July 24, 2025 • 26 mins
Let’s talk homeschool science—and yes, we’re bringing LEGOs to the lab. 🧪✨ In this episode, I’m sharing the hands-on, curiosity-sparking science options we’re seriously considering for next year, including how we’re planning to use LEGOs to explore physics, engineering, and STEM in our secular homeschool.
We’ll dive into:
🧱 Why LEGO might be our favorite science tool
🔬 Edible Knowledge: Physics with LEGO (yes, it's real physics)
⚙️ Queen Mary & Physics Online – free, expert-designed LEGO experiments
🏗️ LEGO Education’s structured classroom-style units
📚 How all this fits into our flexible, real-life homeschool planning
If you're looking for science curriculum that actually excites your kids and works for real homeschool life, this one’s for you.
👇 Let's connect!
Have you tried LEGO for science? What are your go-to picks for the new school year?
💬 DM me or comment your thoughts—I love hearing what you're planning too!
✨ Subscribe to Making Everyday Magic for honest chats, curriculum breakdowns, and creative homeschool ideas every week.
#ScienceOptionsForNextYear #HomeschoolScience #STEMHomeschool #SecularHomeschool #MakingEverydayMagic #LEGOschool #HomeschoolSTEM #HomeschoolPlanning #CreativeHomeschool #HandsOnLearning
Edible Knowledge: https://edible-knowledge.com/homeschool-science-physics-with-lego/
Queen Mary & Others: https://www.physicsonline.com/lego
Lego Education: https://education.lego.com/en-us/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
It's time.
It's time.
It is another year.
Another chanceto find secular science resources.
And today we are going to
look at my current top contenders.
First, find it for my incomingeighth grader and incoming
(00:23):
fourth graderfor the 2025 2026 school year.
Let's look at our science optionsfor next year.
Before we goany further, guys, please scroll down.
Hit the big red subscribe button,
turn on the bell for notificationsand give this video a thumbs up as always,
(00:43):
you can find me right on down
in the comments or over on Instagramat Making Everyday Magic.
I totally forgot to tell youmy name is Shanna.
This is making everyday magic welcome backif you've been here before and hello
if you are a new friend, just joining uson this wild ride of our homeschool life.
We, as I stated, will have an incomingfor the next year.
(01:05):
Eighth graderat an incoming fourth grader.
If you are not familiarwith my homeschool style,
I enjoy combining as many subjectsas I can.
One subject that is very easy to combinefor us is science, and that is because,
so many of the
experiments and things are justthey're better done in a group.
(01:26):
It's easy to set it upone time to work it with everyone else.
And the approach that I tend to takewhen I do combine my kids who are,
you know, four grade levelsapart, is that, you know,
we pour in all of the information to them,
but I expect a very different outputfrom each child.
So I expect, you know, fully writtensentence answers for my eighth grader
(01:48):
and maybe like more of like a fillin a blank or multiple choice
from my fourth grader.
So that is how we combinescience and tackle that.
You guys know, again,if you are not new here, that
we all focus on secular curriculum choiceshere.
And secular science,especially in the homeschool world,
is incredibly hard to find this year.
For the 2024 2025 school year,we tackled middle school
(02:11):
chemistry from American Chemistry Society,a completely free middle
school curriculum.
Fully thought out. So well done.
So robust,completely secular, absolutely amazing.
And the best part is free.
Heading into the 2025 2026
homeschool year, I knew thatI wanted to make my focus on physics.
(02:33):
Now I'm going to show you the optionsthat we are looking at,
and then we'll come back hereand we will talk more
about how I am feeling.
So without any further ado, let's pop over
and look at a few of the optionsthat I am considering for next year.
(02:54):
Let's go!
Okay, I promise to show youwhat I was looking at
for science for next year,so we are going to jump into it.
I might have got everything pulled upand I'm ready to go now.
Last yearwhen I spoke at the Texas Homeschool Expo,
one of the booths was by Edible Knowledge.
Edible knowledge has several courses,
(03:16):
subscription boxes.
But one of the things that they offer
is, are you ready for this?
It's so cool and so cool.
So this is what got me started downthe vein of thinking Legos with physics.
And that is edible knowledgehas homeschool science physics with Legos,
(03:39):
and it is a set that you can buy
because they are big Lego nerdslike the rest of us.
You can order from them
the set of everything that you need
or you can't.
They'll give you the list and you can.
You can figure it out.
(03:59):
Figure out you can order the piecesyourself, which we've done.
It's very easy to do if you don't know,we've done some, kind of custom Santa.
I was kind enough to bring us some custom
guinea pig setsthat look just like our guinea pigs.
And that required,
a very custom order of Lego. So,
big shout out to the big guy.
(04:21):
If you come over here, their site,it does not load very well.
It is,
you know, not not is as worked as some ofthe bigger company sites are going to be.
But that's really commonin in homeschool curriculum.
So it has instructions for 16
custom models, detailed an in-depthexplanation of physics principles
(04:41):
and how they translate applicationof principles.
It's a series workbook,so it contains recipes and things
because it's part of their edibleKnowledge brand.
You can look at what's inside.
There's a full YouTube video.
There's a couple, samplesthat you can check out
and understandingof their schedule, $69 to buy this.
(05:02):
And then they do tell you there's the Legoparts needed and the 16 week schedule.
I'm just going to click on the Lego partsneeded to give you just an idea.
Okay, that did not work.
Okay.
Well, there you go.
Lego parts needed.
They usually have an item number,and then you just log on to their site
(05:22):
and order them.
