Letter V - V is for Volcano (Landforms)

Daily Learning Notebook:
 - Jackson: Confessions of a Homeschooler
 - Alex: 1+1+1=1

LDS Scripture Verse: 

"Verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life." -John 6:47

Reading List:

1. The Magic School Bus: Voyage to the Volcano by Judith Bauer Stamper

2. Earthscapes: Landforms Sculpted by Water, Wind, and Ice by Jerry Wermund

3. Into the Volcano by Donna Donovan-O'Meara

4. Krakatoa: History's Loudest Volcano by Kathy Furgang

5. America's Top 10 Natural Wonders by Edward Ricciuti

6. Landforms by Brian Knapp

DAY 1

Our letter sound box included a foam letter V, our sign-language card, Vader (as in Darth Vader), a vampire (Count Dracula), a van, vitamins, vegetables (container of baby carrots), a vase card, and a violin card.

As we sorted through our objects and talked about the theme of volcanoes, the boys decided to snack on the baby carrots.

I really wanted to show the boys this Youtube video for a quick explanation of how volcanoes work, but we had some technical difficulties.  As in, the internet in our entire neighborhood was out all morning.  "I love technology..." *Kip singing on Napolean Dynamite*

I had to improvise.  I used the library book pictures to help explain the basic idea of what a volcano is and how they work.

We then used the ordering cards from Tot School Printables to put our volcanic eruption pictures in order.

And the boys colored volcano pages from the Tot School Printables, as well.

I had planned to end the school day watching an episode of The Magic School Bus about volcanoes, but...no internet.  The episode is Season 2, Episode 1: "The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top."

I also borrowed The Magic School Bus: Voyage to the Volcano from the library to read with the boys.  This was the first chapter book we attempted, and they loved reading a chapter or two each day!  Jack, especially, has great recall for the story.

DAY 2

This day was completely focused on building a paper-mache volcano.  Sometimes I get ideas in my head that are just way over the top for their ages, but this actually turned out to be a pretty fun project.  I found some basic instructions online and supplies in my recycling bin and got to work!

I hot-glued a plastic juice container in the middle of a piece of cardboard.  Then I wrapped some brown packaging paper around the "vent" and used the glue gun to attach it.  I was trying to create a base shape for the paper-mache strips to attach to.

Then I mixed up flour and water to make the paste.  Jackson helped me with all the strips.  He LOVED dipping them in the glue and placing them around the volcano base.  Alex, on the other hand, volunteered his stirring abilities.  He would not touch the glue!  He just stirred it the whole time.  This wasn't too surprising, since he usually hates having dirty hands.

Jackson insisted we use every single strip of that paper, so we covered it!  It took 2-3 days to completely dry.

WAITING...

The boys practiced a lot of cutting while we waited for the volcano to dry.  :)

We also took a field trip to one of our favorite places - a pond. We saw some of the landforms we were discussing this week (like pond, river, waterfall, etc...) as we played.

The boys also enjoyed jumping out at me from behind trees as we walked along the trails.  

DAY 3

 The boys completed a few worksheets right off the bat this morning.  Alex used markers to color his do-a-dot worksheet, and Jackson used IKEA stamp pens to do his letter hunt.

The next activity we worked on together. I printed off two copies of the landform vocabulary page from Tot School Printables.  One copy was printed on cardstock and did not include the words, while the other copy was printed with the words on it.  I cut up the cardstock copy without words and taught the boys what each landform was.  I had gone through my library books before-hand and made notes of examples of each landform, so we were able to match the cards with pictures in the books.

The familiar site of mountains

Learning about canyons

Geysers - a brand new concept

 After we learned about the different landforms and the boys took turns naming them all for me (checking for understanding), I pulled out the page with the words and they worked together to match the cards with the pictures on the page.  Just another opportunity to review the landform vocabulary words!

Alex decided he wanted to match the pictures a second time, while Jackson moved on to some math work.  He separated our counting bears by colors. 

And then he used our number worksheets and bears to show representations of the numbers 1-10.

While waiting for his turn at the bears, Alex decided to play with our magnetic letters.

Since school has been a bit sporadic in the last month or so, I decided to pull out the laminated name-writing pages for extra practice.  Jackson appreciated it, and was finally able to write the letter 'K' all on his own!  That one has been a struggle for him, but he finally got it today!  He was so proud of himself.

We had three chapters left in our Magic School Bus book, so I began reading it aloud while they worked on their various activities.  It was actually a really fun, calm environment for working in, and we even finished the story!  I will definitely be using Read-Aloud again in the future, and I'm excited to try some more chapter books with them.

Hard at work

 Alex finally took a turn sorting the bears into their various cups.

 Our volcano was finally dry, so we pulled out our acrylic paints and brushes and got to work!  All three of us worked together to paint the volcano. After the initial paint layers dried, I added a layer of Modge Podge to (hopefully) preserve it for future eruptions.

THE ERUPTION

The moment of truth finally arrived!

