Thursday photo #302

As usual, half term is flying by. This time though, we’re taking things easy. We normally go away during the school holidays but for various reasons, we didn’t end up booking anything this week. As it turned out, that was absolutely the right decision. Since the weekend, the river level has risen dramatically around here. Residents of local towns have been evacuated. We are incredibly lucky here to be high up, so we have been fine. That said, we’ve been unable to get anywhere so going on holiday probably wouldn’t have happened.

Reading for fun

Both girls are relatively good at reading. They’re not going to win any awards for it, but it has never been a struggle. The problem is, they read because they have to. I hardly ever see them pick up a book voluntarily. Recently though, Lia has become a little more interested in reading. She picks out words from signs and has taken to borrowing Libby’s library books because they have a bit more of a story than her own school books.

Libby on the other hand, is rarely interested in sitting down with a book. I’ve been trying to think of one that might help her to discover the joy of reading. With someone reading to her, she has enjoyed the Faraway Tree, the Wishing Chair and Harry Potter. But not enough to read them to herself.

Earlier this week, I remembered some books that I used to love, where the reader chose what happened next in the story. I couldn’t remember what they were called, so I took to Twitter to find out. A few people kindly reminded me that the books are called the Choose Your Own Adventure series. I ordered one, which arrived yesterday and she spent the best part of an hour curled up reading it. I’m crossing my fingers that this might be the start of her enjoying books as much as I do.

Can somebody please remind me what those children's books are called where you choose what happens next in the story and it tells you which page to go to? I think my eldest would enjoy them but I can't remember what they're called. #childrensbooks
— Natalie Ray (@PlutoniumSox) February 17, 2020

The girls have been asking for a few weeks to see the new Dolittle film. I promised we’d go during half term. We don’t go to the cinema very often. I’m not sure why really, we do all enjoy it when we’re there. So, a trip to the cinema is always a bit of a treat. I let the girls choose where to go for lunch before the film. They inevitably choose Yo! Sushi and we skip pudding in favour of taking some sweets from a little local sweetshop into the cinema. It is becoming a bit of a school holiday tradition that they always look forward to.