New Year's Eve party

General 

Elliott was very good today. Ubnfortunately in the afternoon we lost some videos he'd made to upload to You Tube and he was quite upset. However he calmed down really quickly and managed to put it in to perspective quickly and didn't let it ruin very much of his day.

Activities

After he arrived in the morning he filmed some fingerboarding videos and practiced on his skate board outside. Then we had ham sandwiches for lunch. 

After lunch he finished his Star Wars Lego set and then made a video reviewing it. Unfortunately when we tried to upload it to You Tube we lost that video and the earlier fingerboarding video and he was upset but recovered really quickly. Then we headed over to Barry and Jenny Griggs's house for a New Years Eve party and he went dressed as Spiderman:

When we got there Beth and Emma Griggs were there and Gus and Evan Anderson and he started showing them his fingerboarding kit and R2D2 Bop It (which went down very well). Then the children all went upstairs to a play room and watched Return of the Jedi and had fun. At about 10.00pm he got changed in to his pyjamas, brushed his teeth and went to sleep and later, after midnight, we woke him up and got a taxi home where he went straight to bed with no problems.

Harry Higgins

General 

Elliott was really good today, even with the excitement of Harry Higgins. He did, unfortunately, take quite a heavy fall when out in his heelies and he was a little shaken up for a while, but physically he only has some bruising around his bottom where he fell. 

Activities

In the morning, after we'd had breakfast, he's played some Clarinet and we'd packed up the car, we headed to Durrington to visit Harry Higgins at their house. When we got there everyone was there and Harry, Betie and Elliott played with each other's Christmas toys and had a lot of fun. Then we headed out to the park on scooters and in heelies and Elliott was getting quite confident with the heelies until he slipped and fell on to his bottom. He was quite upset and shocked but after he'd recovered he still wanted to keep practicing, but was just a bit more cautious. After we got back to their house we had cheese and biscuits, bread and crisps for lunch. 

After lunch he made a fingerboarding video with Harry as Harry had very genorously given him two fingerboards for Christmas. They spent over an hour making the video and obviously really enjoyed it. After the video we headed to MacDonalds for tea and Elliott had a Chicken Mcnuggets Happy Meal and some extra chicken select:

After tea we said goodbye and headed home where we unpacked and then he had a bath and brushed his teeth. Before bed time he did some editing of a new fingerboarding video he's started to make and read some more of his current Darren Shan book.

Walk in heelies

General 

Elliott was good again today.

Activities

In the morning he made more of his Marvel Lego set, played with his Batman, Superman and Flash figures, practiced his Clarinet and watched The Gadget Show. My Mum's friend Kate Weale came to visit for lunch and we had a buffet lunch of rolls, ham, turkey, cheese, sausage rolls and crackers. 

After lunch we went for a walk around Downton in his heelies with Andrea and then had a bop it competition with his R2D2 bop it. He also played more Clarinet and made some loom bands. Then it was time for Andrea to go as she has work tomorrow and after she left he had chicken nuggest, chips and about 20 peas for tea. Next I treated his hair for head lice again before he had his bath and brushed his teeth. After bath time he put on his pyjamas and read more the Darren Shan school book before going to sleep.

Pizza Express

General 

Elliott was very good today.

Activities

After breakfast Elliott practiced Clarinet and learnt how to play Happy Birthday with Grandpa so he could play it to me for my birthday. Then he helped me open my presents (he'd got me a Batman bobble head). Then we headed off to Salisbury where we had lunch at Pizza Express:

He had dough balls, pepporoni pizza and a chocolate brownie. 

After lunch we had a quick look around the shops and then headed home. When we got home he started making his Marvel Lego set and also opened his new Star Wars camera to try it out. Then he had an early bath and I treated him for head lice again (I couldn't see any head lice on the lice comb so am hoping his head is now clear). After his bath he had a ham roll, sausage roll and some cheese for tea and we watched a Question of Sport Premier League special. Then he went to bed and read more of his Darren Shan book before going to sleep.en Shan school book and then it was time to go to sleep.

Presents from Father Christmas

General 

Elliott was really good today.

