HCECF - Homeschool Cooperative

LEGO BRICKS + homeschoolers = BRICKschoolers©

HCECF is forming LEGO® teams for the 2009 season. 

HCECF's BRICKschoolers Practices / Classes will be held in Apopka on Mondays & Fridays! Practices / Classes in Deland TBA.

Ages listed are often adaptable; please inquire if your interested kid is not in the recommended age range. Accommodations for siblings are always made where possible.

Participation in any of HCECF's BRICKschoolers programs listed below requires membership in HCECF,  the purchase of a purple BRICKschoolers team shirt and an Edventures student account, available through HCECF. Registration fees are non-refundable and vary with the specific program.

Anyone  interested in participating on any of  HCECF's BRICKschoolers FIRST LEGO® League teams, our EARLY Robotics team or other LEGO® activities, please contact us to be put on our mailing list for consideration on team placement.

Other homeschool groups with LEGO® teams, please also contact us if you'd like to arrange practice sessions.

Not in our area, but looking for a LEGO® team or already have a team, but looking for members? Be sure to add your information to  Statewide LEGO-homeschoolFL.

New in 2005, HCECF began their BRICKschoolers program with a FIRST LEGO® League (thanks SWE!), four Junior FIRST LEGO® League Teams and an EARLY Robotics Team, interested parties please contact us directly for details on how to participate, costs and requirements.

In HCECF's rookie first season (2005)  they achieved the following honors:

• FIRST LEGO® League team received a bid to state
• FIRST LEGO® League team won a 2nd Place Judges Award for Technical Design at the state tournament

The four 2005 HCECF Junior FIRST LEGO® League teams took home the following awards:

• Director's Award - Outstanding Overall (top honor)
• Fastest Car
• Most Creative
• Most Structurally Sound Platform

The two 2006 HCECF Junior FIRST LEGO® League teams took home the following awards:

• OutstandingTeamwork
• Superior Use of Nanotechnolgy
• Gracious Professionalism
• Inquiring Minds

The three 2007 HCECF Junior FIRST LEGO® League teams took home the following awards

• Structural Engineering Award
• Teamwork and JFLL Values Award
• Mechanical Engineering Award

The 2007 HCECF FIRST LEGO® League team had a great time at the regional competition, but did not qualify for the  state tournament. TWO homeschooled teams from Florida are going to the world championships! Congrats to the Storm Cats and Legooners!

We're excited about the 2008 season! Will you join us for the Climate Connections Challenge?

As part of our ongoing commitment to providing homeschoolers with quality science, technology and engineering opportunities, HCECF is in the process of developing a curriculum for homeschoolers based on the materials used in these and other DACTA / LEGO® Education materials.

Engineering And Robotics Learned Young (EARLY) is a program that exposes our youth to engineering.  EARLY provides 7 to 12 year olds the opportunity to participate in a robotics competition every fall and spring.  

The competition robots are built from LEGO® Simple Machines kits which have a comprehensive curriculum available for easy implementation in the classroom. The combination of curriculum and competition allows teachers to have all their students complete some of the Simple Machines activities, which are approximately 45 minutes each, and then invite those students who are interested to participate on the EARLY team. 

EARLY team members have a bright future with the opportunity to participate, throughout their education careers, in various robotics competitions such as FIRST LEGO® League, Botball, BEST, and the FIRST Robotics Competition. For those students who choose not to participate on the EARLY team, they will still have been introduced to hands-on engineering and gained an appreciation for the challenges and goals that the EARLY team will face.

BRICKschoolers RCX & NXT labs - kids experience FIRST LEGO® League style building and programming challenges using one of HCECF's robotics field mat set ups.

Field mat set ups currently available through this program currently include:

1. Climate Connections from FLL 2008 season - (three) - ARRIVED JULY 2008! 
2. Power Puzzle from the FLL 2007 season - (two)
3. Nano Quest from the FLL 2006 season
4. Ocean Odyssey from FLL 2005 season
5. Exploration Mars RoboChallenge - similar to the Mission Mars from FLL 2003 season
6. Race Against Time RoboChallenge
7. Alien Encounter Terrain
8. Various Robotics Projects and Practice Mats

• Student registration TBA
• Programs run April through August.

FLL is an international program for children created in a partnership between FIRST and the LEGO® Company. Each September, FLL announces the annual Challenge, which engages the teams in hands-on robotics design and authentic scientific research. After 8 intense weeks, the FLL season culminates at high-energy, sports-like tournaments. This program is geared for kids ages 9-14, although younger kids can participate with permission.

Smart Moves!

