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FLL Discover (preK-1st grade):
The schedule at the Discover level can be super flexible. After school (before supper), or after supper in the evenings, weekdays, weekends, etc. Generally, the season runs from mid-August (September is just fine to start too), through the end of the year. However, if you’re not “competing” at an event, you can extend the season into January and beyond if you want, and meet less frequently, but a longer season.
One practice per week is probably sufficient, but as you observe progress and the kids attention span, if you have an end date in mind (or a competition), you may want to increase or decrease your practice schedule. There aren’t a lot of “rules” as to how you structure/schedule your practices, except to find something that works for the mentors, kids, and parents.
Also keep in mind that the Discover level is more of a “structured playdate”, so, although there is a curriculum and meeting plans you can follow, there’s a lot of flexibility as to what you do, when you do it, and how you do it. The primary objectives are to encourage and facilitate teamwork, fostering their natural curiosity, and just having fun.
This website has a nice video and content relating to FLL Discover that may make clarify some of the details: https://www.firstindianarobotics.org/fll-discover/
FLL Explore (2nd-3rd grade):
The schedule at the Explore level, can be just as flexible as Discover. After school (before supper), or after supper in the evenings, weekdays, weekends, etc. Generally, the season runs from mid-August (September is just fine to start too), through the end of the year. However, if you’re not “competing” at an event, you can extend the season into January and beyond if you want, and meet less frequently, but a longer season.
One practice per week is probably sufficient, but as you observe progress and the kids attention span, if you have an end date in mind (or a competition), you may want to increase or decrease your practice schedule. There aren’t a lot of “rules” as to how you structure/schedule your practices, except to find something that works for the mentors, kids, and parents.
The content of the Discover level practices should be a little more structured as supported by the kids’ growing maturity. There are optional “competitions” of a sort at the Discover level that require a level of time management to prepare for. And you have a bit more defined, formalized “objectives” to try to complete during the season.
As with the Discover level, there is a curriculum and meeting plans you can follow, but there’s still quite a bit of flexibility as to what you do, when you do it, and how you do it. The primary objectives are to build their problem solving skills, and encourage them to think about the world beyond their immediate surroundings. Teamwork is a center point of all levels of FIRST.
Here is a bit more structured information about mentoring an FLL Explore team: https://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/fll/explore/team-management-resources
This website has a nice video and content relating to FLL Explore that may make clarify some of the details: https://www.firstindianarobotics.org/fll-explore/
FLL Challenge (4th-8th grade):
By way of comparison, for the FLL Challenge level, I’ve found that two, 2-hour practices per week during the bulk of the season is generally required. Practices can be on weekdays, weekends, or both. Depending on mentor availability, you can practice after school (before supper), or after supper in the evenings. Some teams add an extra practice on a weekend day, but I never wanted to commit my weekends. In the week before a competition, sometimes we’d add an extra practice or two, just to get done what wasn’t yet done, but that was more of a one-time thing.
The season generally begins in mid-August (although beginning concurrently with school in September is plausible as well). We initially started in September, but found that those extra couple of practices were super helpful, and let the kids “warm up” after being away for the summer. Practices continue as long as the team is still competing. Regional tournaments are generally in late November-early December. You’ll compete at one regional tournament. If you advance to Sectionals, those are generally in mid-to-late-January, so that’s 1-2 months more practice if you advance beyond Regionals. The State tournament is generally the last week of February, so, again about 1.5 months more. In my first few years coaching, we’d stop practicing maybe 1 week after our last tournament (to give the kids a few practices to debrief). As I coached longer though, I saw a pattern that by August/September, most of the kids forgot what they’d learned WAY back in December/January. So, we continued practices, but generally only one 2-hour practice every OTHER week until the end of the school year. That made a huge difference, and they were really fun practices because there were no deadlines to be working on. The kids “played” a bit, and definitely learned more than they were able to when in the heat of a tournament season.
This website has a nice video and content relating to FLL Challenge that may make clarify some of the details: https://www.firstindianarobotics.org/fll-challenge/