Activities

After I picked him up in Salisbury we drove home to Downton to Granny and Grandpa's house where we had Turkey sandwiches for lunch. 

After lunch he opened his presents from Father Christmas which included a Dark of the Moon Leader Class Bumblebee Transformer, a Spiderman figure that fires silly string, Valerian DVD, a book called Millions, a Bumblebee Transformer Pez dispenser, Star Wars and Doctor Who annuals and chocloate coins. Then we watched the Christmas Doctor Who while he played with his new Bumblebee Transformer. Then we had Roast Gammon for tea and Andrea arrived. After tea we opened more presents and he got two new Lego sets (a Stars Wars set and a Marvel set), a Star Wars t-shirt, some pyjamas, a Smartphone Movie Maker kit, a Sonic Screwdriver, some more books, some heelies, Transformers pencil case and a calendar. Then it was time for his bath and brushing teeth. After his bath he read some of his Darren Shan school book and then it was time to go to sleep.

Choir carols

General 

Elliott was really good after school today. He said he'd almost been in trouble but someone else had blamed him for something he didn't do and this time Miss Allen believed him.

Activities

After schoolwe popped in to ASDA to buy some more Christmas presents before going home for ham sandwiches and toast for tea. Then it was back to school for the Christmas carol concert which was more serious than I was expecting (and previous years). But he said afterwards that he'd really enjoyed it and wanted to carry on in choir and was learning towards his Grade 1 on Clarinet. After the carols we headed home and he had a quick bath and cleaned his teeth before reading some of his new Doctor Who book out loud to me (and his observation of grammar and showing he understands meaning is really improving).

Christmas shopping

General 

Elliott was mainly good today. However he did drag his heals getting ready for hockey in the morning and in the afternoon I asked him to tidy his room and it took a while to get him to do it.

Activities

In the morning we went to the South Berkshire Christmas hockey tournament which was really good and I thought he really gained confidence playing up front and dribbling the ball. Afterwards he was really pleased with how he'd played. We had toast and ham sandwiches for lunch. 

After lunch he had a bath and then we went Christmas shopping in Bracknell where he was really well behaved. When we got back from shopping he played his Clarinet and worked on his latest animation. He also watched some Spiderman on the iPad. Then he had a mild chilli for tea before (eventually) tidying up his room. Finally he got ready for bed, brushed his teeth and read some of a new Doctor Who book before going to sleep.

The Last Jedi

General 

Elliott was really good today.

Activities

After I picked Elliott up we went home and had ham sandwiches before getting the train to London. When we got to Waterloo we headed to Leicester Square where we met up with Matt and Reuben Hyde, Henry Black and Tom, Alex and Lucas Dawson and Paddy and Finn Griffiths:

We went to Planet Hollywood for a meal and the boys got on really well. Elliott had a hot dog with chips to eat. 

After the meal we all went to The Empire, Leicester Square to watch The Last Jedi in IMAX 3D. Everyone enjoyed the film, although the general concensus was that it wasn't quite as good as The Force Awakens and Elliott said he preferred Justice League. However everyone was very quiet for the whole two and a half hours so I think the film captured everyone's imaginations. After the film we got the Underground back to Waterloo and got the train home. He finished reading his latest Darren Shan book on the train. After we got home he brushed his teeth and went straight to bed because it was getting late.

Star of David

General 

Elliott was really good after school. I was a bit late picking him up because of traffic but even though he was late to swimming he got changed and joned in for the remainder of the session.

Activities

After school I picked him up a bit later than hoped and then when we got to swimming he joined in with the class. After swimming he had a shower and got changed and we headed home where he did his English homework with Andrea and had some toast for tea. After tea he made a Star of David with his lolly sticks and then got ready for bed and cleaned his teeth. Before it was time for sleep he read his latest Darren Shan book and read out loud for a while until it got to a passage about Darren Shan's girlfriend and he got a little embarassed. Before he went to sleep he talked about possibly wasnting to give up choir so he could have his lunch break back but being worried that I might not like that, so I told him that was fine with me if that's what he wanted, but he then said now he'd talked it through with a parent maybe he wanted to keep going for a bit longer to just check that's what he wanted to do and that maybe he wasn't sure. So I told him I wouldn't mind either way and to think about it.

