Day 33 - Solar Oven S'mores and Jumping for Joy!

What a wonderful Wednesday!  As usual, we started our day with free time, which means plenty of box ball, Legos, chess and computer time.  After getting our math, reading and lunch done, we built solar ovens out of our pizza boxes and baked S'mores with the afternoon sun.  Tasty, messy, and fun ---what more can you ask for?  Physical Fun with Sky is always a good workout.  The Dragons were literally jumping for joy today during their workout!  Check out the photos below for a glimpse into today's fun.   

Parents: We are now signing students up for our after school care program.  We will be picking students up from local schools in Doral, assisting them with homework, providing a healthy snack and some physical fun time with Sky.  Once school work and exercise are out of the way, students can enjoy playing chess, building with Legos, learning how to program robots, reading or playing board games.     We have a complete computer lab with supervised free time activities as well.  Parents will receive a text message notifying them that their child has been picked up from school and another text once their child has arrived safely at the taekwondo school.  There are several pricing options so stop by and talk with Mrs. Choi or Master Choi to reserve a spot for your student.  

Week 7 - Days 31 & 32

As some campers head off for vacations with family, others return and we remain at full capacity.  As school is just around the corner, Team Tiger has been doing a little math and grammar review along with their regular online math and reading programs.  Everyone is finishing up their summer learning packages and summer reading requirements as well.  Often we can take an assignment from one camper's packet and use it for the entire group, such as the volcano experiment we did last week. Despite the fact that our campers do math, reading, and science every day, they still manage to fit in lots of fun activities, including parachute games, Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue (also known as Red Light, Green Light), box ball, Seven Up, Four Corners, Legos, Chess, etc.  On Monday, our science experiment involved copper oxide.  We made a solution of vinegar and salt and soaked some old pennies in it until they were shiny.  Half of the pennies were rinsed with water and half were left on a paper towel without being rinsed.  Verdigris, a green copper oxide, formed on the pennies that were not rinsed.  Next, we put three steel nails into the vinegar/salt solution that we had used for the pennies.  The copper oxide from the pennies essentially copper plated the nails.  This was a clean experiment compared to today's experiment.  It was so messy that we had to do it outside on the sidewalk!  We made a non-Newtonian fluid called a dilatant (or in Dr. Seuss speak, oobleck).  By mixing cornstarch with water (and food coloring, of course), we created a slime that has the properties of both a solid and a liquid.  It was definitely worth the mess.  Learning should be fun; messy is just a bonus!

Fun Friday - Ice Skating & Free Time Activities

We went to the Kendall Ice Arena on our Friday Field Trip.  For most of the day, we had the ice all to ourselves!  For many campers, it was the first time ice skating, but you would never know it by watching them.  After a pizza lunch at the ice skating rink, we headed back to Team TKD school and spent our afternoon building with Legos, playing box ball and playing on the computers.  

Throughout the day, pictures are also posted on Team Taekwondo's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Taekwondo/242340752453163.  If you have not already "liked" our page, please do so for access to more photos.  Here are some photos of our afternoon Friday Afternoon Free Time.

Day 29 - Online Math, Reading, More "Lava", Analogies, Taekwondo, Map Skills & Geometry

Here are a few pictures from today.  The campers doing Reflex Math have done more than 100,000 problems over the past 6 weeks!  Campers doing Sokikom Math are blazing through the four categories: Operations, Fractions, Geometry and Measurements/Data.  Team Tiger finally had their chance to make volcanoes out of play dough and make baking soda/vinegar lava eruptions.  We also captured the carbon dioxide being released when we attached a balloon with baking soda to a bottle with vinegar.  Once the baking soda was dumped into the vinegar, the balloon began to fill fairly rapidly---much to everyone's delight.  We were able to link this back to several other experiments, such the Mentos geysers and the Pop Rock and Coke experiment.  After lunch, both teams practiced taekwondo.  As usual free time was filled with Legos, chess and computer games.

Day 28 - Lego Robotics, Analogies, Geography, Reading and Physical Fun

While we did most of our usual activities, we mixed things up a bit today by trying some new activities.  Both Team Dragon and Team Tiger practiced their three Shurley English jingles.  Team Tiger took it to a whole new level by turning their jingles into rap!  Team Dragon worked on identifying the verbs in  sentences and continued to practice their alphabetizing skills.  They also worked on analogies for the first time and did a fabulous job.  Team Tiger also worked on analogies and several map skill projects.  Today's science experiment looked at the difference in density between a 12 ounce can of Diet Coke and a 12 ounce can of Jupina.  We established our hypothesis and tested it.  We put both cans in a tub of water and watched the Jupina sink to the bottom.  The can of Diet Coke floated.  The main difference between the two cans of soda --- 50 grams of sugar. We measured out the same amount of sugar and placed it on a plate for everyone to see precisely how much sugar is in a single can of soda.  After science, the robotics team, lead by Benjohn, continued programming their Alpha Rex.  The rest of our day was spent reading, working out with Sky, and having free time.  