You just have to be really meticulous
about stayingwhere you're at as far as ordering.
So this is kind ofwhat started the thinking.
And then I was like, you know what,I want that that's the thing I want.
I want Lego physics. Okay.
So we started with edible Knowledgeand moved into
I started googling what is out there now.
Physics online.com has some instruction
(05:47):
for various things that you can build
YouTube videos,various things that you can build
for Lego physics.
Now this site also links to whatI'm going to show you next, which is Queen
Mary University has some more plans
for things, lesson plans for teachers,for physics, and things involving
(06:11):
Legos, explaining particle physicswith Legos, vision and fusion with Legos.
And it has full lesson plans onhow to do that.
However, none of this is exactlywhat I wanted or needed
because none of it is a full thought outcurriculum.
That is where I came across Lego.
Education has some options for thingsjust like that.
(06:33):
Okay, they offer pre-K and kindergarten,elementary and middle school options.
They have blogs talking about resources.
They've got products, they've got apps,they've got teacher things.
They've it's all standardsaligned for every state.
I'm going to show you in just a minute.
And it's got kits and modelsand things that you can just buy and do.
(06:53):
And it's it's super cool. Okay.
So I'm going to show you at the very topthere's teacher resources.
So let me open this up in a new tab.
And then we'll come back to itin a minute.
You can go steam three levels.
Science grades K through 12.
Grades three through five, grades 6 or 8.
This is marketable.
These are for schools okay.
(07:14):
It's not for homeschool. It's for schools.
But each kit covers a couple of kids.
And I'm going to show youif you can hear my kids screaming,
they're two floors away playingvideo games, video games.
Okay, so teacher resources.
Okay, lots of videos.
I've watched them all on how to do links,
(07:35):
downloading the Lego EducationSpike app, professional development,
product resources, libraries,learning system resources.
On this page
I have requested a meeting twice.
I requested a meeting multiple times,and every time I get the email
that I will be contacting soonby someone who will tell me more things.
Both times I've not been contacted at all,let alone soon
(07:58):
by somebody who will tell me more thingsbecause I would like more feedback on
homeschool resources.
What is this going to be like?
And here's why.
If I go to Stem, steam,
I'm going to circle back to steam.
Okay, so
it's a webinar in a couple days
(08:19):
I might have to watch on.
Let's go over to science first.
So science,
I went ahead
and clicked in the middle schoolbecause that is what is applicable to me.
Preorder ships August 2025.
So this is new.
And this I believe speculation
(08:40):
is replacing one of their other kitsthat is retiring soon.
So that's usually not a coincidence.
So you can buy one of these kitslike an individual would.
And it will cover for students per kit,
which is highly intend to do this formy homeschool because I have two students
and with the purchase of this,it tells you this is made for teachers
(09:03):
so it fits in a single class.
Period.
Engages all students in scienceready to go when you are.
It tells you how to do it, how to follow,what to do.
You can preview facilitation next.
Okay, ready to go classroom videosthat are ready to put up on the board.
Notes okay.
Built in formative assessment.
(09:23):
It follows the five year model.
It aligns to all standards.
And you can search by your stateright here.
So let me just give you an ideaas far as text is if I may view my state
standards, it comes up and tells mewhat is checked, how it is going,
why it goes that way,and anything that can do this to me
tells me it'sbeen really well thought out.
(09:44):
Okay, so when you get down here,
it tells you that
it has 40 lessons,which is a lot of lessons.
Especially for like a school year,it's plenty.
This can be your full curriculumfor the school year. Okay.
So it tells you what all it comes with.
Sturdy stackable box classroom bundleincludes six, which there wouldn't be,
a double motor, a controller.
(10:05):
It's got everything you need here.
It's got a teacher portalwith 40 standards, online lessons
that cover life science, physical science,engineering, design,
Earth and space science.
Okay,so it covers all four avenues of that.
It is not specifically Lego physics.
And that is where my heartgot a little bit broken,
because I had in my mindthat we were going to do Lego physics.
(10:25):
Okay, so then when you come down here,it gives you more information about it.
Here's some frequently asked questions,which are, I feel like pretty good.
Like, why should I botherbuying this with you? Okay,
so this is an option.
I'm upset that it's not physics,but it's an option.
But let me show you what as a wholefamily we're leaning toward.
(10:48):
Okay.
So if you come to steam,I chose middle school.
Okay.
If you come down here gradessix through eight,
the Lego Education Spike Prime set.
Okay.
And it comes with all the thingsin this box which remind me to tell you
a story about the box in just a minute, 50plus hours of learning standards aligned
(11:09):
how many elements it has resources,professional development.
Okay, now this is the kitthat I believe is being replaced.
Now I am not sure yetbecause this Brick Key
Emotionkit is more of a standard physics kit.
So because of that,I kind of want to buy both
so that I can get what I want out of it.
(11:30):
So you come down here, there'sthis awesome side by side chart, okay.
And you can learn more hereby clicking straight through to it.
There's videos, there's information.
There's a special appwhich is really, really cool.
And if I think about itI will try to show it to you.
But there is a way I think there's a wayI can do it on the computer
to just kind of continue showing it.
(11:50):
Standards aligned is so cool.
There's things you can do.
It's got the unit plans,it explains how it works.
It explains how they came up with it.
Ready for steam competitions.
Now let me tell you, here in Houstonat the Georgia Brown Convention Center,
there are a lot and I've seen themso many times, robotics championships.
And you will see the group of kids,
(12:12):
all varying ages,and they've got their lanyards on.
