Day 92 - Roald Dahl Day & A Visit From The Enormous Crocodile.

We really entered into the spirit of Roald Dahl day on Friday. Roald Dahl stories are wonderful and Theo has been hooked on them ever since he read 'The Twits' as a younger child. We relished the opportunity to take all the Roald Dahl books down from the book shelf and read through some of our favourites again.

We visited the library in the morning and were slightly disappointed that they had not even put a Dahl display up. Theo suggested that next year we should volunteer to do something to celebrate the day in the library. I think that is a very good idea. 

Theo finished reading and calculating his way through 'The Cavern of Clues' by David Glover. This was his Maths activity for the day.

Theo asked for a spare exercise book and began to write his own maths adventure book. He called it 'Atomic Bomb Escape'. He spent most of the morning engaged in compiling the adventure. The activity encompassed Maths and English.

Theo also wrote his diary the cover of which is now embellished with a 'weeping angel' to keep prying eyes away. He also prepared several leaflets promoting his Cardboard Challenge to give out at his athletics club later in the day.

Tristan spent the morning playing with his toys and tinkering around on the piano. 

After lunch we began our Roald Dahl afternoon. The boys grabbed all the Dahl books and spread them out on the table. I read a couple of shorter stories to them both and then asked which Roald Dahl story they liked the very best. Theo found this almost impossible to answer but managed to settle on 'Georges Marvellous Medicine'. Tristan did not hesitate in telling me that he loves 'The Enormous Crocodile'. I asked Theo to start making a poster to advertise his own marvellous medicine. He happily got on with this task. 

Tristan disappeared and was replaced by 'The Enormous Crocodile' for the afternoon. 

At 2pm we settled down to watch the Puffin online Virtual Roald Dahl Event. This brilliant and thoroughly engaging show was hosted by Michael Rosen and entertained us all for just under an hour. 

Theo continued drawing his poster once the event had finished whilst I read 'The Enormous Crocodile' to Tristan. 

Paul arrived home at a reasonable hour and was able to give Theo and I a lift to his athletics club. Tristan went with his dad to the shops whilst I stayed and watched Theo. Paul and Tristan joined me towards the end of the session. Tristan really enjoyed running around in the sports hall as the children packed away the equipment. Theo gave out a number of leaflets advertising the Cardboard Challenge.

The children were already fast asleep when our friend arrived to stay for the weekend. Paul and I enjoyed catching up with him. It was a lovely evening.

I am really pleased that I am able to celebrate special events with the boys now that they are at home. In the past I was disappointed by his school for ignoring events such as 'World Book Day'. I was surprised that these things were never given any attention in school when they could have been used as tools to inspire the children. We will certainly be celebrating all kinds of events now to bring our learning to life. 

Prudence Clarke

14.09.2013