Testing the program

Day 27 - Lava, Legos and Jingles!

After morning free time, Team Tiger dived into reading, while Team Dragon learned the first three Shurley English jingles.  Instructor Sky learned these same jingles when he was in 3rd grade.  Sky steadfastly maintains that he learned all the grammar he needed to get all the way through college during his third grade year working with Shurley English.   Team Dragon learned the sentence jingle, the noun jingle and the verb jingle.  Next, Team Tiger did online math as Team Dragon played math games with flashcards and practiced their taekwondo.  Team Tiger also managed to work on their writing skills before heading into fitness training with Sky.  After lunch, Team Dragon did online math and then made volcanos out of homemade play dough.  They had fun making "lava" eruptions using vinegar, baking soda and red food coloring.  Team Tiger practiced their taekwondo skills as Team Dragon worked on their reading skills.  During free time, the Lego Robotics team continued working on their newest creation, a humanoid.  As usual, there were also several great Lego creations and plenty of free time to play chess or play computer games.    

Week 6 - Day 26

Wow!  What a fun day at camp.  The morning began as usual ---- chess, Legos, computer time and box ball.  Team Tiger started the morning by doing their online math programs and having fun (while practicing grammar) doing Mad Libs.  Team Dragon did morning Physical Fun with Sky before tackling their online math programs.  They also managed to fit in some practice with math flashcards.  After lunch, Team Dragon did taekwondo, followed by reading time.  Team Tiger did Read Theory online followed by a science experiment dealing with polymers.  By popular demand, we repeated the homemade slime making project.  Team Dragon also had a great time making slime while Team Tiger practiced taekwondo.  We managed to fit in plenty of free time, which included Lego Robotics, chess, computer games, parachute fun and more Lego building.   

Making Slime

Friday Field Trip - Matheson Hammock State Park

Unfortunately, the photos from last Wednesday and Thursday were lost due to a computer glitch.  This is particularly unfortunate as we celebrated (and captured on film) Daniel and Camila's birthday party on Thursday afternoon.  Camila turned 6 on Thursday and her brother Daniel's birthday was this past Saturday.  We do, however, have photos from our field trip to Matheson Hammock on Friday.  We spent the morning playing box ball and building with Lego's while we waited for all campers to arrive.  Shortly before 10 a.m., we loaded up the Team TKD van and parent cars and headed for the park.  We walked along the path in the mangrove hammock and learned how to tell the difference between Red Mangrove, White Mangrove, Black Mangrove and Buttonwood trees.  We also discussed the importance of mangroves to South Florida.  After our hike, we spent some time wading in the shallow water catching small fish, crabs and several types of mollusks with our nets.  We released everything before we left.  Next, we headed back to the northwest end of the park and had a picnic lunch. After lunch, we played soccer, climbed trees, played box ball and ran around chasing our friends.  A good time was had by all ... the pictures do not even begin to do it justice.  Nevertheless, here are a few shots from our day.

Day 22 - Better late than never!

We aplogize for the delay in posting Tuesday's photos.  This morning we were distracted by the Lego building and box ball games.  Yesterday, we tried out a new reading comprehension program called Read Theory.  So far the results look very promising.  We read books, did our online math programs and worked on our writing skills.  Our science experiment involved Pop Rocks and Coke.  Like Mythbusters, we busted all the myths about what happens when you mix Pop Rocks and Coke.   The campers enjoyed learning about the pressurized carbon dioxide popping candy!

Week 5 - Day 21: Revisiting Newton's First Law.

Happy Monday!  Team Dragon played "Dragon, Dragon, TIGER" (similar to duck, duck, goose), while Team Tiger did math online.  After switching places, Team Dragon did math while Team Tiger worked out with Sky.  After lunch, our science experiment once again focused on Newton's First Law, the law of inertia.  We learned how to tell whether an egg was raw or hard-boiled without cracking the shell.  It is easy to do if you spin the egg and understand Newton's First Law.   After reading time, Team Tiger spent the afternoon learning how to make survival strap bracelets using parachute cord.  They did an awesome job!  And, no day is complete without time for Legos, chess, and computer free time. All in all, it was a good day.

Day 20 - Friday Fun Day!