And I kid you not, this past weekendwe were in the area
and I saw a group of kidsand they were carrying this box.
And I recognize a box because I've,you know, rabbit holes so hard on this.
I recognize the box.And it made me really happy.
It made me really happy to knowthat, like, that was a thing.
(12:32):
It's real, it's tangible.
And that made me excited.
Okay, so nowthis is why I see the brick motion covers
physical science,physics, engineering, Ela and math.
And then the price
spike Prime set has science, engineering,computer science, Ela, a math.
Now this spike print that there's also anexpansion pack that gets you more things.
(12:55):
But I don't feel like I need that.
But I feel like I might needboth of these.
Education brick Q motion Prime set.
So that's how I'm feeling now, the brickyou mentioned that only has ten lessons.
Okay. So it is a shorter.
You can click on itand it will take you in.
And you can look at allthe things that you could do.
Isn't this so cool. You can design
(13:15):
for someone okay.
And they've got it.
When you click into the lessons it'lltell you which one, which kit it's for.
So brick Q motion Prime helpsyou explore the design engineering process
and invent a desktop helper okay,so these are so cool.
And these are in the spikeprint set spike print set spike print set
(13:36):
I get to design it like a problemsolving prosthetic.
So I am not getting what I wantout of physics.
I think unless I add this Q motion,which I'm really tempted to do.
And yes, amI spending through the nose? Absolutely.
Do I care?Not even a little bit. I'm real excited.
So that also Iit tells you how long it's going to take.
(13:58):
Beginner intermediate
I am so excited about this.
My kids are excited.
Everybody in my house is so excitedabout this prospect.
And it's it, it is, it is exciting.
And look at all the things you can coverhere.
How to start a businesscompetition. Ready?
Making your own pedometer.
And then they've got some lessonsthat can buy both.
(14:19):
So therefore I need both.
I'm so excited I guys I'm so excited.
Now, students set for the Lego educationspike project is to okay.
And same thing with the brick cuemotion Prime set.
It covers to student hybrid learning.
Now hybrid. Here's the expansions.
You can buy all the thingsyou can buy more things you can buy this
little education spike prime extension setwhich I don't know why I need that.
(14:43):
I have no idea why I would need that.
So I think I'm going to skip that.
I'm really leaning toward the brick set,and it does come with replacement things,
and it comes with all this cool stuff,and it's super cool and super amazing.
But let me show youwhat I think is like the coolest part.
And it is the app.
You got to see the app, I guess.
(15:05):
Where is it?
Give me a minute.
I'm going to find it.
Lego education spike.
Is that what I went?
Yes it is.
So they have spike essential
which I think is for the littlesand Spike Prime which is for the bigs.
(15:26):
Now it's an app that we can download
to the tabletthat will do all the things for them
or you can do it right in your browser,which might be how we do it,
because we have the big TVthat is a computer.
So the Spike Prime comes with the app.
Okay. Confirm you've got it.
(15:47):
All right.
And it is more of coding problemsolving system, the whole thing.
You can start a new project.You can open a project.
You can startget ready in several easy steps.
Here's the units.
You can just choose one.
Unit plans building instructions okay.
It is so cool.
Let's go to unit plans okay.
We are going to go to Lookcompetition. Ready.
(16:09):
How cool is that?
First of all robotics competition ready.
So cool.
Training trackers.
Okay, I'm just picking one.
Time for jump squatsand it's going to take you 30 minutes.
Watch your steps. Here you go.
Explore kinetic energyduring a movement at constant speed.
It gives you a video okay.
It gives you a video on how to do it.
(16:31):
Here is your lesson plan.
You got to be a grownup.
0400I am over 18.
Here we go.
Okay, here's your lesson plan.
Everything you need to know.So this is teacher support okay.
How long it's going to take.It's advanced.
Here's what we need to know beforethe lesson here we're going nine A lesson.
We've got key objectives.
We got things we need.
(16:52):
Additional resourceseducational standards. Boom.
You want to know what it's about. Thereyou go.
Additional resources. Boom boom boom boom.
Look at this.
Elaborate. It's got the five E's.
It tells you how long it's going to take.
Student materialsview online download view
share a HTML printableteacher observation checklist.
It letsyou know how you're going to assess it.
(17:13):
Here's some buildingtips. Here's some coding tips.
If you they need to phone a friendand get you in here helping them out.
It tells you everything you need to do.
Did you see that?
Here's the language arts extension.
Ask your students to researchhow smartwatches your friends record
step counts.
Have them write a short explanationof how the technology works.
I am so stinking excited about this.
It is not physics. It's not physics.
(17:37):
And I'm upset.
But it is now.
I just clicked on the student assessment.
It is so stinking cool.
It is so cool.
I am excited that I get the opportunityto do something like this for my kids.
Like I just I'm so excited.
Okay, so here's the here's the the video,but I don't want to
I don't want to play their video.But look at this.
If you look at this screen, guys,you can code it, you can code it.
(18:00):
And if your kids have ever, evergotten their hands on scratch
coding or scratch junior,it is the same setup.
This is scratch based coding for your LegoSpike Prime.
Okay, I am so excited!
I am so excited about this.
(18:21):
Like it is.
It is expensive,it is expensive and I'm leaning
hard into Spike Primeand adding the brick key motion.
I am so excited now.
It's not physics, it's not physics.
And that just breaks my heartbecause that is what I had in mind.
But it is the last year.
Let's go look at a lower grade.Just since I'm goofing off.
(18:43):
It is the last year that we really get
to kind of pick what science we do.
