABOUT EV3 on the LEGO® Education site to learn more.)

The set includes:

Three interactive motors with built-in rotation sensors
Color sensor, gyro sensor, ultrasonic sensor, and two touch sensors
Rechargeable battery and charger
Ball Wheel
Connecting cables
Building Instructions
LEGO Technic Building Bricks

A printed booklet of instructions for the LEGO Educator model are included, and 4 additional sets of instructions are embedded in the software (sold separately).

My son immediately built the LEGO Educator model without any problems. He and his dad spent some time with the software and did the basic programming.

The programming is drag and drop, so it's very easy to learn!

Then, my son wanted to construct the Mindstorms Crane. He completed the steps (over 100) and it took him close to three hours. Then, the programming happened.

Look what he came up with!

Creativity with Mindstorms EV3

Of course, my son loves the models he has made with the instructions, but he also loves to be creative with the Technic bricks.

He's been experimenting with the sensors and programming.

The beauty of this is that he is thinking through problems and solutions. He is asking good questions. He is fine tuning so many good skills that will serve him later in life.

We're even thinking about starting our own First LEGO League Team!

Creativity with LEGO® Education Mindstorms EV3

The LEGO® Education Mindstorms EV3 has been the next logical step for my LEGO lover.

I love that these products have taken him literally from preschool to middle school, and I can see many more years of LEGO learning in his future!

Where to start this week?

It's been a whirlwind of a week... and when I look back on it I wonder how we really got all of it done!

That's the thing about homeschool, though. You have so much TIME to work with... all day every day is your canvas, and you have the ability to create our own personal masterpiece each and every week.

Don't you agree?

This week was full of music, memory work, Operation Christmas Child, construction, and everything in between. I love documenting the weeks through Collage Friday because it gives me a record of our homeschool days, and it often serves as a reminder of WHY we do what we do.

Because let's face it -- sometimes homeschooling can be tedious and challenging and we need to look back and see our accomplishments.

A Little of Everything

While Anna's weeks are more prescribed by the Challenge curriculum, Grant is still free to explore a bit more and do many different things of his own choosing.

I need write a post about this - because I love that in these elementary years we still have the freedom to pursue many different things. In the middle and high school years, however, I am seeing the advantage of buckling down and following the Challenge curriculum.

I digress. On to what Grant was up to this week:

He played in a Sonatina Festival on the weekend and received a superior rating. I was SO proud of him! (Usually both Anna and Grant play in the Sonatina Festival, but this year Anna decided to forgo the festival for a tennis match she was playing in... we've had more hard decisions like this in our 9th grade year - she's a busy girl!)

Grant has created the goal for himself of becoming a Classical Conversations Memory Master this year. What does that mean? I love Brandy's post about what a Memory Master is, so I won't reinvent the wheel by telling you, you can just click over to her blog and read for yourself!

He has been reviewing on the CC Cycle 1 iPad app, listening to all of the memory work on CD, letting me quiz him on the white board (times tables in particular), and playing lots of other memory work games we have found.

It is so true that your child has to desire to Memory Master themselves - it CANNOT come from mom and dad. It has to be the desire of the child.

Every day he works through a couple of lessons in the Veritas Press Self Paced History Course. I love it and consider this to be one of the best decisions we made for Grant's school year.

We also had time to break out a US Presidents Puzzle - which I am looking forward to framing for our new school room!

He also spent time with:

LEGO® Education EV3 Mindstorms Crane - building and programming
Saxon Math
Finishing The Serpent's Shadow
Vivaldi's Gloria in Excelsis Deo (SQUILT Volume 1)
IEW Ancient History Writing Lessons
Essentials diagramming and grammar charts
Tennis lessons

Operation Christmas Child

It's National Collection Week!

Of course you know how special this ministry is to me. It's hard to believe that it's already been two years since I traveled to Ecuador to distribute shoe boxes.

My mission now is to spread the love of packing with young people, and I had the great joy of doing that with Anna and our church youth Saturday evening.

We started the evening with pizza and stories -- stories from OCC box recipients (from the book A Story of Simple Gifts - I LOVE this book!) and a few of my own personal stories from Ecuador. I wanted the kids to know that these are MORE THAN JUST SHOEBOXES.

They are the love of Christ tangibly demonstrated for a child!

The children's hearts for others in need really touched me, and their ideas for items in boxes were wonderful. We took a group picture to include in each box, and included lots of personal information about ourselves for the recipients.

Sunday we will dedicate the boxes during church. It's one of my favorite Sundays of the year! I also have the honor of giving the sermon in our church this Sunday, so it will be extra special for me.

Learning the Grammar of Finishing a Basement

Being a Classical homeschooler I think about most everything in terms of how we can learn it in a Classical way.

SO... as we are embarking on finishing our basement I am learning the GRAMMAR of a construction project. Terms like framing, drywall, sheet rock, inspections, (and more) have entered my working vocabulary.

The biggest reason we decided to finish off the 1,000+ square feet in the basement was to give my husband a much needed office (he works from home) AWAY from the daily living space.

We will also have a family room, school room, and full bathroom in the basement.

This week we went from framing to insulation to dry wall rather quickly and it was exciting to watch!

Now I need to make decisions on paint colors, flooring, bathroom and light fixtures, and more. It's VERY exciting, but also overwhelming at the same time because this just isn't my area of expertise.

Having the basement finished also provides us with a unique opportunity to witness to many people about homeschooling. We inevitably interact with the workmen and it's obvious to them that we homeschool. I've had some great conversations with them about homeschooling, and the kids have baked goodies for them, too.

Tell me your FAVORITE thing your kids accomplished this week!

Collage Friday

Join me each Friday for a wrap up of the week - or just to share pertinent thoughts that have been rambling in your head during the past week.

Be sure to include your photo collages!

Then, visit other bloggers that have linked and leave them a supportive comment. I love the Collage Friday community!

Add your link using the widget below. Additionally, if you'd like to join further, use the hashtag #collagefriday on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.

An InLinkz Link-up

LEGO Mindstorms EV3 in Your Homeschool