Letterboxing at CELC
Today’s outdoor education class:
CELC students design and carve letterboxing stamps with Lucy Meigs of Everyone Outside.
Today’s outdoor education class:
CELC students design and carve letterboxing stamps with Lucy Meigs of Everyone Outside.
Dr. Nicholas Bellantoni, State Archeologist, will visit and speak with CELC students on Monday 30 January. He will share about his work in the field, as well as CT history and native peoples. Stay tuned for more news after Monday …!
DUE TUESDAY, 7 FEBRUARY -
Cover book
Read pp 280 – 281; do p. 281 Exercises # 1 and # 2
Sentences must be written or typed; answers only do not build skill and understanding and do not provide enough of a resource when preparing for chapter tests
DUE WEDNESDAY, 8 FEB
Cover textbook
+ Read pp 322 – 323
+ Do Exer # 1 and Exer #2
Sentences must be written or typed; only answers do not build skill and understanding and do not provide enough of a resource when preparing for chapter tests
DUE THURSDAY, 9 FEB
Cover book
Read pp 362 – 363
Do Exercise #1
Sentences must be written or typed; only answers do not build skill and understanding and do not provide enough of a resource when preparing for chapter tests
I wondered how it would feel to learn about these mysterious creatures. It is amazing how one small, scaly reptile can have so many different colors. I am surprised by how much knowledge I gained about snakes.
- J.S., CELC student
CT Experiential Learning Center (CELC) launched a Water Science Series in conjunction with the Whitney Water Center to benefit LifeStraw®. On 9 January, 2012, Peter Cleary, Communications Director with Vestergaard Frandsen, Incorporated – the company that created LifeStraw® – visited the Whitney Water Center to speak with students and families about its work to save lives. 
Brett Leckey, a 10-year old who initiated his own project devoted to LifeStraw®, also spoke about his fundraising efforts to better peoples’ lives throughout the world. Following the presentation, students attended a water science class entitled The Magic of Microscopy.
CELC students’ impressions about the event:
Millions of children gone everyday due to waterborne sickness. The trees that fell one by one to make a fire for boiling water. There was little hope for Kenya until the Vestergaard Frandsen company made a creation that won many awards, including 2000’s best invention.
This lifesaver is called LifeStraw®. It is a straw about the length of a pencil and the width of your thumb. LifeStraw® filters 99.9% of the read more
For the 23rd year, the National Geographic Society sponsored the National Geographic Bee for students in the fourth through eighth grades in thousands of schools across the United States and in the five U.S. territories, as well as in Department of Defense Dependents Schools around the world.

Connecticut Experiential Learning Center (CELC) is host for the National Geography Bee for all Connecticut homeschoolers.
On Monday, 23 January 2012 nine students took their places on the stage of the auditorium of the James Blackstone Memorial Library in Branford, Connecticut. These students have all been working to prepare for the day’s event – The National Geographic Geography Bee!
After the preliminary round containing seven questions to determine which four would be moving on, there was a tie for the third finalist and third-place winner. The tie-breaking round commenced, followed by a final championship round, which ultimately determined our 2012 Bee champion! 
Three groups, three jobs, and seven eager willing CELC students. Thumbs slowly become sore as each piece of wood is grasped by hands, and the pile slowly starts to grow. A loud sound races through the air as the wood splitter comes to life, ready to demolish the wood. The sudden crack sends the wood into two smaller pieces. Woodsplitting done, I am off to the chickens.
The noise of the chickens bounce back and forth through my skull.The rising smell sends me into NOT the best state, as I clear away the chicken dung from the ground. The fire wood still needs to be brought to the house by “mule”, so that’s where I’m off to next.
Crooked wood under my feet requires me to hold onto the top of the “mule”, as a quick jolt sends a trail of gas behind read more
For our theme study of Exploration and Discovery, we begin by having students relate to their own passions. The idea being that every explorer/discoverer probably begins with seed of inspiration that grows into a passion, leading to one’s exploration. Following is a student’s description of a passion project:
I shared my passion with CELC in two different ways. One was a short computer presentation, and the other was going on a hike and to the beach to take photographs. Those are two very different ways of teaching people something, and I believe they both work very well.
As we started on our hike, someone pointed out a deer on a nearby marshy island. It was quietly eating grass and weeds, maybe a hundred yards away. That was quite a start to our hike. As we walked along, people took pictures of mountain laurel groves and of new buds on a pine tree. One friend of mine found a beautiful, multicolored fall leaf to take a picture of. As the hike progressed further, I could tell that everybody was really enjoying themselves.
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