Black eye

General 

Elliott was very really good after school. When I went to pick him up at the end of after school hockey club Mr Maker explained that he'd got a black eye after a clash with Harry's hockey stick so we didn't go to swimming. He said he'd been upset after getting his black eye at first but after a while he'd just carried on with hockey:

He was also really pleased because Miss Allen had shown everyone his Spiderman animation and everyone had liked it.

Activities

After we got home Elliott got going with hiis new animation as challenged by Miss Allen. He stopped to have some toast for tea and finished his new Spiderman animation before having his bath. Then he brushed his teeth and read more of Darren Shan before going to sleep.

Frosty the Snowman

General 

Elliott was very good after school and had a good day. He showed Miss Allen his Spiderman animation at break time and she liked it and has challenged him to do a new story that's longer now.

Activities

After school I picked him up and we went home. He started making his new longer animation straight away and then we had tea before Clarinet Club (he had toast). Then it was off to Clarinet Club (last one of this term) which he enjoyed and played a duet with George while he was there. They also played Frosty the Snowman. Then it was back home for a quick bath, brushing teeth, a bit more animating and reading Darren Shan before going to sleep.

Arborfield Christmas Fayre

General 

Elliott was very good today.

Activities

After Elliott got up we went straight to the hockey tournament at Wellington. South Berkshire did really well drawing the first and last games 0-0 and winning the other 2 games. They were so dominant in most of the games that Elliott didn't have much to do at the back and, even though Tony told him it would be ok to push up a bit, he was quite cautious about leaving the back. He played well when the sides did attack but it did feel as though he was quite happy on the peripheries today. We had a chat in the car afterwards and he sounds like he's lost a bit of confidence (he didn't take any 16s for example) but I'm hoping this will come back soon. After the tournament we went to Subway for lunch and he had ham, pepporoni and cheese 6 inch sandwich. 

After lunch he a had a bath and practiced his Clarinet. Next went to Arborfield Village Hall where I played a couple of songs with a friend John as part of John's Christmas concert for his guitar teacher. He listened to us and the other people playing and was quite interested. After about an hour the concert finished and we went to Arobrfield Community Hall for the local Christmas Fayre. He took his scooter and practiced stunts on our way there. When we got there we found lots of Christmas stalls and we joined a lantern parade to the Christmas Tree where the Mayor turned on the lights. We also sang carols while a brass band accompanied us. After we got home he helped decorate our Christmas Tree and put up the decorations. Then we had pizza for tea before it was time for teeth brushing, reading Darren Shan and going to sleep.

Justice League

General 

Elliott was very good today.

Activities

After breakfast Elliott made a really good animation with his Spiderman and Marvel figures. This took him a few hours but he was really pleased with the finished version:

He also drew soe pictures of Spiderman. Then he had sausages and toast for lunch. 

After lunch he did his homework (long division on Study Ladder and getting ready to write recount text by writing down details of his visit to Paultons Park). After his homework he watched some iPad and then we went to Braknell to do some shopping. After the shopping we went to see Justice League in the cinema and both thought it was much better than critics have said. After the film he had a hot dog for tea and we went home. After we got in he practiced his Clarinet and then had his bath and brushed his teeth. He read some more of his new Darren Shan school book before going to sleep.

Christmas Fayre

General 

Elliott was really good after school and had a good day.

Activities

After school we went to Wokingham and went to The Hope and Anchor as there was a leaving party for someone I used to manage. He had some lemonade and enjoyed talking to one of the graduate developers George. Then we headed back to school for the Christmas Fayre (he had some ham sandwiches in the car). He really enjoyed the Christmas Fayre and went round with Isaac and Cameron as well as spending time with Charlie, Adam, Thomas and George. He won some sweets and a tin of peas and went to some Year 6 stalls. When we got home he skipped his bath and brushed his teeth and got ready for bed as it was after 8pm. He briefly read some of his next Darren Shan book before going to sleep.

Spiderman animation

General 

Elliott was good after school.