So if they get more coding,oh my god, so cute.
If they get more coding,if they get a varied bit of science,
that's really excitingthat they really love.
Before going into because my oldestwill be going into high school.
(19:03):
So before I go into those specialized,specific levels of science,
it is what I'm excited.
I'm at peace with it. It's so exciting.
It's so cool.
It looks likeall of these sets are retiring soon.
I just
I'm I am excited.
They are excited if we wait until.
(19:26):
Okay, so this is the spike.
Essentially, if we wait until
school to open this up,
I will genuinely be so incredibly shocked.
You can get more parts if you need moretechno hubs or more sensors or things like
because it's Lego, right?
Each piece is adorable.
Each piece is doable.
It's so cool, so cool.
(19:48):
It's so cool.
And I just, I just I can'tand I don't think that the science kit
is right for us, because if I can do
a lot more with the other stuff,I think that's so cool.
I don't need a full classroom set.
I want it to be fun and amazing.
And again, it's not out yetand they haven't returned my request
for meeting.
So based on the information I have at thisvery moment, this is how I'm leaning.
(20:13):
Everybody in my house is excited.
And that makes me really,really, really happy.
So, yeah, one more thought here.
If I'm spending this much money, I mightas well get my 108 lessons, out of it.
Right?
So, guys, I hope that you enjoyed this.
Look at what we're looking at.
So there is the, the physics.
(20:34):
And this is brick independent, sothis doesn't include your bricks for $69.
Covers 16 custom models.
Okay, there's a few free resources hereyou can use,
and probably any Legos that you have,as long as you've got the right bits.
But then we're looking at Lego steam,Lego science,
Lego Science
is more expensive,but it does cover more students.
(20:56):
So it covers for as opposed to the SpikePrime set,
which covers two students
and is a little less expensivethen I'm probably gonna add in.
I probably will in add in the,the brick, the brick as well.
So that's how I, I'm leaning.
I know it's wild.
And yes, man,you want to talk about, like, high end.
(21:20):
Oh, well, the cost, but
I'm lookingat it as it's all their projects,
all their experiments, all their labsfor the whole year,
independent of the science classeswill go to and all the supplies set.
Is it really for two kit? Is thereis it really.
I mean, if it shakes out, if I'm spending
I mean, let's just say let's just sayafter tax shipping, the whole
(21:40):
the whole enchilada.
600 bucks for both kids for science.
That's 300 bucks each kid covering everysingle bit of resource they will need.
Not to mention, I imagine this probablywill have a fairly decent resale value,
when it comes to the end of the year,as long as I can keep all the pieces
in the right spot so that.
But also I can see them using
this just forever and ever and everand ever and ever and ever, ever.
(22:03):
Because it's a Lego like, it's so cool.
I just I don't even know what this isgoing to go.
And I'm so excited to get our hands on itand to share.
So it's not Lego physicsand I'm sad, but I'm really excited.
One more note I wanted to make.
I'm pretty sure anybody can downloadthe spike app,
so if you just want, go check it out,go there and check it out.
(22:24):
Well guys, those are my thoughts.
That's how I'm leaning.
Going from free science to,I mean, pretty high
cost science is something,but I think it will be valuable.
I think it will be enjoyable.
And I am looking forwardto doing this with my girls.
I do think that they will love it.
It's not what I had originally intended,and I think that that's okay.
(22:48):
It's important to pivot where you can.
They will get those other lessons later,but everyone is really excited
to get our hands on this piece,and so I am very excited
to let my kids have some say in that,because science should be fun.
I'm a huge believerif science isn't found.
That's why I hate just kind of like stalestandard, just textbook kind of science.
(23:09):
I don't love that.
I want it to be messy.I want you to be in it.
I want you to enjoy it.
I want you to understandwhy you're doing it.
That is really important to me.
And it's really important to meto foster those, you know, steam
subjects with my girlsto make sure that they know
that they can do anything they want to do,even in male dominated fields.
I want to set them up for maximum success.
(23:31):
And the way that we're going to do
that is by making surethat they're having fun along the way.
So that is how we are leaning.
Very excited for scienceheading into next year.
And like I said,
it is
not inexpensive,but I am hoping that the value is there
(23:51):
and I will keepyou guys posted on how it is going.
I will share with you the unboxing,of course, whenever it comes in,
and I am curious to hear,how are you doing with secular science
options for next year?
What are you looking at?
If you'd like to,we do this every year as well.
We collect the resources,so drop it down below in the comments.
(24:13):
Either links are not always auto approved,but if you drop, like the name
and then like, you know, elementaryor early elementary, middle school
or high school, things like that,
that can be incredibly helpfulfor everybody who is sourcing and,
you know, researching, as we do on YouTubeto find what fits for the upcoming year.
So super helpful.
(24:33):
I love that these are always socollaborative and enlightening,
and you guys always have the best answers.
So please, please dodrop down to the comments and share guys.
I think that's it for this one.
Oh, I did fail to mentionwe will also be supplementing with,
live in-person
classes monthlyat the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
I for the first timeever, I'm in charge of that.
(24:57):
And I will come back here and show you.
I just want to take youthrough the steps of that,
because so many timesI've gotten so many questions.
How did you find that? What is that?
And so being that I am in chargethis year, I'm going to walk you through
what it's like organizinga class like this one.
If you're in the area,you'll know how to do it
for your group too,so that if you aren't in the area
and you're like me and does my sciencemuseum do this, you can go to them.
(25:20):
You will know what to look for,you will know the questions to ask,
and if nothing else,
you can maybe encourage themto start something like that
because they have been incredibly valuableto us over the years.