Because of the inclement weather, we postponed our field trip to the mangroves.  Instead, we had Friday Fun Day at the taekwondo school.  We box ball and held the first annual King of the Hill Dodge Ball Tournament.  Team Jose Pablo and Team Camila were very tough to beat.  We also played with the Legos and built some amazing robots with the Lego Mindstorm kits.  For lunch we had pizza, followed by birthday cake for Catalina, who is turning 10.  In the afternoon, we set up two Wii game consoles and had a great time playing games with our friends.  And of course, everyone had free time on the computers.  Check out the pictures below for  brief glimpse into our day.

Day 19 - Math, reading, Legos, density/buoyancy experiments, summer fun!

As usual, we had free time in the morning.  We played games, built cool things with the Legos, and played box ball.  However, we were a little off schedule when we started our work today as our internet connection decided to be tempermental just as Team Tiger sat down to do math online.  We switched things up and Team Tiger practiced their writing skills,  completed a couple of grammar worksheets and remained focused during sustained silent reading.  Team Dragon played games with Sky and then worked on their math fluency using flashcards.  While Team Tiger was enjoying games with Sky, Team Dragon collected items and tested their predictions about which items would float/sink in tap water.  Next, we looked at how the same items responded once we added salt to the water.  Our findings were recorded in our journals.  After lunch, both Team Dragon and Team Tiger were able to complete their math sessions online.  We also played parachute games and had free time on the computers.  Sky gave Team Dragon a chess lesson as well.  Here are some photos from today.  Enjoy!

Day 18 - Making ice cream by hand, building with Legos, playing with the parachute....

Mrs. Noel joined us again today!  Hurray!  We managed to finish all our math, English and reading early in the day so that we had plenty of time for our science experiment ---- making homemade ice cream in Ziploc bags.  What better way is there to study temperature changes!  With the addition of rock salt, the resulting brine solution brings the temperature down to the requisite 27F in order to freeze our cream and sugar mixture.  Some campers' ice cream did not freeze, likely due to an inaccurate ratio of salt to ice.  However, there was enough ice cream for everyone!    Team Dragon also did a great job building with Legos, Zome and the Marble Run today.  Additionally, Team Tiger managed to fit in two writing sessions today.  But don't worry, there was still plenty of free time to play box ball, board games and computer games.

Preparing the ice cream mix

Day 17 - More fun with polymers, fake snow, math, reading, and wild games with Sky.

The morning began as usual: free time on the computers, playing chess, and building with Legos in the classroom.  Others opted to play box ball/four square in the taekwondo school.  Both Teams did Sokikom/Reflex Math --- their progress has been amazing.  Team Dragon also practiced language arts skills online using Scoot Pad.  Team Tiger did 30 minutes of silent reading, followed by writing a paragraph or two in their journals.  While Team Dragon was reading, Team Tiger did a grammar worksheet to brush up on their grammar skills.  Working in groups of two made completing the worksheet more fun.  There is definitely value in talking about why a particular answer is right or wrong.   Many campers volunteered to discuss their answer choices with the larger group.  

Science is always the highlight of the afternoon.  Today, we played with polymers again and did several experiments.  We made "fake snow," which we later put in the freezer to make it look and feel even more like snow.  We also experimented with whether the temperature of the water matters when preparing dyes using colored fizz tablets.  We used our dye solutions with superabsorbent polymer crystals  to create some cool, squishy, colorful, gel pieces.  Everyone was able to take home two ziploc bags with the end products of our experiments.  No camp day would be complete without some fitness training with Sky and free time to explore the games, computers, and electronics kits.  Check out some of the photos from today:

Week 4 - Day 16: Welcome Back

After a week hiatus while the Choi family was in Chicago at the USA Taekwondo National Championships, Team TKD Summer Camp resumed in full force.  We had a great day!  Team Dragon and Team Tiger both worked on their online math programs (Sokikom and Reflex Math), had reading time, and burned lots of energy playing with the parachute. After reading, Team Tiger did a great job writing in their journals about their chosen books.   Our science experiment for the day involved making predictions about what would happen if we placed a bar of Ivory soap in the microwave.  As the water in the soap heats up, the soap "puffs and fluffs" up to more than 5 times its original size. Gabriel E. and Nicolas H. were today's designated researchers and prepared a short presentation about what occurs to a bar of Ivory soap when it is heated in the microwave.  Instructor Sky finished off the lesson explaining the difference between a physical change (such as our Ivory soap experiment) and a chemical change.  During free time several campers dug into the electronics kits and built a number of very cool projects.  Chess and Othello are still the most played board games at camp.  All in all, it was a good day.  

As our resident photographer, Master Choi, is on a plane headed to Korea, there are less photos than usual to share.  Tomorrow we will capture more:)

Lego Time!