Tag: homeschool

STEAM Ahead for Home Schoolers

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STEAM Ahead, Home School Program: October Fall Semester

This STEAM Ahead is unlike any STEAM Ahead that has come before. We have centered the class around the topic of Aviation, Flying 101: an Elementary and Middle School Pilot Flight School.

Grade Groups: 2-4th graders
& 5-8th graders

October 2nd – 25th, 2023 (Mondays & Wednesdays), 9:30am – 11:30am

Online registration is open and there is additional information at www.akchallenger.org/individualstudents.org

There are 8 sessions (32 credits) and will often have Kenai Aviation pilots in the classroom. Students will be taking field trips to the FAA office, the Airport, tower, and hangers; students will build gliders and experiment with them. Students will do math and measurement; social studies by learning the history of aviation; and there will be “flight time” with simulation computer software. They will learn about becoming a pilot and all about flying, but they will also learn about the many career opportunities there are in the field of Aviation.

Challenger is a Direct Vendor of IDEA and Connections. This means you can send in your VDP form to pay with your allotment. VDP forms need to be turned into Challenger and your home school vendor before programming starts, or you will be responsible for paying the remainder of your balance with Challenger.

***Note the Change from Previous announcements: 2-4th graders will now be on the same day as 5-8th graders, in October, Mondays & Wednesdays. The two age groups will still be in separate classes.

UAA Robotics Team at CLCA

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UAA Robotics Team at CLCA

UAA Iceberg Robotics is UAA’s College Robotics Team in Anchorage. Team members are coming to Challenger Learning Center of Alaska on August 11th for a special Meet and Greet.
There will be a show n tell of how the UAA Iceberg Robotics makes their bot and what is involved in bot competitions. Attendees will be able to test drive and shoot disks from UAA’s bot. There will be vex engineering stations and sphero coding stations where youth will also be able to work with Iceberg team members.

Free and open to the public for 12 YEARS AND UP

https://www.uaarobotics.com/index.html

Summer STEM Academies 2023

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Summer STEM Academies 2023

Summer Camps have landed! Registration is now open for these two exciting, supercharged camps for your 1st – 6th grader this year. Challenger camps are action-packed with exploratory learning and unique science experiments. This year we are also excited to offer an overnight option for the 4th – 6th graders.

Visit www.akchallenger.org/camps for details!
Our Summer STEM Academies are all about hands-on exploration and discovery!

Challenger Learning Center of Alaska puts a tremendous care into providing a fun and exciting camp your children will remember. Equally fun, our camps are formatted to allow youth to engage in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) based activities revolving around each Academy theme. Challenger Camp Counselors encourage creativity and offer hands-on tools and materials for campers to learn through inquiry-based instruction. Campers improve their problem-solving, teamwork, self-confidence, and critical thinking skills without even realizing it. Challenger Summer STEM Academies is not just another camp; They are unique youth-centered experiences.

Power Up! Summer Camp
Students entering 4th – 6th Grade
June 5 – 9, 2023
Day Camp or Overnight Camp Option!
Power Up! Summer Camp, the week of June 5th-9th, 2023 will energize your children for learning and exploration! Activities are centered around learning important energy sources and transformations, such as petroleum, natural gas, geothermal, solar, and nuclear. Hands-on exploratory projects will uncover how our energy is consumed and conserved. Of course, as students get charged up, we can’t leave out all the exploding energy that blasts humans to space and engineers the most robust robotics.

Astronauts Alive! Summer Camp
Students entering 1st – 3rd Grade
July 24 – 28, 2023
Astronauts Alive! Summer Camp, the week of July 24-28, 2023. We blast astronauts into space but how do they stay alive?! Campers will take the big leap into space as they discover what tools, systems, and resources they need to continue to explore, work and live in their new interstellar home.

Steam Ahead Registration Open

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Registration Open

CLCA’s STEAM Ahead program is created exclusively for home learners as an in-center program. Students learn facts and methods of thinking that can be applied to solve real-world problems. STEM creates critical thinking, bridges the gender gap in leadership roles, increases science literacy, and enables the next generations of innovators.
Our Fall semester will start on October 5th, one day a week for six sessions. Each session will build onto the curriculum that will reveal more intricate science concepts as students learn.
 
