Spring brings syrup season

Another fun activity I heard about through Free Things to do in Chicago:

Mark your calendars! Bring the family out to the North Park Village Nature Center on March 26 & 27, 2011 to experience the entire maple syrup making process, from tapping the tree and collecting sap to boiling it down to syrup. Stroll the sugar bush, enjoy storytelling and live music, make a craft, and taste homemade syrup.

Date: March 26 & 27, 2011
Start Time: 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Cost: free
Location : North Park Village Nature Center

5801 N. Pulaski Road
Chicago, 60646
312.744.5472

Come out to these family friendly and nature friendly events. From campfires and hikes, to story-telling and canoe trips, there is something for everyone to enjoy.

World Math day coming soon

Children from across the globe will be uniting in their quest to set a world record in answering mental arithmetic questions. We’d like to invite your child to be a part of this great education event involving more than two million students from hundreds of countries. There is an exciting new format for 2011 with all new levels! Your child can start practicing now by signing into www.worldmathday.com with their Mathletics username and password!

Why should your child take part?

• World Math Day is the education event for the world!

• They will love it! Be part of setting a world record!

• It will create an amazing buzz around math.

• Designed for all ages and ability levels.

• Simple to register and participate.

• Great prizes. And it’s absolutely free!!

How will it work?

• If your child is already subscribed to Mathletics, they can use their existing username and password.

• They will take part in real-time mental arithmetic challenges and play live with other students around the globe.

• In 2010 more than two million students from 235 countries combined to correctly answer 479,732,613 questions. Can we break the record this year?

• All you need is internet access.

This year for the first time, through an international partnership with UNICEF, the competition will be used to raise money for UNICEF education programmes in Mozambique and Vietnam.

Students can seek donations from friends and family for their participation in World Math Day. Donations will be pledged and tallied on the World Math Day website. In 2011 we aim to unite the world in numbers and giving to help provide children all over the world with the education they deserve.

For more information, visit www.worldmathday.com

Don’t forget to tell your child’s school about World Math Day too! Don’t delay – school registrations close February 28.

Click here to download the World Math Day FAQs.

Engineer’s Week Expo

Engineering: The Gateway to Tomorrow’s Technology

You are invited to The Twenty Seventh Annual DuPage Engineers Week Expo:

Date: February 26, 2011
Time: 11:00 AM to 3:30 PM
What to find there:

ZOOM into Engineering and Design Squad
DuPage Children’s Museum
LEGO® Robotics — Chicago Robotics
Mr. Freeze Cryogenics
4,500 Years of Structures
Working Bikes — Robot Design Engineering

Where: The School of Applied Technology
Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Campus
Illinois Institute of Technology
201 East Loop Drive
Wheaton, IL. 60189

Visit their Website – http://dupageeweek.iit.edu There you will find all the details as far as schedules, display descriptions, and even a floor plan of the building with what will be set up where. Some of the displays I am familiar with from other events and I know my kids would really enjoy this. It is free and geared toward kids K-8. Definitely looks like fun for everyone.

Great Backyard Bird Count — coming to a backyard near you!

Great Backyard Bird Count

This weekend birders of all shapes and sizes will head to their back windows, or maybe even outside into their backyards and count birds.

I had heard of this event in the past, but did not have any interested kids. Well, today in our science we read about it once again. The book said it took place sometime in February, so I jumped online to see when. And, it is this coming weekend! February 18-21, 2011, you are encouraged to spend 15 minutes at least one day counting birds in your yard or other outdoor area.

There are a few organized events in Illinois:

Illinois

GBBC event
February 19, 9:00-Noon
Peck Farm Park Interpretive Center
4038 Kaneville Road, Geneva, IL
Contact: Tina Rossi, (630) 262-8244, trossi@genevaparks.com

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GBBC participation
February 19, 1:00 – 3:00 PM
Citizens Park, Jewel Pavilion, 511 Lake Zurich Road, Barrington, IL
For ages 4 and up, Cost: $5 per child, families with multiple children pay $1 for each additional child. Registration is required.
Contact:Citizens for Conservation, (847) 382-SAVE (7283), cfc@CitizensforConservation.org