We were so sad to miss out on themfor this past school year.
So yes.
All right guys, I think that's it.
I hope that you found this helpful,entertaining or informative.
(25:40):
If you did, please scroll down, hitthe big red subscribe
button, turn on the bell for notificationsand give this video a thumbs up.
As always,you can find me down in the comments
or over on Instagramat Making Everyday Magic.
Yeah, okay,
so just sending that literallyjust popped into my head.
We spent a lot of money on Lego sets,so really the fact that
(26:01):
this one actually has legsand significant educational component to
it is honestly like a little bitgratifying as far as the dollar spent.
So I'm just throwing that out there too.
It's like added value to what are alreadyexpensive Lego sets right?
It's time.
It's time.
It is another year.
Another chanceto find secular science resources.
And today we are going to
look at my current top contenders.
First, find it for my incomingeighth grader and incoming
(00:23):
fourth graderfor the 2025 2026 school year.
Let's look at our science optionsfor next year.
Before we goany further, guys, please scroll down.
Hit the big red subscribe button,
turn on the bell for notificationsand give this video a thumbs up as always,
(00:43):
you can find me right on down
in the comments or over on Instagramat Making Everyday Magic.
I totally forgot to tell youmy name is Shanna.
This is making everyday magic welcome backif you've been here before and hello
if you are a new friend, just joining uson this wild ride of our homeschool life.
We, as I stated, will have an incomingfor the next year.
(01:05):
Eighth graderat an incoming fourth grader.
If you are not familiarwith my homeschool style,
I enjoy combining as many subjectsas I can.
One subject that is very easy to combinefor us is science, and that is because,
so many of the
experiments and things are justthey're better done in a group.
(01:26):
It's easy to set it upone time to work it with everyone else.
And the approach that I tend to takewhen I do combine my kids who are,
you know, four grade levelsapart, is that, you know,
we pour in all of the information to them,
but I expect a very different outputfrom each child.
So I expect, you know, fully writtensentence answers for my eighth grader
(01:48):
and maybe like more of like a fillin a blank or multiple choice
from my fourth grader.
So that is how we combinescience and tackle that.
You guys know, again,if you are not new here, that
we all focus on secular curriculum choiceshere.
And secular science,especially in the homeschool world,
is incredibly hard to find this year.
For the 2024 2025 school year,we tackled middle school
(02:11):
chemistry from American Chemistry Society,a completely free middle
school curriculum.
Fully thought out. So well done.
So robust,completely secular, absolutely amazing.
And the best part is free.
Heading into the 2025 2026
homeschool year, I knew thatI wanted to make my focus on physics.
(02:33):
Now I'm going to show you the optionsthat we are looking at,
and then we'll come back hereand we will talk more
about how I am feeling.
So without any further ado, let's pop over
and look at a few of the optionsthat I am considering for next year.
(02:54):
Let's go!
Okay, I promise to show youwhat I was looking at
for science for next year,so we are going to jump into it.
I might have got everything pulled upand I'm ready to go now.
Last yearwhen I spoke at the Texas Homeschool Expo,
one of the booths was by Edible Knowledge.
Edible knowledge has several courses,
(03:16):
subscription boxes.
But one of the things that they offer
is, are you ready for this?
It's so cool and so cool.
So this is what got me started downthe vein of thinking Legos with physics.
And that is edible knowledgehas homeschool science physics with Legos,
(03:39):
and it is a set that you can buy
because they are big Lego nerdslike the rest of us.
You can order from them
the set of everything that you need
or you can't.
They'll give you the list and you can.
You can figure it out.
(03:59):
Figure out you can order the piecesyourself, which we've done.
It's very easy to do if you don't know,we've done some, kind of custom Santa.
I was kind enough to bring us some custom
guinea pig setsthat look just like our guinea pigs.
And that required,
a very custom order of Lego. So,
big shout out to the big guy.
(04:21):
If you come over here, their site,it does not load very well.
It is,
you know, not not is as worked as some ofthe bigger company sites are going to be.
But that's really commonin in homeschool curriculum.
So it has instructions for 16
custom models, detailed an in-depthexplanation of physics principles
(04:41):
and how they translate applicationof principles.
It's a series workbook,so it contains recipes and things
because it's part of their edibleKnowledge brand.
You can look at what's inside.
There's a full YouTube video.
There's a couple, samplesthat you can check out
and understandingof their schedule, $69 to buy this.
(05:02):
And then they do tell you there's the Legoparts needed and the 16 week schedule.
I'm just going to click on the Lego partsneeded to give you just an idea.
Okay, that did not work.
Okay.
Well, there you go.
Lego parts needed.
They usually have an item number,and then you just log on to their site
(05:22):
and order them.
You just have to be really meticulous
about stayingwhere you're at as far as ordering.
So this is kind ofwhat started the thinking.
And then I was like, you know what,I want that that's the thing I want.
I want Lego physics. Okay.
So we started with edible Knowledgeand moved into
I started googling what is out there now.
Physics online.com has some instruction
(05:47):
for various things that you can build
YouTube videos,various things that you can build
for Lego physics.
Now this site also links to whatI'm going to show you next, which is Queen
Mary University has some more plans
for things, lesson plans for teachers,for physics, and things involving
(06:11):
Legos, explaining particle physicswith Legos, vision and fusion with Legos.
And it has full lesson plans onhow to do that.
However, none of this is exactlywhat I wanted or needed
because none of it is a full thought outcurriculum.
