November is over?  Is it really?  Well, here's to month three of school!  For a somewhat shortened month due to time off over Thanksgiving, we still learned quite a bit. 

The big joke on me this month was during our Bible time on Jacob and his ladder dream.  I thought a fun activity would be in order so I decided to teach him how to do the Jacob's Ladder finger string thingy--you know the one.  Every pre-adolescent girl in the world knows how to do these string things and heaven knows I've done them a billion times, but no!  Total brain fart.  Couldn't for the life of me figure out how to do it.  Even step by step instructions baffled my mind.  I think this has something to do with JayfromCleveland's old people post.   So, I threw in the string and we had a good time reminiscing about our legos tower of Babel! 

We are continuing our ABC's of Using Money God's Way and are enjoying the application parts of learning about spending, saving and giving.  Son got a neat new bank with three compartments and still wants to fill the church side with all his coins.  His chore list, which we call a "helps" list is going well.  These things, such as bed making and tending clothes and toys are part of family and personal stewardship and do not receive money.  Then we have a list of "helps for Mama" that get are extra "value" and earn money.  They include putting silverware away, putting away laundry, putting away groceries, helping with cleaning, etc.  He totally understands the difference which is exciting.  The only thing about the ABC's book I'm not thrilled with is the emphasis on 10% for giving and 10% for savings.  I think 80% to spend at age 6 is way too much.  There is not much that he wants that he'd need to spend money on.  Not to say he's spoiled, by any means, but it's just not something I think is appropriate for his age.  We have emphasized a third, a third, and a third for now.  As he understands this and want's to put more in giving, we let him.

On to other things!  We started cursive this month and it's going great.  We'll probably finish up introducing the cursive letter formations this next week.  We're using Cursive First, though we didn't do cursive first.  The copy sheets are an unbeatable value.  It made a daunting task very easy!  Boy, he was so ready for the transition.  His impecably neat printing was suddenly becoming unruly as he tried to "get creative" with his penmanship!  And smaller!  I was tired of the "top line to bottom line" argument.  I finally realized he was ready to write in the smaller cursive writing.

We had a fabulous time this month with the Bible in English link on the Chain of Christianity.  Reading about John Wycliff and William Tyndale, not to mention Martin Luther was so awesome and inspiring.  Having grown up in a very missions oriented church and home, I was very familiar with Wycliff Bible Translators and couldn't wait to show and tell my boy about some the people I know translating God's Word around the world.  They also had some wonderful activities on their website, like a code-breaker activity.  But the most amazing part was how much son wanted to know about the people. 

My dear Dad sent me our old church missions directory with pictures and they fascinated my boy.  The whole "real people" thing boggled his mind!  He was so very interested to know where people lived that didn't have God's Word.  Needless to say we had great discussions.  The most touching part was when he stood up and announced to me he needed a few minutes to go upstairs and pray alone.  He picked up the directory with the pictures and went up to my room.  I was speechless. 

I'm in the process of adding a prayer corner to our map/globe area. I hope to put up pictures and pin stick places.  I think I'll hang a picture of praying hands as a reminder, and maybe a cushion or two for the knees.

By the way...when studying Martin Luther and his hymns, we used the Hymns for a Kid's Heart Vol 1 book by Joni Earekson Tada & Bobbie Wolgemuth.  It was fabulous!

We are reading the original Pinocchio by Carlos Collodi.  There are a few "woo, what was that" moments for me as I read, but we were able to discuss things appropriately.  The character development is just so extraordinary, I can see why it is recommended at this age.  We're enjoying making our notebook on it each day.  I'll keep you posted as we finish it. 

As for the math thing...it finally kicked in this month!  It was sometimes questionable whether we should be moving at the recommended pace, but he's getting it for now! 

We also did the Christian Founding of America link, skipping Columbus for the time being so we could do the Pilgrims lessons before and during Thanksgiving.  I have to say, it was probably one of our most thoughtful Thanksgiving times just knowing our heritage so much better than before! 

We're a bit behind in our French studies, but hope to pick it and science, which was on a brief hiatus, up next week.  We're also excited about starting geography and studying the continents and their individuality.  Did I mention first grade is awesome?!!

Well, this is supposed to be about November...Son has now mastered the first 160 spelling words in the Wise Guide and has picked up his pace to 40 per week.  We shall see how that goes. 

His reading continues to improve and I'm a bit harried in the scramble to find living books at his reading level.  I have to remember to take lists with me to the library! 

That pretty much sums up the month.  We've begun our new advent book, Jotham's Journey by Arnold Ytreeide and are enjoying it as we look to Jesus' birthday celebration!