Drawing Dementors- whatever next?

Duncan has been playing the Harry Potter computer games quite often recently. He's figured out all the tricks and techniques and has managed to work his way through most of the games. It's impressive; I had difficulty with them when I had a go, though admittedly I've never been much good at that sort of thing. It's opened up a whole new set of characters and symbols for Duncan. I've had to draw pictures of Harry Potter, a dementor, a few broomsticks and yesterday Lady adapted a book into a Monster Book of Magic. He's also drawn 'Voldermort's snake' and lots of the spell symbols himself, and the 3 children adapted a square of leftover carpet into a Spongify Tile.

I made some biscuits with the boys yesterday. Duncan pulled a chair up to the cooker to sit and wait until they were cooked. However, as he always does these days, he kept opening the oven door to have a look. He's also started recently, to reduce the time set on the oven timer, since he knows the rule that when the beeper goes, the food is ready. I made a little comic strip story about it all:

1. Sometimes Mummy makes cakes and biscuits.
2. Duncan likes to eat cakes and biscuits.
3. Mummy puts the food into the oven.
4. Duncan wants to open the oven. He wants to eat the food. But the food is not ready yet.
5. Duncan must wait. When Mummy says the food is ready, then Duncan can eat.

He sat with me and read the whole thing. He needed help with some of the new words, but figured many of them out phonetically. He coloured in the pictures, then sat reading it until it was time to eat.

He obviously gains from having things written down. He got angry when I told him I would finish my tea and toast before helping him on the computer, but when I wrote it down and helped him to read it, he was more settled. His reading is getting better, and most of the reading we do together is these little notes and stories I write on the spot.

A few days ago, Thomas wanted to read the Magic Key reading scheme books. So he took out the easiest book and read it from memory, looking away from the page to show-off that he could read it, without even looking. Hmmm. Then Duncan picked it up and read it properly, touching each word and figuring it out. It's very encouraging to see.

Oh and one last thing I want to record. Last night after dinner, we were all sitting watching this celebrity singing contest thing on TV. A woman was singing (badly) a Beatles song, and Duncan, who was cuddled in beside me, started swaying his arm in the air from side to side. He was copying the TV audience, and he kept it up for the whole song. It was very cute. I just love how he feels like doing these things and does them.

Right, my brother should be arriving soon, on his way to London to see our sister. I think we'll make him some biscuits.
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