Product Reviews

When my son Conor started school 5 years ago I imagined that we would go through the same process that we had done with my older daughter, enthusiasm and excitement of finishing her first book and ready for the next. She built her vocabulary knowledge as she went and with it an understanding of how stories began, developed and came to interesting conclusions and of course alongside this so to did her willingness to write her own imaginative stories which sometimes were very long repetitive ones!! I guess many of you recognise this as perfectly normal behaviour which of course it is. Being a teacher I was pleased with how Shannon was progressing into a confident reader.

Conor on the other hand was, as you say, another kettle of fish! Homereader sessions were torture, he would slump over his book at the mere request of having to open it, cry because he couldn’t blend the sounds together in the words in front of him or just guess wildly, by checking out the pictures. Conor was oh yes what I had experienced many times in my job a ‘reluctant reader!’ I tried coaxing, bribing, shouting, withdrawing toys, to no avail, we did move on a little each year but I new that he was set for problems later in school with reading and writing; anyway what he did like was listening to me read to him and the whole bedtime routine that you do! As he got older we discovered AUDIO BOOKS! What a fantastic invention and the saviour, I believe, to my son’s education.

They helped him to become involved in the books, experience them himself, develop his own ideas and imagination and indeed with this a fantastic range of vocabulary. When his year 3 teacher asked me to come in one evening after school it brought tears to my eyes as she showed me a piece he had composed in class, with her as scribe, the vocabulary was amazing and structure of the plot interesting and exciting. From constant failure in literacy he and I could both see a light at the end of the tunnel.

He is about to go into Year 5 now and yes I am worried a little because the physical task of writing is still a chore but at least he has the knowledge, understanding and vocabulary to develop these skills. Audio books saved my boy from a world without books and adventures and to all those parents out there who recognise the pain and torture of a reluctant child to reading, just give it a go, It’s a great way to get them to sleep on time too as they just drift off, with adventures to discover in dreamland!!

Checkout this website for iPod Books where you can Download Audio Books for a whole range of adventures

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It is a well known fact that exercise can help you loose weight. From running to hours in the gym whatever form of exercise you choose it can certainly enhance your lifestyle and state of mind.

Often people struggle with the initial push of taking that first step to either exercise alone, with a friend, partner, join an exercise class or a local gym. For many this is quite daunting and often put it off ‘and says that will do it tomorrow’.

For me it the shear boredom factor. I much prefer to join a gym as I find it much more motivational keeping up with everyone else. That is all well and good if you can get to a class and I would say that this can be the problem which prevents many people. The gym can be the ideal option as the flexibility is there but many find it intimidating.

Although we go to the gym to get fit there is very often the feeling that everyone is looking at you because maybe you don’t look the part or are not quite as fit as they are. Quite stupid I know but sometimes it can put you off from doing something which will make you feel a whole lot better in the long run.

That is why I chose to take up walking and take a class as and when I can. My problem was going to be doing this on my own so had to think of how to do it without getting bored and loosing interest. Admittedly I won’t always be one my own but as this is something I can do whenever the mood takes me there will be times when I will.

I have been listening to my mp3 often lately and amazingly listening to audio books rather than music – much to my surprise! I have listened to many novels and more recently have been working my way through autobiographies. I am a very curious person and am interested in people’s lives so have enjoyed a varied selection of books. These have ranged from the grimmest of characters to very light hearted ‘A list’ celebrities.

I like the fact that the choice is so varied. While I am walking I can hear myself laughing out loud I am sure anyone walking past would think that I have gone mad and I often laugh at their reaction.

Since starting my ten minute walk I have progressed to anything up to an hour depending on what I have to do that day. The fact that I doing exercise and taking the time to exercise my mind is such a bonus as I have never really been much of a reader but not through lack of interest but simply lack of time. So here I have the best of both worlds. I am hoping to progress to running although this I might add will have to be a very gradual progression as I am the world worst runner. I always admire seeing anyone running so have decided that with my iPod in tow I might just build the enthusiasm and stamina to do it one day.

So there you have it. If anyone is thinking how to exercise and haven’t quite got the impetus to do it I would strongly recommend you do it with a good book. You never know you might surprise yourself.

For a list of audiobooks or more information on download audio books check out the links

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