Bigger Hearts for His Glory:
Today was our last day with Bigger Hearts for His Glory. I feel like crying - out of sadness and out of joy - as it was just such an amazing time spent together that I'm sad it's done, but happy we loved it so much. I went crazy with the camera, so get ready for a bunch of pictures. I think I wanted to capture every moment of it this week.
Riley has become such a good artist - he really is just a natural, and he enjoys artistic projects so much. Every mom deserves a Riley. He is just such a happy little fellow, so full of joy about anything and everything to do with school. Not that he is a quick worker, or that he is oozing with great attention to task, but he is definitely my dear son that will take time to smell the roses in life.
Here Riley is making a replica of our state's license plate - can you see the little Mount Rushmore faces down on the left?
Here Riley added to a map he'd begun to create in a previous unit. There was quite a bit to write on this assignment, but he has grown into this amount of writing and did it with no problems...
Here we made soda pop together, for science, and I liked the sweet taste of it. It was too sweet for him though (can it be possible a child of mine does not share my renowned sweet tooth?!?
)...
We studied the Statue of Liberty, and here is his art project that went along with that reading - can you see Lady Liberty's crown?
In Journeys in Time for history we read about migrant workers, and Riley couldn't believe that this is a way of life still practiced here in the US. My parents enjoyed meeting some migrant workers in CA and marveled at their ability to work so efficiently. They also were inspired by their singing of praise songs as they worked. Here Riley painted and labeled the crops picked by the workers mentioned in the story...
Riley has absolutely loved reading about Thomas Edison. Wyatt and he have had some great conversations about him, as Wyatt is also reading about inventors in RevtoRev. There are lots of, "Hey, did you know that...?!?" Pretty neat. Here is Riley's notebooking assignment about Thomas Edison...
As a finale to grammar, Riley made a poetry book of the end of the unit's poems in R & S English. I loved this assignment in BHFHG. It turned out so well, and Riley really loves poetry, thanks to his years in Beyond and BHFHG...
As I was just saying - Riley LOVES poetry. When asked to read one of his favorite poems from the year, he said, "Can't I read them alllllll?" "No" says practical mom. "Can I read it with the microphone?" "Yes, and you can read 5" says loving mom.
By the close of poem #5 the volume and the "echo" dials on the karaoke machine were UP LOUD, as high as they would go. Loved the enthusiasm, but glad we stopped with 5.
Riley's science experiment involved fire and soda pop - naturally a big hit with him.
Here he learned that a lit match (or butane lighter) will immediately go out when there is a lack of oxygen, or in this case, an influx of carbon dioxide from root beer.
Cheers!
In math, Riley used cubes to learn that the shape of an object can be different while the area remains the same...
What did I tell you - CRAZY with the CAMERA - wasn't I? Anyway, what an incredible year with Bigger Hearts. For those of you just starting it, you are in for a fantastic year of growth and joy - may I please live vicariously through you until my youngest gets to do it?!?
In Christ,
Julie
). Half-speed was the plan, Full-speed was the reality. It was so smooth and easy, we just breezed through our mornings with plenty of time for everything else we wanted to do - like finally being able to take a neighborhood nature walk since it was in the 70's, not 100's for a change. 
I remember being amazed at the skill growth in both of my oldest as they completed the program. I felt like I didn't notice many of the changes until the end when I looked back at their work from the beginning! And WOW on the baked apples and raspberries! They look delicious!