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GBBC activities
February Noon-2:00 PM
Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, 2430 N. Cannon Drive, Chicago, IL
Join our celebration of the 2011 Great Backyard Bird Count! Learn bird watching skills and discover how your family can participate in this year’s bird count. Compete in the Bird Olympics to test your athletic abilities against those of local bird species. Fun for all ages!
Contact: (773) 755-5126, www.naturemuseum.org

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GBBC participation
February 19, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Anita Purves Nature Center, 1505 N Broadway, Urbana, IL
Join Champaign County Audubon Society members and Anita Purves Nature Center staff as we make an important contribution to conservation by counting birds for the GBBC. Help identify and count the birds at feeding stations and along trails in Busey Woods. Dress for the weather and bring binoculars if you have them. Free! All ages (under 15 with adult)
Contact: (217) 384-4062

If you would rather spend time on your own in your own space there are lots of resources at the Great Backyard Bird Count website:

– Ideas just for us educators including bird feeder construction, backyard activities, and ideas for getting kids involved.

– Links to more sites with information about bird identification.

– A page to input your zipcode and come up with a list of birds you might expect to see. This is a great tool to look at ahead of time to be prepared for quick identification during the count.

We also enjoy the site “What Bird?” for bird identifications. It helped us identify a flock of Sandhill Cranes that passed over our house last year. You need to be observant, and the longer you do it, the more you know what to look for. I still have a lot to learn to advance beyond a casual birder, but it is a fun activity, and something all ages can enjoy together.

When it’s all over, don’t forget to jump online and submit your count to the official database.

Free Educator Screening in Batavia



You and one (1) guest are invited to a Free Educator Screening of Hubble 3D and Mysteries of the Great Lakes. Additional guests will be charged $5.50 for each movie, or $10.00 for both movies. Date: Saturday February 12, 2011 Time: 9:00am – Hubble 3D and at 10:00am see Mysteries of the Great Lakes (please arrive a half hour prior to showtime to check-in and register) Place: Randall 15 IMAX – 550 N. Randall Rd. Batavia, IL 60510 Get Map RSVP: Email or Call 630-659-6762. RSVP by noon on Friday Feb. 11. IMPORTANT – Please leave us your first and last name, school name, theater, and number of people attending. If registering via email, you will receive an email confirmation. If registering via phone, you will not receive a phone call to confirm your space.
	HUBBLE 3D: Experience the gripping story – full of hope, crushing disappointment, dazzling ingenuity, bravery, and triumph in Hubble 3D, the seventh awe-inspiring film from the award-winning IMAX Space Team. Through the power of IMAX 3D, Hubble 3D will enable movie-goers to journey through distant galaxies to explore the grandeur and mysteries of our celestial surroundings, and accompany space-walking astronauts as they attempt the most difficult and important tasks in NASA’s history. The film will offer an inspiring and unique look into the Hubble Space Telescope’s legacy and highlight its profound impact on the way we view the universe and ourselves. Website Educator Guide
	MYSTERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES: It takes a drop of water nearly 400 years to travel from the headwaters of Lake Superior to the edge of Lake Ontario. Along the way, the water passes by towering cliffs dotted with early Native American pictographs, caribou and moose grazing on the shores, over giant prehistoric sturgeon lurking among thousands of shipwrecks and past nearly 40 million people who live along the more than 10,000 miles of coastline. It is a dramatic journey through some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. Now, you can witness the Mysteries of the Great Lakes on the only screen large enough to reveal them, in IMAX! Website Educator Guide 1-3, Educator Guide 4-6 Educator Guide 7-8
Teachers! Book your Group Today! Call Jeannette at 630-659-6762 or email
COMING SOON!!!

Visit our website for more information on IMAX and Teacher Resources at www.GQTIMAX.com

Classical Conversations

Just added a Classical Conversations class in Chicago to the listing on this site, but also wanted to make you all aware of upcoming local events for Classical Conversations Co-ops in the area.

This is the time of year when everyone starts meeting and planning for the coming school year.

Please check the Classical Conversations site for a full listing of informational meetings and open houses coming up in the next weeks.

Here is just a snippet:

January 25 — Sugar Grove

February 1 — Minooka

February 3 — Wheaton and Oswego

And more to follow in Bolingbrook, Rockford, DeKalb, etc. Check it out if you would like more information!

Homeschool Resource Fair

The Beacon Homeschool group has once again arranged a resource fair for homeschoolers in the greater Chicagoland area to share their services and look for opportunities.

