Homeschool Fun - skull studies and show and tell night

We had a busy homeschool day.  We didn't get much done at home, but this afternoon we had a group class on skulls.

The boys got to explore real skulls and do some fun activities.  In case you're curious, the larger skull in the foreground is a black bear, and the smaller one behind it is a mountain lion.

One young man brought a fox skull he had found and preserved himself, but I didn't think to get a picture of it.  I loved that the boys were able to handle the skulls and really study them.

Sorry to include so many similar pictures, but the magnifying glasses just crack me up.

So studious!

 I was impressed with the amount of small bone structure still inside the nasal cavity.  I will say though, that I hope this is the closest view I ever get to a bear skull!

 The skull doesn't look to imposing until you imagine it covered with fur ... the head of a black bear right next to my two year old...

 One of the projects they did was to create a skull of their own.  It's kind of hard to see in this picture.

There were lots of papers for the kids to look at - pictures the skulls of different animals.  This page compared a wolf to a coyote skull.

The kids also did a project where they counted one another's teeth and recorded the results.  There was much discussion about different types of teeth - incisors, molars and canines - and what each was for.  And the kids classified skulls into predator/prey and carnivore/herbivore/omnivore categories based on their teeth and the position of their eyes.  They also did an activity where they had to identify an animal based on the skull - with a page of questions to help them figure it out.

 There was no real human skull to see, but a plastic one.

The little boys just wanted it to bite their fingers.

Shifting gears now...

 Tonight we had a get together with other homeschoolers for our kids to show and tell what they've been learning.  This was such a fun idea.  This mother/daughter team had just finished their studies of the civil war, and the daughter recited the Gettysburg address.

 They had such fun costumes!

The two year old was at the end of his rope when we first arrived.  With the skull class in the afternoon during normal nap time, we had to wake him to get to the evening show and tell on time.  He was not very happy about it, but thankfully sat on the floor eating his cereal while the kids did their presentations.

 The nine year old brought one of the stories he has written in our co-op Institute for Excellence in Writing class.  A couple of the other boys in the class read stories as well.

This young man has just learned how to read, and did an amazing job reading Psalm 23.  It was flawless, and one of the most touching moments of the night! :)  I think he's 5.

 Afterward, the kids all ran off some steam and enjoyed playing together.

 By the end of the night it looked like a battlefield :) but they all had a great time.  There was a good mix of presentations - some of the other things included one girl reciting a poem she had written, and another boy explaining a lap book he had made for his study of electricity. Some children just had things on a table for people to see and did not get up to explain them.

 I got lot of ideas for the next time we do this (which will be in about 3 months). We were supposed to have one of these nights back in November, but everyone headed out of town for Thanksgiving earlier than expected, so it was cancelled.  I hope we can keep these going more frequently.  It was fun and interesting.