“From the Big to the Little: How Are We Connected?”
Dates: 6 weeks, Wednesdays 
(Oct 5, Oct 12, Oct 19, Oct 26, Nov 2, Nov 9)
Time: 10am – 12:30pm
$295 for the whole semester
 
1st – 2nd Grade
 
3rd – 5th Grade
 
 
 
📌Please Note
We have a new online booking system to create a smoother process for our customers. You can create a profile that will easily store your family’s information for faster booking next time! This system also allows us to check your child in and out virtually, with access to your approved pickup contacts, additional forms, and medical information. We are a direct pay vendor for most homeschools. If you choose this method, it is important you fill out your homeschool’s VDP form and get it to your representative right away for approval. If you have questions please give us a call or email our admin at cooper.kelley@akchallenger.org
Fall 2022   1st – 2nd 
Week 1 5-Oct Solar System Explorations
Week 2 12-Oct Climate Change & Alaska
Week 3 19-Oct Aeronautics & Weather
Week 4 26-Oct Thermal Engineering Matters
Week 5 2-Nov Electrical Circuits are a SNAP
Week 6 9-Nov Microscope Investigations

*Topics are subject to change

Fall 2022   3rd – 5th  
Week 1 5-Oct Climate Change & Alaska  
Week 2 12-Oct Aeronautics & Weather  
Week 3 19-Oct Aquatic Investigations  
Week 4 26-Oct Electrical Circuits are a SNAP  
Week 5 2-Nov Thermal Engineering Matters  
Week 6 9-Nov Solar System Explorations  

Three Homeschool Mini Camps!

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Three Homeschool Mini Camps!

Are you looking for exciting and educationally engaging ways to fulfill your homeschool science, technology, math, or even language arts credits for your kids? Take a look at the Homeschool Mini Camp in February to cover 10 hours! You can also use your homeschool allotment to pay for Challenger programs!

1 – 4 Graders Animals, Rockets, & Stars, OH MY!
$45/day or $200/week
Mon: Animal Adaptations
Tues: Simple Machines
Wed: Our Solar System
Thurs: Astronomy
Fri: Rocketry

5 – 8 Graders Adventures in Robotics
$200/week
Dive into the world of robotics, using draw and block systems to engineer and code robots and accomplish a variety of tasks building on their capabilities in STEM industries. Reinforces math, language arts, and science concepts. We even have fun new Sphero Bolts!

9 – 12 Graders Survival Sciences
$250/week
Fun in Alaska can come at a cost. Be prepared to succeed in a survival situation! Introduction to survival basics including navigation, avalanche safety, land and water survival, the science behind fire, and building personal survival kits.

Register Online

More information contact us at 907-283-2000 or email laura.mese@akchallenger.org

Homeschool Meet & Greet

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November 10th
Homeschool Meet & Greet at Challenger  

When: November 10, 2021
Where: Challenger Learning Center of Alaska, CLCA (9711 Kenai Spur Highway, Kenai, AK 99611)
Time: 11 am – 1 pm
Who: All homeschool families with all ages of students, Parents must attend this event  

Challenger Learning Center of Alaska invites ALL homeschool families, with or without a homeschool affiliation, to a Homeschool Meet and Greet! Families will have the opportunity to network with other homeschool families, share ideas, and swap stories. Pizza will be provided for lunch, sponsored by Connections Homeschool Program. There will also be STEM activities for your children to explore while you learn how you can supplement your curriculum with Challenger programs. Get the first announcements for upcoming homeschool programs, take a tour, and see firsthand what CLCA can do for you.
RSVP’s are appreciated but not required.

RSVP

James WEBB Community Night

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Free Community Event, Wednesday
October 20th with Virtual Attendance too!

TODAY! Join us 4 – 6pm for a night of space fun and explore the amazing capabilities of NASA’s WEBB telescope! If you can’t make it you can join virtually for a special presentation and Q&A from Dr. Vivian U, an observational extragalactic astronomer who uses state-of-the-art telescopes to understand how galaxies and their supermassive black holes coevolve.

Watch live on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dprgQ1LgaA0

or Join the Zoom Presentation at 5pm

Launch Meeting – Zoom

Meeting ID: 824 5188 3773

Passcode: 555201

Celebrate and learn about NASA’s new James Webb space telescope (WEBB) before the big space launch! October 20th, bring your family to Challenger Learning Center of Alaska for interactive activities exploring this magnificent WEBB telescope, from how it’s made, what it sees, to why it’s so important. There will be activities for all ages including tours of our simulator rooms and a star planetarium! No need to sign up, just come on in! 9711 Kenai Spur Highway, Kenai, AK 99611

Send your WEBB questions ahead of time, about merging galaxies, supermassive black holes, using infrared observations from the Webb Telescope and/or large ground-based telescopes to colette.gilmour@akchallenger.org
The Zoom link will be shared Wednesday morning on our Facebook, @CLCAlaska

See you there!
 

Informative Links:
James Webb Telescope Overview | NASA

www.jwst.nasa.gov

www.webbtelescope.org

www.nasa.gov/webb

Exciting Bermuda Program for Alaskan Youth

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Exciting Bermuda Program for Alaskan Youth

Homeschoolers Don’t Miss Your Chance!