Activities

After hockey we went straight to swimming and he did well (he has almost ready to go to the next class level). Then we went home and he had luncheon meat sandwiches for tea. After tea he started filming a Spiderman animation with his Marvel toys. Next it was time for hinm to brush his teeth and he read some of his Skullduggery Pleasant school book before going to sleep.

Working for the Council

General 

Elliott was really good today. He did get worried again about our visit to see Miss Allen on Thursday so I reassured him again.

Activities

In the morning we got to school to find it was closing down because of the bug. So instead Elliott came to work with me for the morning. He did some Maths off his own back and played on a phone for a while and was really well behaved. He also drew some pictures in his notebook. At one point he came to a meeting with the Highways Team with me to talk about how to improve online fault reporting and he was really good during that. At lunchtime we went home and he had ham sandwiches for lunch. 

After lunch he did some of the homework the school sent out (answering questions about a passage of text about lions and some Study Ladder Maths and Spelling exercises) while I worked from home. He also played a new Spiderman game he downloaded on the phone. Then we went to swimming and he did really well and is now very close to completing the stage he's currently on. After swimming he had a shower and we drove home. When we got home he practiced his Clarinet parts for the Wokingham Winter Fayre and Andrea practiced reflexology on his feet. Next we had sausages and rice for tea before he brushed his teeth, read some more of Skulduggery Pleasant and then it was time for sleep.

Early bath

General 

Elliott was a little upset after school today. He said he'd got upset at lunchtime and then a girl Neha had tried to comfort him but Albion thought she'd been teasing him and that's why he was upset he Albion upset Neha and then Miss Allen had got the wrong end of the stick and thought Elliott had caused trouble. Fortunately it sounds like Miss Fernandez then sorted this out but he's worried ahead of us meeting with Miss Allen that she'll tell us he gets in to trouble a lot.

Activities

After we got home and had a chat about putting today's incident behind him and he'd cheered up he had an early bath (at his request) to help him calm down. Then he had some toast for tea and played with some Ben 10 toys (he likes the alien designs). Then he had some toast for tea and we headed off to Whistling Woodwind which he really seemed to enjoy (and they sounded good from outside when I went to collect him). Then we headed home and he brushed his teeth, did his music theory homework and then read more read more of his Skullduggery Pleasant school book before going to sleep.

Hockey against girls

General 

Elliott was really good today. 

Activities

In the morning we had breakfast with Dave, Jo, Alice and Phoebe before heading off to hockey. The boys team played a game against the Under 12 Girls Development Team because their opposition hadn't arrived. He played really well at the back in the first half and then didn't play in the second half but Tony was quick to point out it was because he wanted to see some other boys play. In the end they beat the girls team 4-2. After the game they did more training and he did really well. The tournament next Sunday sounds like it might be in the afternoon which we're hoping it will be so he can play at Wokingham Winter Fayre with Whistling Woodwind and play in the tournament. Fortunately Jack from the team is also in Berkshire Maestros group (a brass band) so he's not the only one with a commitment clash. After training we headed home for ham sandwiches for lunch. 

After lunch he watched the Iron Man cartoon for a bit and then I went for a run and he rode his bike again. After I'd finished the run he swapped his bike for his scooter and practiced some scooter stunts and tricks. When it started getting dark he came in and had a bath before we had spaghetti bolognese for tea. I used tomato puree to make a plain sauce for him which he ate without any problems. After tea he finished his final two Study Ladder exercises which he got 100% right again. Then he brushed his teeth and read more of Skulduggery Pleasant before it was time to go to sleep.

Dave, Jo, Alice and Phoebe

General 

Elliott was good today. He was a bit resistant to the idea of doing homework but once he sat down and started doing it he did it quickly and well.  

Activities

In the morning he played with his Marvel toys for a while and then he did his homework. At frist he didn't want to do his homework so I told him it's good to get it done early to leave the weekend free and in case it's difficult and takes a while (which makes doing it last minute tricky). He raced through his Study Ladder exercises and got all the questions right (though we still have two more exercises to go as we could only do 3 out of 5 exercises). Then he did his English homwork which was questions about a passage of text. He did well answering the questions and his handwriting and attetion to grammar was good. After he'd finished his homework we watched The Amazing Spiderman 2 and had ham sandwiches for lunch while we watched the film. 

