Weekly Wrap-Up: A Free Day and Art

• Free day. I had originally planned to travel to our out-of-town store (we own a retail business) on Tuesday but my DH gave me a pass. Since I had cleared the day of lessons and my own bible study group, we had an open slate. It turned out to be a total blessing. SJ and I loaded our bikes and headed out to our town's lovely river trail where we took our time exploring. Of course, as we neared the Skate Park, SJ's bike veered in that direction where he discovered what he might consider the best homeschool perk yet--not a soul in sight! He zoomed, jumped, hopped, and "manualed"--until he wiped out. (He was fine but his seat bolt snapped.) Next, we headed to Michael's crafts where he looked at options and priced a project he was considering. I think we both needed the break.
• Art class. After attempting a few lessons in the Artistic Pursuits book, I realized SJ would be better served learning art from someone else. The program promises to be doable, even for the non-art-inclined types. I suppose if we just wanted to say we did art, we could have continued but I thought SJ's efforts kinda reflected my talent--which is nil, and he deserves better. Our homeschool charter offers a few classes so we signed him up and he had his second class on Friday. I see two three distinct benefits: he gets real art instruction, he gets to be with other kids, and I get 1-1/2 hours to myself. It's perfect!
• Book Completions. This is a milestone. SJ finished Deathly Hallows, the seventh book in the Harry Potter series. At 749 pages, the book is a tome compared to the 100+ page novels he has barely finished in the past. It was a big moment. We also finished our oral reading of The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton. SJ practically begged me to read each day. He really loved the story and wrote some thought-provoking response to literature entries as a result. Both of these thrill me in that my reluctant reader is finding that books can be interesting. I think/hope it speaks to the fact that his comprehension is improving as well.

All the rest continues as usual: Easy Grammar Plus, history, science, and typing. (SJ reluctantly admitted that the Mavis Beacon program works.) Next week, we will begin a new historical novel to supplement our Discovering America unit and SJ will start volunteering in a friend's classroom. Stay tuned.