Find this annual event at the Elk Grove Village Public Library.

From their website:

5th Annual Resource Fair
Tuesday, January 25, 7-9pm

Check out the many programs especially for homeschoolers.
Arts, Music, Academic Classes, Field Trips and more!

This event is open to all home educating families for free. Come out and browse the many opportunities uniquely designed for homeschoolers including Co-ops, Museums, Field trips, Art/Music/Horseback riding programs, Sewing/Science/general Academics classes, and Services for homeschoolers.

The first 100 attendees will receive a Resource booklet with many more resources.

Click here to be a vendor at the fair.

Homeschoolers looking for resources don’t need to register, just come any time during the open house to find more resources in your area.

Fermilab Open House

Fermilab Family Open House

Sunday, February 27, 2011

1:00–5:00 PM

Directions to Fermilab

Last year we attended this fun event as a family and the kids did not want to leave. It’s fairly simple without a lot of glitz and glamor, but if you have a science buff in your house, they will love all the hands on discoveries to be made. Last year we did not register for the tour, but if we make it this year I hope to get that in as well.
Some of you might be familiar with them for their Dr. Freeze presentations, or their educational resource center that is open almost daily, or their newsworthy scientific research. Whether you are familiar with them or not, this free event to get to know them a bit better has something for everyone to enjoy. It was well attended last year, so prepare for a crowd, but it was worth the trouble for our family.
Family Open House

ICHE Mother Daughter Conference

A wonderful opportunity for building memories and passing on a legacy of faith between mothers and daughters:

Time Schedule

8:00 – 9:00 Doors open for check in and fellowship.

9:00 – 9:15 Welcome

9:15 – 9:30 Hymns and prayer

9:30 – 10:30 The House that Mom Built – Stacy McDonald

10:30 – 11:15 Coffee break and fellowship

11:15 – 12:15 The Heart of Chastity – Stacy McDonald

12:15 – 1:45 Lunch and fellowship

1:45 – 2:00 Hymn and prayer

2:00 – 3:00 Christianity: The Real Women’s Liberation Movement (discusses the history and error of feminism) – Stacy McDonald

3:00 – 3:10 Break

3:10 – 3:40 Q & A with Stacy McDonald

3:40 – Hymns, prayer, and closing

Polar adventure day

Looks like a fun event in downtown Chicago this weekend. The Polar Adventure Days take place on three different Saturdays during the winter months.

Here is the info from their site:

The Chicago Park District presents the sixth annual Polar Adventure Days from 12 – 4 p.m. on three Saturdays, Dec. 11, Jan. 22 and Feb. 26, at Northerly Island, 1400 S. Lynn White Dr., on the Museum Campus. The program is admission free. Click here to watch a video about Polar Adventure Days.

Polar Adventure Days offer families the opportunity to explore Northerly Island and come face-to-face with live animals, engage in winter activities, watch ice sculpture carvings, and create nature-inspired crafts. Participants are encouraged to dress for the weather as events take place both outdoors and inside the visitor center.

The following features and activities will be available at Polar Adventure Days:

•The first 500 visitors receive a complimentary Polar Adventure Day mug filled with hot chocolate while supplies last. Limit one per person.

•Nadeau’s Ice Sculpture transforms blocks of ice into magical creations.

• Various live animals will be on site to discover, such as birds of prey.

•Siberian huskies will be present and adventurers will talk about their Iditarod dog sled race experiences.

•Live entertainment from the Old Town School of Folk Music.

•Arts and craft tables for making nature-inspired creations.

•Free snowshoe rental for exploration of the island if there is enough snow.

Please call to confirm scheduled activities for Polar Adventure Days as activities are subject to change. For more information, call 312-742-PLAY (7529).

Directions by car to Northerly Island:

Take Lake Shore Drive north or south to the 18th Street/Museum Campus exit. Follow Museum Campus Drive toward Adler Planetarium. Turn right on Lynn White Drive. Go past the Charter One Pavilion (on left) and the Burnham Harbor Yacht Club (on right). The visitor center and free parking are on the left.

Northerly Island is also accessible by public transportation:

Take the #146 bus, exit at Lynn White Drive and walk south to the visitor center.

Contact Phone: 312.742.7529

We definitely have snow, and with this cold weather maybe you are in the mood for some winter activities.