After lunch I went for a run around the fields and he accompanied me on his bike. Then we went to Burghfield to visit Dave, Jo, Alice and Phoebe Read(-Clarke). Jo and Alice were out when we first arrived and Elliott and Phoebe got on really well. They played Roblox together and Elliott showed her his Iron Man toys and Phoebe showed Elliott her piano playing and some of her books. They had pasta with bacon sauce for tea and then Jo and Alice got home and everyone watched Strictly Come Dancing. At bed time he brushed his teeth and then read some more of Skullduggery Pleasant out loud to me.

Iron Man ideas

General 

Elliott was good after school today. He said he was told off once at school for waving at someone who was waving through the door at the class while Miss Allen read to them, but it didn't sound serious.

Activities

After school we went home and he made some Iron Man ideas he had (for example he strapped his Nerf bullets to his snap band to make a bullet holder). He had toast and sandwiches for tea and then watched an Iron Man cartoon on Netflix before having his bath. After his bath and brushing his teeth he read some of his Skullduggery Pleasant school book out loud and then read more to himself before going to sleep.

Chimney sweep

General 

Elliott was good today. He'd enjoyed Victorian activities at Reading Museum on the school trip, particularly pretending to be a chimney sweep.

Activities

After school we got to swimming this week and that went well. Then after his shower we picked up his school bag and he had toast and a sandwich for tea. After tea he did his Study Ladder maths homework and then brushed his teeth. Then he read some of his school book Skullduggery Pleasant before going to sleep.

Spiderman

General 

Elliott was good after school today. Unfortunately, due to getting stuck behind a broken down car, I was late collecting him from hockey club and we were too late to get to swimming. But he was good natured about it.

Activities

After school we went home and he he helped make his cheese sandwiches for tea. Then he watched some Spiderman before having his bath and cleaning his teeth. Finally he read some of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe out loud to me before reading some more of it to himself and then going to sleep.

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

General 

Elliott was in good spirits after school today.

Activities

After school we went home and he turned one of his toy planes in to a Titans Transformer by drawing a robot, cutting it out and sticking it to the underside of the toy plane. Then we finished watching Avengers Age Of Ultron while he had some toast for tea. After tea we headed off to Whistling Woodwind at Emmbrook and he said he'd enjoyed himself on the way home. Once we got home he had a quick bath, brushed his teeth and read some of his new school book. Miss Allen has asked him to take a break from Darren Shan so he's now reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

Maidenhead Hockey Tournament

General 

Elliott was really good today.  

Activities

In the morning we got ready early to go to the hockey tournament in Maidenhead. I thought South Berkshire played brilliantly and Elliott was really happy afterwards and especially proud that they hadn't conceded a goal during all 4 games. When we got back from the tournament we had ham sandwiches for lunch and watched some of Tottenham Hotspur against Crystal Palace with Graham Jenkins who had come to visit for the game (he supports Crystal Palace). 

After lunch he did his Learning Ladder Maths homework and he only got 1 question out of 30 wrong. I did help him interpret word questions but he did the majority of the problems completely independently and was careful when he typed in the answers. Then we went out to the fields and he rode his bike and scooter for a while. When we got back we watched some of the Avengers Age Of Ultron film before we had sausage, rice and broccoli for tea. Then he practiced his Clarinet and did his music theory homework before he had his bath, cleaned his teeth and got ready for bed. Finally he read some of his current Darren Shan book out loud to me before going to sleep.

Thor: Ragnarok

General 

Elliott was very good today.  

Activities

In the morning after breakfast Elliott did his English homework - writing a story board for the story of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. He got on with his homework and after he'd finished he focused while I went through it and told him where there was some missing punctuation. After he'd fininshed his homework he had a bath and cleaned his teeth and then played with transformers. Then he had ham sandwiches for lunch.

After lunch we went to Bracknell and went to see Thor: Ragnarok at the Odeon. He enjoyed the film and he thought it was funny. After the film we bought some base layers from Sports Direct for hockey now it's getting colder and we went home. When he got home he played his Clarinet for a while and then it was plain spaghetti bolognese for tea. After tea he got ready for bed without having a bath (as he'd had one earlier), but with brushing his teeth. Then he read more of his latest Darren Shan book before going to sleep.