Hello State-wide Families!

Are you looking for a fabulous program to use your homeschool curriculum allotment for? Start your school year with a truly out-of-this-world experience for your child. Challenger’s award-winning “From Alaska to Bermuda” program is just that! Spots are still open but time is running out to register for this unique opportunity for your sixth – eighth-grader.  The week of August 16th, students entering 6-8th grade from Alaska, will virtually join Middle School students from Bermuda, to explore the latest NASA drive to establish a permanent, manned research station on the Moon, and to expand mankind’s presence to Mars and beyond! Guest speakers from NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab and HERO will also make appearances throughout the week! There are only 8 spots available for Alaskan students, so make sure yours is one of them! August 9th at Noon registration closes!

Since this program is such a unique, and special opportunity, registrations need to be accompanied by a video submission from the interested student, or a short letter. More information and registration can be found at www.akchallenger.org/camps under the AK & Bermuda Program Tab.  
Return to the Moon, Mars, and Beyond
August 16 – 20 
6th-8th Graders
4 hours a day, 8am – 12pm (AST)
Bermuda 1pm – 5pm
http://www.akchallener.org/camps 

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to call or email! 907-283-2000 laura.mese@akchallenger.org
Challenger Learning Center of Alaska

This program is continually developing for the future, with a cultural exchange aspect that integrates Alaska and Bermuda students. The collaboration would not only allow students an opportunity to build on each other ideas but to share cultural and environmental experiences. Projects will entail revealing and solving challenges within colonizing other planets and continued deep-space exploration. All materials needed to make the assignments will be provided.

Earth Day Challenges

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Happy Earth Day!

Today we celebrate our Earth and think about what we can do to make it more sustainable. Living in Alaska we have a lot of land and natural resources available to us to ski, hike, fish, boat, camp, hunt…but having so much at our disposal means we need to do more to keep it like that. Start today doing one small thing that will impact our world, even if that means making a recycled craft with your child, or pick up one piece of litter that has been revealed by the melting snow.

Challenger focuses our education in S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering, and math). STEM isn’t just about these fields of study though. The model of teaching STEM incorporates hands-on learning, building confidence, and the connection in how we can better our world. Here are some fun ways of explaining and teaching Earth Day to your kids!

women s black leather jacket
Photo by Zachary DeBottis on Pexels.com

Make recycled Egg Shell Gardens and watch grass grow.

Learn about biomes and Build a Desert Biome!

Learn about Global Warming with Earth Day Toast.

Try the Carbon Footprint Activity and learn how much damage we do to the ecosystem!

Learn about Animal Habitats and find out how animals adapt to changes in the world.

Make a Water Cycle in a Bag to learn about the water cycle.

Earth Day Seed Planters are a popular STEM activity for Earth Day!

Make a Terrarium in a Jar and create your own ecosystem.

Make a Model Waterworks and learn how water is filtered.

Melt Crayons with Solar Energy and see how heat can be used as energy!

Create Your Own Mini Landfill!

Try the Earth Day Robot Design Challenge and build a robot who recycles for you.

Try the Exploring Solar Heat experiment.

Play this simple Sort the Recycling Game.

These Water Pollution Activities are perfect for elementary kids.

Learn how you can make a difference in the planet with science, technology, engineering, and math activities with these STEM activities for Earth Day!

DIVE IN AND HAVE FUN!

Pumpkin Volcano

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PUMPKIN VOLCANO

Are you getting ready to carve pumpkins with your kids like you do year after year? Bring a new twist to pumpkin carving this time by adding STEM! This is such an easy and instantly rewarding activity. Your kids will be delighted by the exploding foam escaping out of their pumpkin’s face, as well as the fun to touch texture of baking soda, vinegar and soap.

To get started:

SUPPLIES

  • Pumpkin
  • Baking soda
  • Vinegar
  • Liquid dish soap
  • Cookie sheet or large flat container (optional to contain the pumpkin and fizz from the chemical reaction)

DIRECTIONS

1. Ahead of time, cut the top off the pumpkin and clean the inside of the pumpkin out like you would do when preparing to carve a pumpkin.

2. Carve any type of pumpkin face out of one side of the pumpkin.

3. Gather all your supplies and place them nearby.

4. Drop a heaping amount of baking soda into the pumpkin. We didn’t really measure the ingredients, but added about a cup of baking soda to our medium sized pumpkin.

5. Add dish soap to the baking soda. Again we did not measure. Have the kids squeeze a good amount into the pumpkin.

6. When ready,  Pour vinegar into the pumpkin until the mixture begins to react, and place the pumpkin top back on.

You can wash out the pumpkin and redo it as many times as you want. For an extra spooky look, add some food coloring!

HAVE FUN!