Since I brought it up under the Geometry Resources thread, and since others are talking about it elsewhere, I thought I'd start a whole new thread just for Lego Mindstorms...

I'm just about to buy the "retail" Mindstorms NXT kit (#8527, $244 at Amazon)... rather than the official FLL Mindstorms kit (#979792, $315 through FLL), mostly because between what we already own (bins and bins including a complete RCX kit from way back when) and the fact that our proposed team will have three NXT kits and one RCX among us, and plenty of extra parts, I'm thinking we can make up the difference on our own. I'm also ordering the NXT Zoo book as a fun summer introduction for the team, and I've already downloaded the "extra parts you need" list, which I think we've got covered..... I hope!

Anyway, what else would anyone suggest? I won't be able to keep myself from hitting "submit" for much longer, so talk fast!

Also on the Lego Engineering front, we did the "Elementary Engineering 1" curriculum using kit #9630 (Simple and Motorized Machines Set) with a group last fall and it was pretty fun... although DS has done simple machines with K'nex several times already, and there wasn't a lot more to it than that. I think the 2nd part ("Elementary Engineering 2") would be much more interesting, and probably doable for any kid who knew the simple machines already, without the first semester at all. It sounds like a different thing from what RPM9 was describing in the other thread (here) -- we had trebuchets, but no balloon cars (rubber band cars yes, but not balloon) and I don't see the carpet sweeper... So there might be another one or several out there!

We're new to all this Lego stuff. I'm considering starting a FLL team, since there doesn't seem to be one about for DS7 to join unless I start one, though there seems to be some interest in the local GT homeschooling community if the e-lists I belong to are any indication. Apparently no one wants the responsibility for running the show, though they may join if I start a team. *sigh*

Anyway, I'm reading this thread with interest and would appreciate any tips from anyone who can steer us in a good starting direction. We have no "fancy" Lego kits yet: just the basic bricks so far.

For a FLL team, do the kids all provide their own Lego kits? How does it work? When I see $200+ prices, I get a bit nervous about the financial commitment...especially if I'm coaching and expected to provide for more than just my own child!

Well I've only ever done JFLL before... It's cheaper, but a little more weighted toward "cute" and away from "challenging", especially at the higher ends of the age range. Not bad, just lighter. We did that with a four-boy team last year and had a lot of fun. The kit was about $100 and we shared the cost and then re-sold it at the end and shared the earnings, so it came out even.

This year we're proposing to do the FLL level, but from what I can tell four kids isn't enough (just workload-wise), so we're looking to add some. I think 8 seems about right... So the $200 registration and $65 setup kit will be split 8 ways (if I can pin down 8 people!) which isn't so bad. The official Mindstorms kit is $315 I think, and I'm guessing it has extra parts, although it is SO HARD to figure those things out from the website!! grrr... Anyway. I'm hoping we can make it on the retail version of NXT plus what we already own, but that means we're depending on two families' personal Legos (mine and one other) for our team use. On the plus side, we don't have to buy more for the team, and we don't have to figure out how to divvy them up at the end. On the minus side, parts could be lost. I'm completely OCD about that, and will be inventory-ing regularly, but it does make me nervous. I hate lost parts.

So our own financial outlay will be to buy our own Mindstorms kit (which I'd be doing anyway), and 1/8 of the registration and setup, which comes to about $33. Not too bad.

Take all this with a grain of salt though... I'm only starting out with the FLL level!

We'd probably go with JFLL ourselves for the first year, so as to stick a toe in instead of diving in. (See how much of a newbie I am! I didn't even think to specify between the "regular" and the "junior" leagues!)

Your advice is extremely valuable, Erica, salt or no salt! Thanks!

Oh, we did the carpet sweeper. It is in the Science and Tech kit which was renamed end of last year I believe.

That is why I did JFLL last year, to get my toe in the water. I think we'll do another year of JFLL, since DS is 8yrs old, and move into FLL when he's 9yrs old.

May I ask: what's involved in starting and running a JFLL team? What's the time commitment? How long does the commitment last? Can parents share the time burden, or does there have to be a consistency of coaching from one person?

Big thanks for this insight!

And please return to Erica's questions! I don't want to hijack the thread!

What is FLL? All this Lego stuff seems great but sooo expensive. (Also the Zome stuff). I'm not sure where to start. We've just got regular lego bricks and the Mars Mission Command Base. Pud is going to Lego camp this week and building and racing cars but he hasn't asked for any of it yet. I'll have to think on it.

My *totally inexperienced* understanding of it is that it's kind of like robotics engineering with Legos, so it's good for younger kids to start on, especially the engineer-y types, like my son. FLL stands for "First Lego League."

Here's the website I was directed to for info: http://www.firstlegoleague.org/default.aspx?pid=70 From there I found a local contact to ask about teams.

I don't know if that helps at all...

Or could try the FIRST site: FIRST home. There are links there to FIRST, FLL, JFLL, etc.

No doubt my family should be involved in one or more of these, but we're not so good at doing organized group things. I think highly of FIRST though.

DS9 did JFLL for one year and FLL last year, so I can throw my usual 2 cents out there.

The problem is posted in early September, and the final competitions (for us anyway) are typically in late January. So that's the "season". I've read recommendations of meeting twice weekly for 2 hours, but we only met once for 1.5 hours. Granted though, we had to kick butt over Christmas to get ready for January!

I found our 6 kid team to be an ideal size, but that was 6 very regular kids. We started out with 10, which is truly too big in my mind, but 4 dropped out early on (after realizing there was more to it than play, ). Only 2 kids can compete at the table at any given time, and I think three runs is the norm for a competition. So for us, the 6 kid team was ideal. Of course there is LOTS to do "behind the scenes" to get ready, and you can also alternate kids at the table within the time limits (we found this slowed us down).

I am considering co-coaching this year, but would not have been brave enough to jump right without the experience I now have. Jumping in on a junior team though isn't as scary sounding.

I did email the FLL folks last year about DS's "underage" status. There is a hard cut at 14 on the older end, but they told me that coach discretion was enough for the lower end. DS participated at 8, and after sharing that news with several other families, I know of quite a few in the 7/8 range that had great years. However, the JFLL league is a nice way to get your feet wet, especially if you are tagging alongside an FLL team from the same organization.

For those of you considering FLL teams on your own, keep in mind that you absolutely need a place to set up a pretty good sized playing field (pool table sized). It's really helpful if you can leave it set up all season!

DS participates through school, so I don't know anything about purchasing stuff. He's taking a camp next month on robotics, and hopefully we'll both learn from that.