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.