For Home School

This page is intended as a helpful series of Frequently Asked Questions for homeschool families and homeschool organizations. If your question is not answered here, please feel free to email [email protected] or call (718) 300 7305.

What is Bricks 4 Kidz®?

Bricks 4 Kidz is an educational program that uses LEGO® bricks to teach the basics of architecture and S.T.E.M (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math).

Do families need to purchase any supplies?

No. You don’t need to buy LEGO® kits, instruction manuals, or anything else. Bricks 4 Kidz has proprietary Project Kits and Instructions. Our teachers are familiar with the models the students will build, and have prepared lesson plans to go over with the students.

What kinds of activities does Bricks 4 Kidz have for home school families?

We can do weekly classes, single morning or afternoon or even all day camps/classes, week-long camps (summer or school-year!), one-time only field trips, Kids Night Out events, and birthday parties. It just depends on what works best for your home school group! We can do any or all of these activities—it’s entirely up to you!

Why should I invite Bricks 4 Kidz to come to my home school group?

Bricks 4 Kidz will be a great addition to your curriculum:

  • Students will explore engineering, architecture, physics, science, math, and technology in a fun atmosphere.
  • Students will have the opportunity to play and socialize with friends while learning fundamentals of engineering and architecture in a non-competitive setting.
  • Students will have an opportunity for creative expression.
  • Students will gain insight into how things work.
  • Students will understand that Architecture and Engineering are viable career choices.
  • Students will learn the math and science involved with advanced LEGO building.
  • Students will develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
  • Mom can take a little break. She can build, too, if she’d like, or go run some errands.
  • Mom can probably count Bricks 4 Kidz time as school time. Want to give your child a quiz when he/she gets done? Great! After each class we send home a paper (or email) that lets you know what we covered in today’s Bricks 4 Kidz class—basic concepts, key vocabulary words/terms, and a picture of the model we built.

But we already have a LEGO® club…

LEGO® clubs are great. But Bricks 4 Kidz is different from most LEGO® clubs in that we spend time each class session intentionally teaching and learning. Each session has a “Model of the Day” with specific teaching goals, vocabulary words, and architecture or STEM principles being taught. Kids will have fun, just like in a LEGO® club, but they are also learning important concept and principles that are a good foundation to a career in Architecture, Engineering, Physics, or Technology—all very important fields today! We know that you’ve probably got piles of LEGO® bricks at home. This is a great opportunity to help your kids get to the “next level” with their building skills and understanding.

How does Bricks 4 Kidz work with Home school families?

There are two basic ways for home school families to get started with Bricks 4 Kidz. The first would be to look up what classes and events we already have scheduled for the public and come be a part of them. We have a number of home school families doing this already.

The second option is much more customizable. Let us come to you—on your schedule! We are starting to contact local area home school organizations in order to set up events exclusively for home school families, but we also gladly work with individual families—just give us a call!

I was home schooled for several years—my last year of middle school and then high school compressed into 3 years. One thing that my family loved about homeschooling was the flexibility. But we also had regular meet-ups with other home schoolers. There were some weekly events, some monthly things, and a whole variety of opportunities for getting together for various extracurriculur activities. And that’s one of the things that makes Bricks 4 Kidz such a great fit for groups of families. You don’t have to wait until school gets out at 3:00 and you don’t have to wait until summer to run a camp, but you can still set a schedule. We are happy to schedule to your convenience: weekly classes, single morning or afternoon sessions, all day camps/classes, week-long camps available year-round (how about a week of mornings building characters from Minecraft out of LEGO® Bricks with our Mining & Crafting camp—right in the middle of September?), single-day field trips, Kidz Night Out events, and birthday parties—there are many, many possibilities.

What does a typical Bricks 4 Kidz Homeschool class entail?

Each Bricks 4 Kidz class period has a structured time-line: Welcome & Attendance, the Lesson, the Model Build, Creative Play, Clean-Up, and Dismissal. During Welcome time we go over the “ground rules” and make sure that everyone on the schedule is accounted for. During the Lesson, the teacher presents the model of the day, and goes over the prepared lesson plan with the students. For the Model Build, each student works with a Project Kit and a set of model instructions. On the first day of the session, the teacher will go over the names and basic uses of each of the LEGO® pieces in the Project Kit. For each 4-6 week session, students will also get to build their own mini-fig to interact with their model and to use in Creative Play. Creative Play is a “free build” time where students can build whatever they’d like either by modifying the design of the Model we worked on or by building something completely different with the large bag of loose LEGO® Bricks we bring. Clean-Up is a brief time toward the end where each student is responsible for taking apart his or her model and ensuring all the pieces are back in their proper spot in the Project Kit. We also look around for any “lost” LEGO® Bricks. At Dismissal, the teacher will ensure that each child is picked up by the right person.

How does the typical Bricks 4 Kidz field trip work for Home school?

Field Trips are very similar to our regular classes, except that these are usually a one-time event. We also expect to spend a little bit more time on the model build since these will likely be kids that aren’t used to our weekly model builds and need a bit more help understanding the various pieces in the Project Kit and working through the instructions. We will work with your field-trip organizer in advance to plan a model build that fits into a topic or subject area that will work well for your group at that time. Is your co-op having a study on spiders right now? We’ve got spider models with cool motor action.

How big can a field trip be? i.e. how many students?

We can usually handle up to 20 students at a time per Bricks 4 Kidz teacher. Got a larger group than that? Not a problem . . . it just takes a little more advance planning. Give us a call and let’s start working through it!

 

Where will class meet?

In short, wherever you’d like. We are flexible and mobile-based. Where would you normally meet with your group? Community Center? Church basement? Someone’s Living Room? We are happy to come to any location that will accommodate the number of students who will be taking the class.

How much does it cost?

Cost varies a bit based on the type of class we’re offering. Ballpark for a one-hour class is $15 per child per hour.

How do kids register for Bricks 4 Kidz?

We can handle registration and payments directly through our secure website, or if your group would prefer to have an organizer handle registration and collection of payments, that is fine as well.

What methods of payment does Bricks 4 Kidz accept?

Online we take all standard credit cards. We also take checks. We can also accept credit card on site. We prefer not to do cash for individual families, since it is hard to generate a receipt on site.

Great! How can I get Bricks 4 Kidz to come to my home school group?

Call (718) 300-7305 or email [email protected] today to get the ball rolling. We would be happy to meet with parents or group organizers and show you a Project Kit, instruction booklet, teaching guide, or some finished, working models. (You can even try a build for yourself!  )

LEGO® is a registered trademark of the LEGO® Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse these programs.

 

 

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We learn, we build, we play with LEGO® Bricks

 

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LEGO® and DUPLO® are registered trademarks of the LEGO® Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse these programs or this web site.