Our Hectic Life | Reading with Little Ones

You've all heard me say it before, our life is hectic, fast paced and sometimes a little overwhelming. Mine and by husbands schedules are so complex that I tend to lose track of days and the week is over before I feel it's even begun. We do always try to make sure that we give the children our time, whenever we can. It's never easy because there is always something that needs to be done. We try to ensure that they attend their out of school activities and ensure homework is done. One of my daughter's main focuses at reception age is reading. Reading with little ones is something we see as a priority, especially as I'm a teacher too. That feeling of falling head over heels in love with a book is something that I can't wait for Darcie to experience - I'm hoping she's a Potter fan!
Of course, she is given her reading scheme books and she's doing so well. But in order for her to succeed we're trying to widen her reading by ensuring we continue to read bedtime stories and encouraging her to independently read some of her favourites. Time is something that is scarce in our family, we have to make the most of the time we do have at any given opportunity. Whether it's while we wait at the bus stop, whilst we're out for lunch, traveling - these are all times that we try and use wisely. Of course, it's really hard to carry around a wide range of books, thankfully we've been recently introduced to Ebookadabra. An online app that has been designed for children between the ages of 3 and 7. The app allows children to read hundreds of books from leading publishers such as Disney and Harper Collins. By doing so they unlock educational puzzles, games, collectable stickers and much more. Although eBookadabra is only just launching, the platform already has a wide variety of features on it such as: - The ability for parents to record themselves reading the stories that their children are looking at - A safe and secure messaging system that allows a child to talk to their parents about the progress they are making in app. - A visual search engine designed for kids that lets the use visual search terms to explore a large library of books. - The ability to save stories to your in-app library so you can enjoy them on the go. - All of this is available for less than the price of a book a month £5.99 along with a 30 day free trial. We've been really enjoying using Ebookadabra, especially after school if we're waiting for the bus. It's just so convenient to have them readily available whenever we need it. Darcie has also been enjoying reading to her brother, Something which just warms my heart to watch. She also loves the games that she's been able to unlock, all of which are really engaging and help carry on the learning further. 
Have you tried Ebookadabra? Do you have any tips on encouraging you children to read?
Mummy B xoxox

*Collaborative Post