That is where I came across Lego.
Education has some options for thingsjust like that.
(06:33):
Okay, they offer pre-K and kindergarten,elementary and middle school options.
They have blogs talking about resources.
They've got products, they've got apps,they've got teacher things.
They've it's all standardsaligned for every state.
I'm going to show you in just a minute.
And it's got kits and modelsand things that you can just buy and do.
(06:53):
And it's it's super cool. Okay.
So I'm going to show you at the very topthere's teacher resources.
So let me open this up in a new tab.
And then we'll come back to itin a minute.
You can go steam three levels.
Science grades K through 12.
Grades three through five, grades 6 or 8.
This is marketable.
These are for schools okay.
(07:14):
It's not for homeschool. It's for schools.
But each kit covers a couple of kids.
And I'm going to show youif you can hear my kids screaming,
they're two floors away playingvideo games, video games.
Okay, so teacher resources.
Okay, lots of videos.
I've watched them all on how to do links,
(07:35):
downloading the Lego EducationSpike app, professional development,
product resources, libraries,learning system resources.
On this page
I have requested a meeting twice.
I requested a meeting multiple times,and every time I get the email
that I will be contacting soonby someone who will tell me more things.
Both times I've not been contacted at all,let alone soon
(07:58):
by somebody who will tell me more thingsbecause I would like more feedback on
homeschool resources.
What is this going to be like?
And here's why.
If I go to Stem, steam,
I'm going to circle back to steam.
Okay, so
it's a webinar in a couple days
(08:19):
I might have to watch on.
Let's go over to science first.
So science,
I went ahead
and clicked in the middle schoolbecause that is what is applicable to me.
Preorder ships August 2025.
So this is new.
And this I believe speculation
(08:40):
is replacing one of their other kitsthat is retiring soon.
So that's usually not a coincidence.
So you can buy one of these kitslike an individual would.
And it will cover for students per kit,
which is highly intend to do this formy homeschool because I have two students
and with the purchase of this,it tells you this is made for teachers
(09:03):
so it fits in a single class.
Period.
Engages all students in scienceready to go when you are.
It tells you how to do it, how to follow,what to do.
You can preview facilitation next.
Okay, ready to go classroom videosthat are ready to put up on the board.
Notes okay.
Built in formative assessment.
(09:23):
It follows the five year model.
It aligns to all standards.
And you can search by your stateright here.
So let me just give you an ideaas far as text is if I may view my state
standards, it comes up and tells mewhat is checked, how it is going,
why it goes that way,and anything that can do this to me
tells me it'sbeen really well thought out.
(09:44):
Okay, so when you get down here,
it tells you that
it has 40 lessons,which is a lot of lessons.
Especially for like a school year,it's plenty.
This can be your full curriculumfor the school year. Okay.
So it tells you what all it comes with.
Sturdy stackable box classroom bundleincludes six, which there wouldn't be,
a double motor, a controller.
(10:05):
It's got everything you need here.
It's got a teacher portalwith 40 standards, online lessons
that cover life science, physical science,engineering, design,
Earth and space science.
Okay,so it covers all four avenues of that.
It is not specifically Lego physics.
And that is where my heartgot a little bit broken,
because I had in my mindthat we were going to do Lego physics.
(10:25):
Okay, so then when you come down here,it gives you more information about it.
Here's some frequently asked questions,which are, I feel like pretty good.
Like, why should I botherbuying this with you? Okay,
so this is an option.
I'm upset that it's not physics,but it's an option.
But let me show you what as a wholefamily we're leaning toward.
(10:48):
Okay.
So if you come to steam,I chose middle school.
Okay.
If you come down here gradessix through eight,
the Lego Education Spike Prime set.
Okay.
And it comes with all the thingsin this box which remind me to tell you
a story about the box in just a minute, 50plus hours of learning standards aligned
(11:09):
how many elements it has resources,professional development.
Okay, now this is the kitthat I believe is being replaced.
Now I am not sure yetbecause this Brick Key
Emotionkit is more of a standard physics kit.
So because of that,I kind of want to buy both
so that I can get what I want out of it.
(11:30):
So you come down here, there'sthis awesome side by side chart, okay.
And you can learn more hereby clicking straight through to it.
There's videos, there's information.
There's a special appwhich is really, really cool.
And if I think about itI will try to show it to you.
But there is a way I think there's a wayI can do it on the computer
to just kind of continue showing it.
(11:50):
Standards aligned is so cool.
There's things you can do.
It's got the unit plans,it explains how it works.
It explains how they came up with it.
Ready for steam competitions.
Now let me tell you, here in Houstonat the Georgia Brown Convention Center,
there are a lot and I've seen themso many times, robotics championships.
And you will see the group of kids,
(12:12):
all varying ages,and they've got their lanyards on.
And I kid you not, this past weekendwe were in the area
and I saw a group of kidsand they were carrying this box.
And I recognize a box because I've,you know, rabbit holes so hard on this.
I recognize the box.And it made me really happy.
It made me really happy to knowthat, like, that was a thing.
(12:32):
It's real, it's tangible.
And that made me excited.
Okay, so nowthis is why I see the brick motion covers
physical science,physics, engineering, Ela and math.
And then the price
spike Prime set has science, engineering,computer science, Ela, a math.
Now this spike print that there's also anexpansion pack that gets you more things.
(12:55):
But I don't feel like I need that.
But I feel like I might needboth of these.
Education brick Q motion Prime set.
So that's how I'm feeling now, the brickyou mentioned that only has ten lessons.
Okay. So it is a shorter.