I put 4 tablespoons of baking soda into the volcano, and mixed 1 cup of white vinegar and 3-4 drops of food coloring in a measuring cup.  We had no red food dye, so the boys chose blue for the lava.

We took the volcano outside and my husband poured the vinegar in while we watched.

Getting ready to pour

Pouring about half of the vinegar mixture in

The initial eruption

Lovely

And...after pouring the rest of the vinegar in

A lot more lava!

The boys watching the lava ooze off our board.

We had a lot of fun learning about volcanoes and landforms this week!

Current Skin Care Products

It's been awhile since I last wrote about the skin care products I use.  Some things have stayed the same, while other things have changed.

I know soap isn't necessarily something you think of with "skin care," but the right soap really makes a huge difference!  For awhile I started to get really dry hands, again, and no amount of lotion would fix it.  I couldn't figure out what was going on...until I realized I had been going cheap with hand soap because "natural" hand soaps are so expensive.  I found this tutorial online about how to turn a bar of castile soap into a gallon of hand soap.  I bought the soap bar at my local grocer, and ordered the vegetable glycerin online.  Making the soap was fairly easy, and about three days after we started using this new hand soap I realized I no longer had dry hands!  My skin was completely smooth again!  So switching to a more gentle soap is the first step to healthier skin.  :)

Dr. Bronner's Citrus Castile Soap Bar EWG Rating = 1

Here are my face products.  I keep a small bottle of olive oil to remove eye makeup in the evenings.  Then I use either my Avalon Organics facial cleansing milk, or my homemade skin cleanser.  I just recently started using this homemade cleanser, but so far it has done a great job!  My other new discovery in the last year is the Wonder cloth.  This is great as a facial washcloth, as it is able to remove dirt and makeup that was left behind even after washing with soap.  It is advertised to be able to clean without a facial cleanser, but I tried that for a week or two and wasn't happy with the results.  So for now I use olive oil to remove eye makeup, the homemade skin cleanser, and the Wonder cloth as a final wipe-down.  I know that Norwex also has microfiber cloths for the face, similar to the Wonder cloth, but I have never tried them. I do still use this face scrub once in awhile, as well.

Avalon Organics CoQ10 Facial Cleansing Milk EWG Rating = 3

My moisturizer-type products have grown a bit.  The Honest Company Face+Body Lotion is still my go-to lotion for quick moisturizing and to keep in my bag when I'm out and about.  I recently made this homemade lotion from Wellness Mama with a lot of specialized ingredients.  Once my mixture cooled, it looked nothing like what was pictured (pictured in the black container on the left in the picture below).  Although it is great as a moisturizer, I think I need to remelt it with some more beeswax to firm it up a bit more.  I also made this eye cream to use at night before bed.  I love how simple the recipe was, using things I already had at home.  

Honest Face+Body Lotion EWG Rating = 1

Deodorant has been a big deal for me.  I got really into making my own deodorant (using this recipe), and it felt great.  It actually worked.  And then I had a few unfortunate experiences last summer that made me think a little differently.  The first experience was a trip my husband and I took to a friend's wedding across the county.  During the flight, my homemade deodorant melted, and it resolidified without me mixing it back up.  Unbeknownst to me, the wetness-absorbing components sank to the bottom and the oil stayed on top.  So for the actual wedding I unknowingly applied coconut oil (only), which made for a very embarrassing evening.  The second incident happened during a roadtrip to see family.  Again, the homemade deodorant melted en route and leaked out of the (apparently NOT water-proof) container onto the rest of my toiletries.  The oil had melted out and left only the baking soda and cornstarch remaining, which irritated me greatly.  Living in a desert means I either had to refrigerate my deodorant, or constantly watch it melt and reform, hoping to mix it correctly in between times.  A big lesson I've learned during these past few years is that the hippie life does NOT have to be completely 100%.  Some changes are totally sustainable, while others I decided to give up.  Deodorant, for now, has been one of the things I decided not to worry about making myself.  As a compromise, I found a few good products that I can use.  The first one I found is Kiss My Face Natural Active Life Deodorant, Fragrance-Free.  While this deodorant is gentle, I do find that I need to re-apply it throughout the day. The real winner, for me, is Honestly pHresh Sugar Mint Deodorant.  It works perfect and smells great!

Kiss My Face Natural Active Life Deodorant Stick, Fragrance-Free EWG Rating = 2

*I believe this is the same product, although the packaging looks different

Honestly pHresh Sugar Mint Deodorant EWG Rating = 3

*The rating killer for this is the fragrance, although the actual packaging claims the fragrance is "naturally-derived."

The last item I wanted to include for my current skin care is sunscreen.  My medications make me more sensitive to the sun, so I wear sunscreen on my face almost every single day.  My favorite is The Honest Company's Honest Sunscreen.  This works for me and for the boys, because...why do we need different ones?  

The Honest Company's Honest Sunscreen EWG Rating = 1