Disco

General 

Elliott was good after school today. He was also really well behaved while the other age group discos were on and he was waiting for his own disco.

Activities

After school we went home for some toast before going back to school again for the discos. He really enjoyed his disco and spent a lot of time dancing and having fun with Kian and Anthony as well as joining in with Isaac, Harry Smith, Sam, and Thomas. After the disco we headed home and he brushed his teeth and then went straight to bed where he read his latest Darren Shan book for a brief period as it was getting late. He promised he'd have a bath tomorrow morning.

Halloween trick or treating

General 

Elliott was really good after school today. He had a good day at school without any incidents and had enjoyed hockey club.

Activities

After school we went straight to swimming and after swimming Elliott had a shower and got changed in to his Halloween skeleton costume. Then we drove home and went trick or treating with Harry and Jack Jenkins and there were lots of houses with pumpkins where they collected sweets. After about an hour of trick or treating we went home and he had toast for tea before taking some cough medicine and cleaning his teeth. Then he read some of his new Darren Shan book before going to sleep.

The Discworld

General 

Elliott was really good today.  

Activities

After breakfast and reading more of The Deadly 7 Elliott went to Salisbury with Granny while I worked. While they were there they went shopping and then they went to Pizza Hut for a buffet lunch.

After lunch they went to Salisbury Museum where they were holding a family activity day based around Terry Pratchett who used to live near Salisbury. He came back having made a really good version of the Discworld (4 elephants on the back of a giant turtle with a cave with a wizard in it on the back of the elephants). He had also finished reading The Deadly 7 book. After they got back to Granny's house he played the Clarinet and then we had chicken fajitas for tea. After tea he did some more of his Study Ladder Maths homework and then had a bath and brushed his teeth. Then he read some of his current Darren Shan book before going to sleep.

Shopping in Salisbury

General 

Elliott was very good today, especially as I had to spend the day working, he only interupted me a few times and understood I was busy. 

Activities

After breakfast Elliott went shopping to Salisbury with Granny. While he was there he showed her some ideas for Christmas presents (heelys and transformers). They also had Hot Chocolate in a cafe and he read more of The Deadly 7 while they were there. By the time they got back it was time for lunch and he had ham sandwiches for lunch.

After lunch he practiced his Clarinet and played some tunes to Granny. Next he did one lot of his Study Ladder Maths homework with Granny helping and afterwards he drew some pictures of Transformers. Then he watched some You Tube channels on the iPad and we uploaded more reviews to his new "EJS Reviews" channel and organised thumbnail pictures for the reviews and pictures for the channel:

Then he watched Blue Peter while I cooked spaghetti bolognese for tea. After tea he had his bath and then did some more drawing before brushing his teeth, reading more of The Deadly 7 and going to bed.

Charlie Sladen

General 

Elliott was good today. I was esepcially pleased with how well he concentrated and focused during the hockey tournament and joined in with listening to the coaches. 

Activities

Before the hockey tournament Elliott made lots of new toy reviews of Transformers which we'll edit and upload over the next few days. Then we went to the hockey tournament and from the moment we arrived he got involved and warmed up. I thought he played really well in the games and made a lot of crucial tackles and some really good dribbling and passing. Also when he was beaten by an opposition he didn't seem to get down hearted and he was played in his position (right back) really well and added width where he could. I thought overall, although the results weren't successful, the team did really well as it felt like a step up in quality and they weren't thrashed in any game and really started to play like a team in disciplined positions until they tired in the last few games. After the hockey we went to DJs party at Wokingham Megabowl where he said he'd had a good time bowling when I picked him up afterwards. He'd had chicken nuggets and chips for lunch.

After lunch we drove to Salisbury where we visited the Sladens and he had a lot of fun playing football and scootering with Charlie and Alice Sladen. Then we headed over to Grannys where he got his Hexbugs out to play with. He had more chicken nuggets for tea after he had his bath. Then he brushed his teeth, played the Clarinet quickly for Granny and read more of The Deadly 7 before it was time to go to sleep.