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Creating Reading Spaces

18th November 2019      Sarah Burns      Leave a Comment

*Ad – Gifted item

We recently introduced a TV ban. Those who know me in real life will be aware we have been having some challenges. Nothing major, but stuff we needed to get on top of. One of the things we realised was that we had slipped into a bit of a bad habit by letting the TV be on in the early evening much more than it ought to be. Don’t get me wrong, the kids have very little screen time; they don’t have tablets and TV was for maybe 45-60 minutes a couple of times in the week and maybe a film every other weekend.

I’ll admit, there was a bit of moaning and grumbling initially, but very quickly things changed. The habit had been broked within four days or so, and the children were getting much more creative and (amazingly!) playing well together!

Learning to co-operate

The children, like any siblings, can play really well at times, but I had noticed that they’d been getting into more and more disagreement. Since the TV ban they were having to be more inventive with how to spend their time. They used old boxes to create shops and schools for their teddy bears, invented many games ( including remembrance parade and nurseries!).

It’s been lovely to see their imaginations really flourish in this respect and to see them actually all getting along and enjoying their time together.

Quiet Time

I’ve been keen to find a way to introduce time to be quiet and to pursue individuals interests, be that reading quietly or drawing, writing or working on a craft. Over the last couple of weeks a couple of times a week, around 330pm I’ll go into the living room and I’ll read, or work on a cross stitch project. The children either read to themselves or work quietly on something else. It’s been peaceful!

I was keen to create some quiet spaces for them, so we now have two comfy chairs with blankets in our dining room, the beanbags in the living room and Emma has a new bean bag that we were kindly gifted by Bean Bag Bazaar. She has this in her room and she’s been enjoying taking herself off up to her bedroom to read.

We recently did up her room with new furniture and the such so this furry pink bean bag was right up her street. It’s also huge! Which means that she can get really comfortable on it whilst she’s reading. Her reading is really coming on leaps and bounds now and it’s so lovely to see and hear her confidence building!

I’ve also found her reading aloud to Harry as they both snuggle up together. It’s so lovely to see. The book Emma is reading in the video below is called Ella and Mrs Gooseberry and it’s a beautiful book about a grumpy lady next door who needs a bit of help to find love. There’s a great activity pack to sit alongside this book too which we plan to look at this week.

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Ad This one has really improved with her reading over the last few weeks, much more fluent and confident. It's so lovely to see and hear. She's been taking herself off to her room and reading to herself and I found her reading to H this weekend 😍 (swipe ➡️). This gorgeous bean bag was gifted to us by @beanbagbazaar and there's chance to win your own over on the blog today.

A post shared by Sarah (@mssburns) on Nov 17, 2019 at 11:42pm PST

Why Create a Reading Space?

Both Damian and I have been keen to help the children foster a real love of reading, and it’s fair to say that all three really do enjoy reading. We have regular trips to the library and we seem to have books all over the place. By creating these little areas of quiet and calm it’s giving the children time to rest and lose themselves in the books they’re enjoying. Creating quiet spaces in the house has meant that Emma has been able to really work on her reading skills, so that when we sit and read aloud together I can’t help but be amazed at the improvements I see each time.

Both Daniel and Emma have expressed interest in learning to hand sew, and I hope that having these quiet spaces in the house will allow them the opportunity and space to sit and enjoy new crafts. To sit and rest, and relax – something that as they get older will be important. I have many fond memories of my own childhood, curled up with books or working on crafts. I hope to bring this to my own children.

Creating these quiet reading spaces has helped to calm our house down, and improve behaviour – don’t get me wrong they still have their moments! But there’s been a pretty healthy improvement 3-4 weeks in!

 

I’m thrilled that the team at Bean Bag Bazaar are offering one of my readers the chance to win a beanbag! To be in with a chance, simply complete the rafflecopter below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms & Conditions

1. The competition is open to residents of the UK only aged (18) and over.
2. The prize is non-transferable and no cash alternative is offered.
3. To enter, please use the widget above, complete any mandatory entries and any optional entries you would like.
4. The winner will be chosen at random from all valid entries.
5. The winner will win a beanbag

6. The closing date for entries is 11.59pm GMT on 8 December  2019.
7. The winner will be informed by email within 7 days of the closing date.
8. The winner will be asked to provide a full UK postal address with postcode for delivery purposes.
9. The winner’s name will be available on request.
10. Address details will be shared with Bean Bag Bazaar for the purposes of sending the prize.
11. Entry to this giveaway confirms that participants have read, understood and agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.

 

 

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About Sarah Burns

I am Sarah, home educating mum of three (born 2012, 2014 and 2016)

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Hello & Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my little corner of the internet. I'm Sarah, mum to three children (Oct 2012, Feb 2014 & June 2016). We are a home educating family based in Greater Manchester. Here I share about our Home Ed journey, days out, books and activities and well as my quest to stay sane by running and hitting the gym!

You can contact me on any of the social networks linked below or by email to sarah@letthembesmall.com

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