Can FIRST LEGO League teams transform the way we look at transportation? The key
to the 2009 "Smart Move" Challenge is accessing people, places, goods and
services in the safest, most efficient way possible. In this journey, teams will
consider many modes of transportation beyond their daily routine and streamline
their options by making smart moves!

 HCECF registered three FIRST LEGO® League teams for 2009 on March 3rd. Watch for HCECF's BRICKschoolers teams from Apopka and Deland in the forums!

• Student Registration - for HCECF members paid in full prior to: 

1. May 1, 2009 - $95.00
2. June 1, 2009 - $105.00 
3. July 1, 2009 - $115.00
4. August 1, 2009 - $125.00
5. September 1, 2009 - $135.00

No new FLL team members will be added after the challenge is officially announced on September 3rd. These spots are available on a first paid basis; we do not hold spots on the FLL team. The HCECF BRICKschoolers program has competing FLL teams based out of Central Florida - Apopka and Deland.

2009 registered HCECF FIRST LEGO LEAGUE teams

• Apopka based FLL team #96
• Deland based FLL team #105
• Central Florida FLL team  #107

HCECF offers discounts for early registration to gain a longer practice season. BRICKschoolers team shirts and an edventures membership are required.

• Team size is 3 to 10 kids.
• FLL season runs September through December or February.
• Practice begins in April for HCECF teams.

Junior FIRST LEGO© League

Junior FIRST LEGO® League (JFLL) - introduces 6-9 year olds to the wonders and excitement of science and engineering.

JFLL is geared to children aged 6 to 9 years old and utilizes a modified framework of FIRST LEGO® League. Younger children are permitted to participate also.  Teams of up to 6 children and an adult mentor receive a mini challenge, which is based on the FLL annual research project.  They will design a model depicting an aspect of this year’s “Power Puzzle” Challenge.  Children will spend approximately a month exploring, investigating, designing, and building a model made with LEGO bricks on a 15” x 15” base plate.  In conjunction, teams create a “Show Me” poster that depicts the teams’ experience during this process, through drawings and words.

• Respect each other in the best spirit of teamwork
• Behave with courtesy and compassion for others at all times
• Honor the spirit of friendly competition
• Act with integrity
• Demonstrate gracious professionalism
• Encourage others to adopt these values

 BRICKschoolers team shirts and an edventures membership are required for all of HCECF's lego programs.

The Edventures Robotics Challenge (ERC) is an exciting engineering challenge program that can be used throughout the year by members of the Edventures Learning Network. HCECF offers this online curriculum to its members.

ERC is designed to complement and enhance other academic challenges and competitions. This program can be used at any time throughout the year to generate enthusiasm, prepare students for problem solving challenges, and create a real-world teamwork scenario for students to experience.

Each challenge is an engineering problem/challenge that needs to be solved in 6 hours by a group of students. This challenge becomes available for participants during the designated week of the challenge (there are a number of possible days to choose from). On the day your team selects to participate, you log in to Edventures and open the challenge. Once your team accesses the challenge, your timer begins! You and your team will have 6 hours to complete the challenge and upload pictures and text documenting your solution. Facilitators are responsible for imposing strict time guidelines to ensure fairness. All challenge solutions become available for viewing once the designated week for the competition ends.

Challenge Schedule

Little robots, Big Missions

A Competition Motivating Young Minds to Master the Machine

Robofest is an annual autonomous robotics competition for students in grades 5 - 12. Robofest challenges teams of students to design, build, and program robots to compete in playful missions and exhibitions. Students have fun while learning computer programming, engineering, math, and science. Robofest is a program of Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, Michigan, USA.

Teams can compete in the following categories:

• Game Competition - A team of students competes to accomplish robotics missions using two fully autonomous robots.
• Exhibition - Each team has complete freedom to show off any creative autonomous robotics project they have created.
• VEX Pentathlon - Teams compete in five field events using VEX
• New Pilot Categories - RoboSumo, RoboFashionShow, and Vision Based Robot Challenges

SECME, Science Olympiad and Odyssey of the Mind teams are not part of the BRICKschoolers program. Click to see their respective web pages. 

The HCECF SECME team was a new program for HCECF in 2006/2007. HCECF kids achieved a first place, a second place and an honorable mention in events at this competition their first year. This year, 2008, the HCECF kids recieved a 3rd place award.

Science Olympiad is a new program for HCECF in 2008. We had a great time at the  May 2008 A-2 competition. Looking forward to this years competition when we should be seeing both an elementary and a middle school team competing.

Odyssey of the Mind is another new program for HCECF coming in 2009. We look forward to seeing what the kids can do!