STARBASE Camp for John

Our fifth grader John had a wonderful opportunity this week of attending STARBASE, a free day camp (Mon.-Fri. 9:30-2:30) for fifth graders hosted by the Department of Defense. (Their fifth day of shooting off the rockets has been postponed due to inclement weather.)

"Mission Statement: To expose our nation’s youth to the technological environments and positive civilian and military role models found on Active, Guard, and Reserve military bases and installations, nurture a winning network of collaborators, and build mutual loyalty within our communities, by providing 25 hours of exemplary hands-on instruction and activities that meet or exceed the National Standards."

The space station he designed on AutoCAD

STARBASE camps are located all over the country: here in Charlotte, it was hosted at the National Guard air base. This meant that we parents had to undergo background checks and John got to witness soldiers walking around with guns when he was there, which added to the "cool factor."

His STARBASE rocket kit

While I had never heard of STARBASE camps, they have been going on for 26 years now. John's teachers told him that this was the first week of STARBASE for homeschoolers, but I don't have clarity on whether that is true only in Charlotte or nationally. What I do know is that when Starbase was advertised to us homeschoolers--by an organizer on Facebook, of all places--I happened to be online and the program filled up within a few hours; in fact, they ended up hosting two week-long programs because of the popular response.

Doing an egg drop with Eggbert Einstein

Below is what STARBASE taught to our science-loving boy . . . although he would tell you about all the hands-on science experiments he did, how he designed his own space station on AutoCAD, how he printed out something on a 3-D printer that took 30 hours to do it, and how he built a rocket ship. Plus he learned about the concept of "trading for better stuff" with other kids at lunch time!

DoD STARBASE Curriculum

Physics

A. Newton's Three Laws of Motion

B. Fluid Mechanics and Aerodynamics

Chemistry Sciences

A. Building Blocks of Matter

B. Physical and Chemical Changes

C. Atmospheric Properties

Technology

A. Innovations

B. Navigation and Mapping

Engineering

A. Engineering Design Process (EDP)

B. 3-D Computer-Aided Design (3.0 hrs as mandated by OASD/RA)

Mathematics Operations & Applications

A. Numbers and Number Relationships

B. Measurement

C. Geometry

D. Data Analysis

STEM Careers

A. STEM Careers on Military Facilities

B. Personal Investigations

This week was a totally new experience for these homeschooling parents (meaning, Chris and me). Overall, I think the camp was a benefit to our family, although I didn't like my husband being on the road for 10 hours over the course of the week driving John to-and-fro, I missed my son being around, this did not build sibling closeness, and it was absolutely foreign for me to have to ask John what he did that day. My personal judgement: It's great to be able to have small tastes of these wonderful experiences, but this week also shows me why full-time school-school outside the home is not what we want for our family.