wheaton il – Chicagoland Homeschool Network

Engineers Week!

This coming week has a number of interesting events around the Chicago area in celebration of Engineer’s Week.

Feb 2013 Engineers Week

Check out the links at the Chicago Architecture Foundation. Their site has lots of educational links for kids, educators, and interested individuals. Most of their events are in downtown Chicago, and they target a variety of age groups.

We have enjoyed the DuPage Area Enginner’s Week events a couple times now. The week culminates in an event at IIT’s Wheaton Campus with Mr. Freeze and lots of hands on stations filling every room of the building. If you go, plan on a packed house with both events and people. We never have enough time to enjoy it all. One of the unique aspects of this particular event is that it brings in real life engineers from a variety of fields (civil, mechanical, industrial, electrical, chemical, and on, and on!) Kids and teens have an opportunity to walk around and find out about the fields and ask lots of questions. They can find out what they do and how they got where they are today.

On their site you can download lots of information to plan your time there in advance, but the basics on the event: Saturday, February 23, 2013 from 10:30 AM – 3:30 PM at Illinois Institute of Technology: 201 East Loop Drive, Wheaton, IL
Free, and open to the public

Greenhouse Open House

The Greenhouse is having a Sampler Night for interested families. They offer one day a week classes as well as enrichment classes for homeschooled students.

In collaboration with parents, The Greenhouse exists to develop a new geneartion of leaders who will serve the commond good and in all thngs bring glory to God.

Come hear all about the Greenhouse!

Date:Thursday Feb. 21
Time:7:30pm
Place:Holy Cross Lutheran Church
Address: 802 E. Geneva Road, Wheaton, IL
Website: http://www.the-greenhouse.com/

Monkey Joe’s Peanut Free Night

A fan on Facebook, Heather, shared this:

My daughter has such severe peanut allergies that she is unable to go to school so is homeschooled.

Monkey Joe’s in Wheaton is having peanut free nights.

February 5th and February 28th.

Kids 2 and under are $5.00

Kids 3 and over are $9.99.
The address is 286 E. Geneva rd. Wheaton, IL
630 653-5867 for comments or questions.

I’m sure there are others around in the same situation that would enjoy this type of event. Please share with others.

DuPage Engineers Week

Last year I heard about an event geared toward K-8th grade students that would help them understand and explore the various worlds of engineering. I had no idea how much we would enjoy this event.

Here’s the info on the event for this year:

Join us for a fun, free, family interactive event with displays and presentations that will excite children about science and engineering. The DuPage Engineers Week Expo includes cryogenic freezing with a few controlled explosions, model airplanes and a wind tunnel exhibit, robots, bicycle power, load testing and destruction, static electricity, levers and pulleys, building molecules and hands-on activities with ZOOM®, Design Squad, LEGO® Robotics, and the DuPage Children’s Museum. See a list the free public events.

You do not have to be an engineer to enjoy the 28th Annual DuPage Area Engineers Week Expo. The Expo is geared toward children in K-8th Grade, however, all ages will enjoy this event!

Details:
When: Saturday, February 25, 2012 from 10:30 AM – 3:30 PM
Where: Illinois Institute of Technology: 201 East Loop Road, Wheaton, IL (Directions)
Cost: Free, and open to the public

Lunch and snack items will be available for purchase as a fundraiser from Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana.

IIT Alumni – Call for information on a special Alumni-only Breakfast!

If you are free and looking for something to keep your kids engaged, I would encourage you to check this out. It was packed last year, but we still managed to navigate our stroller through the hallways somehow. Our whole family enjoyed the event immensely, although our then 8 month old did not like Mr. Freeze’s explosions. If you have seen his show there or elsewhere, you can probably understand why.

Expect parking to be a nightmare, and the building to be crowded, but also prepare for your kids to enjoy themselves and not want to leave. We all learned a lot of new information. Some displays have kids helping out, but many are staffed by engineers eager to share about their background, their education, the career choice, and their displays. They want to engage your student and help them learn about engineering and the various fields it encompasses.

The program for the event is now available online, so check that out to get a good idea of what to expect from the displays.

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.

Curriculum sale – May 10th

The following was received from CHOICE homeschool in Wheaton. I have heard that this is a great sale for both buying and selling. Also, check out the details about their new information exchange that is new this year. Looks like a great place to gather resources!