You can click on itand it will take you in.
And you can look at allthe things that you could do.
Isn't this so cool. You can design
(13:15):
for someone okay.
And they've got it.
When you click into the lessons it'lltell you which one, which kit it's for.
So brick Q motion Prime helpsyou explore the design engineering process
and invent a desktop helper okay,so these are so cool.
And these are in the spikeprint set spike print set spike print set
(13:36):
I get to design it like a problemsolving prosthetic.
So I am not getting what I wantout of physics.
I think unless I add this Q motion,which I'm really tempted to do.
And yes, amI spending through the nose? Absolutely.
Do I care?Not even a little bit. I'm real excited.
So that also Iit tells you how long it's going to take.
(13:58):
Beginner intermediate
I am so excited about this.
My kids are excited.
Everybody in my house is so excitedabout this prospect.
And it's it, it is, it is exciting.
And look at all the things you can coverhere.
How to start a businesscompetition. Ready?
Making your own pedometer.
And then they've got some lessonsthat can buy both.
(14:19):
So therefore I need both.
I'm so excited I guys I'm so excited.
Now, students set for the Lego educationspike project is to okay.
And same thing with the brick cuemotion Prime set.
It covers to student hybrid learning.
Now hybrid. Here's the expansions.
You can buy all the thingsyou can buy more things you can buy this
little education spike prime extension setwhich I don't know why I need that.
(14:43):
I have no idea why I would need that.
So I think I'm going to skip that.
I'm really leaning toward the brick set,and it does come with replacement things,
and it comes with all this cool stuff,and it's super cool and super amazing.
But let me show youwhat I think is like the coolest part.
And it is the app.
You got to see the app, I guess.
(15:05):
Where is it?
Give me a minute.
I'm going to find it.
Lego education spike.
Is that what I went?
Yes it is.
So they have spike essential
which I think is for the littlesand Spike Prime which is for the bigs.
(15:26):
Now it's an app that we can download
to the tabletthat will do all the things for them
or you can do it right in your browser,which might be how we do it,
because we have the big TVthat is a computer.
So the Spike Prime comes with the app.
Okay. Confirm you've got it.
(15:47):
All right.
And it is more of coding problemsolving system, the whole thing.
You can start a new project.You can open a project.
You can startget ready in several easy steps.
Here's the units.
You can just choose one.
Unit plans building instructions okay.
It is so cool.
Let's go to unit plans okay.
We are going to go to Lookcompetition. Ready.
(16:09):
How cool is that?
First of all robotics competition ready.
So cool.
Training trackers.
Okay, I'm just picking one.
Time for jump squatsand it's going to take you 30 minutes.
Watch your steps. Here you go.
Explore kinetic energyduring a movement at constant speed.
It gives you a video okay.
It gives you a video on how to do it.
(16:31):
Here is your lesson plan.
You got to be a grownup.
0400I am over 18.
Here we go.
Okay, here's your lesson plan.
Everything you need to know.So this is teacher support okay.
How long it's going to take.It's advanced.
Here's what we need to know beforethe lesson here we're going nine A lesson.
We've got key objectives.
We got things we need.
(16:52):
Additional resourceseducational standards. Boom.
You want to know what it's about. Thereyou go.
Additional resources. Boom boom boom boom.
Look at this.
Elaborate. It's got the five E's.
It tells you how long it's going to take.
Student materialsview online download view
share a HTML printableteacher observation checklist.
It letsyou know how you're going to assess it.
(17:13):
Here's some buildingtips. Here's some coding tips.
If you they need to phone a friendand get you in here helping them out.
It tells you everything you need to do.
Did you see that?
Here's the language arts extension.
Ask your students to researchhow smartwatches your friends record
step counts.
Have them write a short explanationof how the technology works.
I am so stinking excited about this.
It is not physics. It's not physics.
(17:37):
And I'm upset.
But it is now.
I just clicked on the student assessment.
It is so stinking cool.
It is so cool.
I am excited that I get the opportunityto do something like this for my kids.
Like I just I'm so excited.
Okay, so here's the here's the the video,but I don't want to
I don't want to play their video.But look at this.
If you look at this screen, guys,you can code it, you can code it.
(18:00):
And if your kids have ever, evergotten their hands on scratch
coding or scratch junior,it is the same setup.
This is scratch based coding for your LegoSpike Prime.
Okay, I am so excited!
I am so excited about this.
(18:21):
Like it is.
It is expensive,it is expensive and I'm leaning
hard into Spike Primeand adding the brick key motion.
I am so excited now.
It's not physics, it's not physics.
And that just breaks my heartbecause that is what I had in mind.
But it is the last year.
Let's go look at a lower grade.Just since I'm goofing off.
(18:43):
It is the last year that we really get
to kind of pick what science we do.
So if they get more coding,oh my god, so cute.
If they get more coding,if they get a varied bit of science,
that's really excitingthat they really love.
Before going into because my oldestwill be going into high school.
(19:03):
So before I go into those specialized,specific levels of science,
it is what I'm excited.
I'm at peace with it. It's so exciting.
It's so cool.
It looks likeall of these sets are retiring soon.
I just
I'm I am excited.
They are excited if we wait until.
(19:26):
Okay, so this is the spike.
Essentially, if we wait until
school to open this up,
I will genuinely be so incredibly shocked.
You can get more parts if you need moretechno hubs or more sensors or things like
because it's Lego, right?
Each piece is adorable.
Each piece is doable.
It's so cool, so cool.
(19:48):
It's so cool.
