Month: September 2017

Listening to Audiobooks

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Audiobooks – don’t you love them?!

I remember listening to them as a teenager for what I thought was a quick way to read set literature texts. I have a clear image of travelling around Thailand and listening to Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov on a walkman – that was called revising! On reflection it was irresponsible and doing neither the country nor the novel justice.

I now love audiobooks for different reasons.  Of course they are no substitute for actually all curling up on the sofa reading a story but I can only read so many stories to the children with my own voice, and so they are a wonderful way to supplement our daily read aloud times. Continue reading →

My Boy’s Book Recommendations

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Over this last year my son has gone from reading Julia Donaldson‘s ‘Songbirds‘ to J.K. Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone‘ – a massive leap.  This journey has involved him devouring books and left me with the job of feeding his appetite. (In other words, scouring the internet for more book recommendations late into the night!) Of course, like any parent, I want to give him wholesome food to satisfy him, although obviously the odd sugary snack is allowed.

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I thought I’d share a few of his favourites from along the way, from early readers and short chapter books to more substantial books for fluent but young readers. Continue reading →

Embracing Autumn

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The morns are meeker than they were –
The nuts are getting brown –
The berry’s cheek is plumper –
The rose is out of town.
The maple wears a gayer scarf –
The field a scarlet gown –
Lest I sh’d be old-fashioned
I’ll put a trinket on.
— Emily Dickinson

No sooner had we returned from our summer holiday, than we felt the autumn chill in the air. The blustery wind has been tossing the crunchy leaves around our garden. It really feels like autumn has arrived, although unlike Dickinson’s description our roses are still blooming. To cherish the turn in the weather, we drew our first ever chalk pastel pictures of ‘An Autumn Walk in the Woods’ with help from  www.chalkpastel.com. We loved using a new medium for our artwork.

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Paris

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Navigating the Metro

“Paris? With three kids?”

Over the last year the children have started to learn French. We have also tried to learn something of France: some geography, history, art and culture.  We have enjoyed some wonderful picture books and fiction set in France.  I love good books! So this summer we spent three nights introducing them to this beautiful city.
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