http://www.educatenxt.com/
Here is a link to a very affordable ($55) curriculum. I bought this after we
had finished our first year of competition, and was so sad I didn't know about
it before hand. Yes, you can hobble together some great materials on line! But
if you don't know what you're doing- as in you've never used the materials and
aren't familiar teaching this programming- this program is simple enough,
clearly explained and step by step enough to work you through the process. My
only complaint is that it includes a ton of worksheet for the kids, but the disc
is a power point presentation not the handouts, so I spent a bit of time copying
papers for the my kids. I finally learned what we really needed and what we
didn't so I was able to stop copying entire chapters. Small learning curve :)
I also have the $75 (for individuals, $260 for schools) Carnegie Mellon Robot
Engineering program, and I still use lessons from the Educate NXT. I loved the
videos of the C.M. program, and we watched them twice so the kids really get
what we're doing, but I really liked the flow and highly interactive,
mini-challenge design of E.N. Personally, I think the two programs together
make a superb program.

When we met for programming lessons with my group, we met for 2 hours, twice
a month. February thru late May. When we got the mat, we went right to work on
figuring out what design of robot would be best for this challenge board.

Another area you can practice starting now is the core value area, where the kids gain insight into how they can best communicate with each other and work together with the upmost respect.  I do think kids (and some adults) have a lot to be taught, or practiced is probably the better word, in this area.   You can practice this event by given them any simple to complex tasks that attempt to solve in 5 minutes.
Here's a page that can give you some ideas-
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze2z83j/ic/id1.html
You have to download the challenges, but they are virus free and chuck full of great challenges to try with your team.
The most important part to remember is that the challenge itself doens't matter, it's how they worked together.  Debrief your team after each exercise-
Was there a clear leader in the group? (let them know it's fine to have a leader, some kids strength will rise to the top when they feel they can excel at a challenge, but all team members should feel heard and respected.)
Did everyone feel they had a part to play in the challenge?
Did anyone feel they contributed to the solution?  If not, how can help our teammates feel free to speak up? Or how can you help your teammates hear your ideas?
What would you do differently if you could do it again?

We switch off competing in small groups and doing them as a whole group.

We practice productive communication- no blaming or focusing on the negative. Everything is phrased as a positive as much as possible.  You don't have to do many of these before your team starts to get a little better at talking to each other and making sure everyone feels involved.  My kids practice different jobs- one person is the time keeper of the activity, one person is the rule keeper- (what was the task at hand?), one person is the idea elicitor- they need to make sure everyone spoke up about their idea, or ask, "does any one have any other ideas?" Before the group proceeds to the creation of the task, and each person is responsible for sharing or thanking another team member for putting their idea out there. After a while, it becomes habit and they will do it in the instant challenges without being reminded as well as in the regular meeting times. :)
  They also learn to talk to each other in a way that helps get more responses from each other.  My team regularly says, "That's one good idea. Are there any others?" or, "Can we consider x, y, z idea?" as a way to introduce ideas without putting your teammate's idea down.  I saw how my new members this year came to these practice challenges and my old team members who had practiced these skills were clearly more diplomatic, helped the entire group work together better and generated more success at the tasks compared than the newer members. So I do think there is something to be said for practicing core values. Not to mention, this is a life skill that can really help people throughout their lives.

I absolutely love FLL! Have fun.
Regards,
Brandy

On Wed, Feb 22, 2012 at 9:21 PM, Jeff Lavezzo <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hi folks,
I'm totally new to mindstorms and am looking for a FLL group in Charlottesville for my 12 yr old daughter.  I'm a software engineer and am glad to help with the team. Additionally, my company will sponsor a FLL team if I'm involved.

I think there are at least 1 other parent and 12 yr old daughter that I know who would join up and at most 2 other parents and three 11-12 yr old boys who would join.

Anyone know of FLL teams in Charlottesville?

Thanks

Jeff Lavezzo
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