Capital Lego Robot Club

Last night we held the third gathering of the Capital Lego Robot Club. It is an educational organization I started for K – 3rd graders, mainly for the benefit of my six year old son and for me, because I love robots. I was inspired by usfirst.org. We use Lego educational kits and emphasize lots, and lots, of building! Our kids take turns bringing home the Lego kits so that they can get extra hands-on time building stuff. Everybody Loves Robots is simply the umbrella organization that I formed to provide some scalability for the Capital Lego Robot Club. Note to self: [ ] Need to come up with a more Trademark-friendly name for the local clubs – Capital Makers Club?

I’ve learned much from starting the robot club, and there is still more to learn. I started thinking that we would simply follow the agenda suggested by US First, but I soon discovered their focus differs from what I wanted to achieve. I would characterize their focus as more Capstone oriented than foundation focused. We’ve been developing our own agenda, and, to a lessor degree, our own curriculum. It isn’t very refined yet, but the list of lessons-learned is becoming pretty extensive. Nothing Earth-shattering, like “Confirm that your coaches are going to show-up on time,” but critical, none the less. The program is coming together.

Now, other than cruising into the second half of our first season, I’m thinking about how to ensure the long-term vitality of the program. I’m also putting in place the seeds needed to scale the program for a nation-wide roll-out. More on that in future posts. Lastly, I’ve gotten the foundation of the web site put into place. We have a foundation upon which we can grow.

I’m looking forward towards what next year brings.