Crafting in the morning, and a parenting fail!

This morning Harlan was up bright and early at 6am. Fortunately I'd had an early night so I was in full super-mum mode (doesn't happen often!) and got the glue and craft materials out. I'd prepared some pieces of wool and cut out some felt shapes a few days before ready to make a picture of a sheep, but Harlan went on glue strike for a few days. Today he was enjoying sticking so he made a masterpiece, which will be blu-tacked to our art wall once it is dry. He then used some felt off-cuts to do a portrait of his dad. He wanted googly eyes to complete it but we don't have any, so I offered to draw in some eyes in felt tip.

 

And now to the not-quite-so-super-mum bit. Over the last month or so, Harlan has started playing Mario and Mariokarts on the Wii. He enjoys it, his co-ordination has improved massively, and if I'm honest... it gives me a break. The problem is that it is beginning to cause tantrums, which he is not normally very prone to. 'Normal' occasional tantrums he can be easily distracted from, whereas these are real whoppers! I've had two trains of thought: one - limit time on the Wii and two - let him play it lots and he will get bored. Well the second plan hasn't worked, so time to start limiting it a lot more I think. I'm planning to use the timer on my phone which has been effective previously, and limit him to half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the afternoon. I know we'll have a few meltdowns over this new rule but I think in the long run it will make things easier. I hope!

H.E. day

Today we went to our local Home Education group, which gives Harlan chance to play with other children in a fairly large group (five children today, sometimes more, sometimes less) while parents chat and swap ideas. We've been able to offer help with science subjects, so hopefully we are contributing something to the group, and I'm hoping to use the space in the room to do more crafting with Harlan - without cats and dogs poking their noses into PVA and paint! We're hoping to start a similar group nearer to us, either once a month or once a fortnight, to complement the existing group.

By the time we got home Harlan was getting rather tired and overwrought, so I produced a kit for making a Halloween mobile and we sat for a while doing gluing with pom poms and pipe cleaners. He's gotten much better at following instructions and waiting for things to dry, rather than randomly squirting glue around and pulling previously glued items apart! Once he had created some bats and spiders - complete with googly eyes - I attached them to some lolly sticks and tied the whole contraption to the light fitting in the front room, where my husband keeps walking into it!

We ended the day with a few games of Snap! which is his current favourite game. For his birthday last week he was lucky enough to get some animal snap cards and the Gruffalo ones we bought him, which can be used for snap or rhyming word games. We played with both sets of cards tonight, but he got so over-excited that we needed a few stories before bedtime to calm down again!

Tomorrow we are at a party for his friend's birthday, but in the evening we will be having movie night - another wonderful birthday present, consisting of a beautifully patterned box containing "tickets", a DVD and popcorn. I'm looking forward to the three of us cuddling up on the settee in the dark, munching on popcorn and watching a film, sounds like a great night to me.

Life is changing

The boy has turned three. It crept up on me, it seemed as though I would have a toddler forever but of course he is now officially a preschooler. Except he won't be going to preschool. He currently goes to his beloved childminder two days a week, as my health isn't always good and I need the rest, but come Christmas things will be changing. R will be going back to teaching, and will be gone five days a week. We've been very lucky to have him around so much, even if it meant finances were tight, and we'll miss him when he's gone - all the while being very proud of the work he's putting in to make a better life for the three of us.

The boy's routine will be changing too - he will be leaving his childminder as the others his age will be off to nursery and preschool. We think that, for our family, the best thing to do will be to find a playschool we love, that he can attend part time. I don't want somewhere that pushes learning and prepares children for school, although I know all of them will do that to some extent. I want somewhere he can go for a few hours, have fun, then come home. This coming week will hopefully involve lots of visits to local nurseries and playgroups to find the perfect place for my little man.

We still intend to home educate him for the first few years of primary school at least. I feel that, by not sending him to preschool, we are making our first leap into H.E. but the truth is that it's the first time our decision is being noticed (and sometimes questioned) by other people. Harlan has always learned from/with/around us. At the age of three he can recognise some letter and words, count forwards and backwards, know shapes, colours and name a huge amount of animals. So he is not lacking in education, despite the fact we are yet to sit down with a workbook.

Today has not been a good day for me health-wise, so R has looked after Harlan for most of the day and he has entertained himself mostly with his birthday presents. When I came downstairs we did a bit of crafting, making cardboard dinosaurs and playing games with them - what are they called, what do they eat? Aside from the things I try to set up to initiate learning, he learns a lot from asking questions and having them answered. And boy, does he ask a lot of questions!

Once upon a time we went to a farm...

Once upon a time there was a boy called Harlan. One day he went to the farm with his parents, their friend and her baby, who Harlan loved having cuddles with. Maybe one day Harlan would have a baby brother or sister!

When they arrived at the park, Harlan spotted a merry go round and mummy said he could have a go. He chose a lovely blue seat and held on tight as it went round and round, up and down. In moments of bravery, he let go long enough to give his mummy and daddy a quick wave, before grabbing the rail again ready for the next go round!

 

After riding on the merry go round, they all walked through a narrow doorway, down a ramp, and into a courtyard surrounded by pens and stables. There was a small and very friendly Dexter cow called Beetle, three ponies, some goats, a sheep and a pig who was bigger than Harlan, bigger than mummy and bigger than daddy!

When Harlan had fed the animals there, they decided to pay to go into the birds of prey rescue centre, where Harlan was very excited to see chickens roaming around on the paths, and a cockatiel danced with daddy!

Not long afterwards, everyone started to feel hungry and decided to go to the playbarn for some lunch so Harlan could play while they waited for their dinner. The playbarn was huge! There were little huts with bridges to connect them, a windmill, the biggest bouncy castle Harlan had ever seen and even pedal tractors to ride on. Once mummy had shown Harlan around, he felt confident enough to explore on his own and was soon running around and working up an appetite.

On the way back to the car, Harlan got to have a go on the other merry go round, and he chose to sit in a lovely red aeroplane. If he'd had chance, he would have had another go and sat on a quad bike but mummy and daddy said it was time to head home. Unfortunately when they got to the car park Daddy's car wouldn't start, so while they got it going mummy's friend sang songs to the baby and Harlan as they were both getting tired. By the time he got home, Harlan was fast asleep so mummy cuddled him up and carried him into the house. It was a tiring but very enjoyable day for everyone.

The end.

Once upon a time we went on a train...

Once upon a time, there was a boy called Harlan. One hot, sunny day, Harlan went for a ride on a steam train as a birthday present from a friend. He wore his "Engine Driver" hat and practised his "chugga-chugga choo-choo" noises in the car all the way there. Arriving at Cheddleton station, he got on board a steam train, to travel to Froghall station. He chose a seat on the carriage, next to his mummy and daddy and excitedly waited for the guard to blow the whistle.

Harlan rode the train all the way to the end of the line, which was about 10 miles, before getting off at Froghall and heading to the tearooms for some lunch - all this excitement had made him very hungry! Mummy and Daddy bought him a ham sandwich and some biscuits, but Harlan thought that he could use these ingredients to make a mega-sandwich. Gordon Ramsey eat your heart out!

Harlan rode the diesel train back to the car park, and his daddy drove him home. When they got back his mummy said it wasn't time for tea just yet, so they got some paper and paints out in the garden. It was fun painting different colours on the paper, then pressing the paper together so the colours mixed, pouring the paint into different bowls to see what colour he could create and using sand and grass to make different textures.

Once he had finished painting with his brush and hands, our little hero was in desperate need of a bath - always a good way to finish a great day.

The end.