Letter "V" Week...dun, dun, dun...VOLCANOES!

I'll bet you're all wondering where in the world we've been with our homeschooling and letter of the week activities. Well, let's just say that being HUGE and 8 months pregnant has slowed this girl down a bit and although we've still been doing our letter of the week, I have not been blogging about it. Sorry folks. =(

Anyway, you'll be glad to know that I took some pictures at our homeschool group gathering this week and thought I'd share. We studied the letter "V" this week and with that, have learned about volcanoes. We've been watching The Magic School Bus video about how volcanoes work, reading books about volcanoes and were able to make a clay volcano today, complete with a real eruption (thanks to my friend Darleen!). We do rotate houses each week, but it's always something educational, hands on and full of fun and mess (you have to make a mess for it to be truly fun right?) This week, Darleen did volcanoes with the letter "V" and next week, we're learning about weather at our house. *Note to self: start thinkin' about science experiments! I love studying weather (my father had originally gone to school to be a meteorologist), so this one will definately be fun. So here are the pics...

Books on volcanoes


Lincoln working hard at creating his letter "V" with popsicle sticks

Our volcano erupting

More erupting

Our volcanoes baking in the oven after bringing them home. This way, when they're cooled, the kids can paint them and keep them.

If you've been thinking "What in the world am I going to do over the summer while my kids are home from school?", start a summer learning group. I suggest a smaller one (maybe around 4-5 families involved so you can stay focused). Pick a theme for the week, take your children to the library once a week (or go once a month...ALONE like I do!) and check out books for the upcoming topics and read, read, read. Then, at some point during the week, have a day where your group gets together at someone's house and do some fun learning activites from making a yummy snack (based off your theme) to science experiments galore. Even the parents will have a blast!