And I just, I just I can'tand I don't think that the science kit
is right for us, because if I can do
a lot more with the other stuff,I think that's so cool.
I don't need a full classroom set.
I want it to be fun and amazing.
And again, it's not out yetand they haven't returned my request
for meeting.
So based on the information I have at thisvery moment, this is how I'm leaning.
(20:13):
Everybody in my house is excited.
And that makes me really,really, really happy.
So, yeah, one more thought here.
If I'm spending this much money, I mightas well get my 108 lessons, out of it.
Right?
So, guys, I hope that you enjoyed this.
Look at what we're looking at.
So there is the, the physics.
(20:34):
And this is brick independent, sothis doesn't include your bricks for $69.
Covers 16 custom models.
Okay, there's a few free resources hereyou can use,
and probably any Legos that you have,as long as you've got the right bits.
But then we're looking at Lego steam,Lego science,
Lego Science
is more expensive,but it does cover more students.
(20:56):
So it covers for as opposed to the SpikePrime set,
which covers two students
and is a little less expensivethen I'm probably gonna add in.
I probably will in add in the,the brick, the brick as well.
So that's how I, I'm leaning.
I know it's wild.
And yes, man,you want to talk about, like, high end.
(21:20):
Oh, well, the cost, but
I'm lookingat it as it's all their projects,
all their experiments, all their labsfor the whole year,
independent of the science classeswill go to and all the supplies set.
Is it really for two kit? Is thereis it really.
I mean, if it shakes out, if I'm spending
I mean, let's just say let's just sayafter tax shipping, the whole
(21:40):
the whole enchilada.
600 bucks for both kids for science.
That's 300 bucks each kid covering everysingle bit of resource they will need.
Not to mention, I imagine this probablywill have a fairly decent resale value,
when it comes to the end of the year,as long as I can keep all the pieces
in the right spot so that.
But also I can see them using
this just forever and ever and everand ever and ever and ever, ever.
(22:03):
Because it's a Lego like, it's so cool.
I just I don't even know what this isgoing to go.
And I'm so excited to get our hands on itand to share.
So it's not Lego physicsand I'm sad, but I'm really excited.
One more note I wanted to make.
I'm pretty sure anybody can downloadthe spike app,
so if you just want, go check it out,go there and check it out.
(22:24):
Well guys, those are my thoughts.
That's how I'm leaning.
Going from free science to,I mean, pretty high
cost science is something,but I think it will be valuable.
I think it will be enjoyable.
And I am looking forwardto doing this with my girls.
I do think that they will love it.
It's not what I had originally intended,and I think that that's okay.
(22:48):
It's important to pivot where you can.
They will get those other lessons later,but everyone is really excited
to get our hands on this piece,and so I am very excited
to let my kids have some say in that,because science should be fun.
I'm a huge believerif science isn't found.
That's why I hate just kind of like stalestandard, just textbook kind of science.
(23:09):
I don't love that.
I want it to be messy.I want you to be in it.
I want you to enjoy it.
I want you to understandwhy you're doing it.
That is really important to me.
And it's really important to meto foster those, you know, steam
subjects with my girlsto make sure that they know
that they can do anything they want to do,even in male dominated fields.
I want to set them up for maximum success.
(23:31):
And the way that we're going to do
that is by making surethat they're having fun along the way.
So that is how we are leaning.
Very excited for scienceheading into next year.
And like I said,
it is
not inexpensive,but I am hoping that the value is there
(23:51):
and I will keepyou guys posted on how it is going.
I will share with you the unboxing,of course, whenever it comes in,
and I am curious to hear,how are you doing with secular science
options for next year?
What are you looking at?
If you'd like to,we do this every year as well.
We collect the resources,so drop it down below in the comments.
(24:13):
Either links are not always auto approved,but if you drop, like the name
and then like, you know, elementaryor early elementary, middle school
or high school, things like that,
that can be incredibly helpfulfor everybody who is sourcing and,
you know, researching, as we do on YouTubeto find what fits for the upcoming year.
So super helpful.
(24:33):
I love that these are always socollaborative and enlightening,
and you guys always have the best answers.
So please, please dodrop down to the comments and share guys.
I think that's it for this one.
Oh, I did fail to mentionwe will also be supplementing with,
live in-person
classes monthlyat the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
I for the first timeever, I'm in charge of that.
(24:57):
And I will come back here and show you.
I just want to take youthrough the steps of that,
because so many timesI've gotten so many questions.
How did you find that? What is that?
And so being that I am in chargethis year, I'm going to walk you through
what it's like organizinga class like this one.
If you're in the area,you'll know how to do it
for your group too,so that if you aren't in the area
and you're like me and does my sciencemuseum do this, you can go to them.
(25:20):
You will know what to look for,you will know the questions to ask,
and if nothing else,
you can maybe encourage themto start something like that
because they have been incredibly valuableto us over the years.
We were so sad to miss out on themfor this past school year.
So yes.
All right guys, I think that's it.
I hope that you found this helpful,entertaining or informative.
(25:40):
If you did, please scroll down, hitthe big red subscribe
button, turn on the bell for notificationsand give this video a thumbs up.
As always,you can find me down in the comments
or over on Instagramat Making Everyday Magic.
Yeah, okay,
so just sending that literallyjust popped into my head.
We spent a lot of money on Lego sets,so really the fact that
(26:01):
this one actually has legsand significant educational component to
it is honestly like a little bitgratifying as far as the dollar spent.
So I'm just throwing that out there too.
It's like added value to what are alreadyexpensive Lego sets right?
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