March 20, 2021 / Ben / 0 Comments
Reading is so especially important
to a child’s learning and education. It is important to get them to read as
often as possible as this will help with them with many aspects of their
education and social skills.
It may be that your child says
that they do not like reading, but often it is just that they haven’t found the
right genre of book yet. Sometimes some of the books they have from school may
be a little boring. It is worth trying to get a few different sorts of books
and get your child to read at least a chapter or two of each. Some children
like silly or funny books, some like books with pictures in and others may like
mystery books or puzzle solving. Often children will like books by the same
author, so if your child does find a book they enjoy, have a look to see if
they have written any others.
Some books are fun to read but not
all that good in terms of the way they are written. Some books don’t use the
correct punctuation which can throw children sometimes, especially when they
are quite young and just learning about punctuation at school.
February 9, 2021 / Ben / 0 Comments
Unfortunately, this last twelve
months has been extremely hard for many businesses within the retail sector and
this has seen a lot of them having to shut their doors for good. Shops that
have struggled to trade online or rely on passing trade have experienced
periods of no sales at all and although they have been given some support, for
many, it was simply not enough. It is likely that as the shops start to open up
again as we come out of lockdown, we will see more and more gaps on the high
street where high street stores and independent retails are no more. Over the
last few days we have heard that retails Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Oasis
will not be reopening after lockdown and has been bought out by Boohoo, an
online retailer. Could it be that over the next few years more and more retails
switch to online shopping? There are advantages and disadvantages of this to
customers and retailers themselves. For the retailers, their overheads can be a
lot less as they do not have to pay to rent premises for their shop, but then
they have to invest a lot more in their marketing to attract people to their
website. For consumers, not being able to handle the item and try clothing on
is what often puts many off buying items online, but as many of us have had to
get used to this new way of shopping recently, it may be that some never return
to shopping on the high street.
January 19, 2021 / Ben / 0 Comments
So many shops are still having to
keep their doors closed due to the Covid-19 restrictions and therefore if they
do not trade online, they simply miss out of any sales during this time. Lots
of people do not like shopping online and although they may of put it off for a
while, there may of come a time when they have to. Shopping online has many
benefits; it allows you to compare prices easily and order from the comfort of
your home. There are also some down sides to shopping online such as having to
often pay a delivery fee (even for cheaper items), having to wait to have your
item delivered and maybe finding out that an item you thought was on its way is
actually out of stock. As we all know, sizes can vary from shop to shop and
even product to product so it can be hard to ensure you select the right size
without being able to see the product. You should be able to return most items
bought online but you may have to pay to return it as not all shops offer free returns.
This is definitely something you should check before purchasing.
December 21, 2020 / Ben / 0 Comments
Christmas shopping has been quite
strange this year with many of the shops having to close at certain times
throughout the last few months. It has also meant that some areas of the
country have seen more shops close than others and this has made Christmas
shopping a bit of a nightmare. The run up to Christmas is also a bit manic with
people saying out to by last minute gifts or to fill their freezers with party
food, but this year has been even worse. Due to social distancing, many people
have had to cue to get in and out of shops and then queue again to pay for
items. This can add hours of time on to your shopping trip and you may find
rather than of doing it all in one day, you have had to go back to the shops time
and time again.
If you haven’t finished your
shopping yet then you may want to get moving as some shops already seem to be
clearing away the Christmas gifts and decorations. If you are ordering presents
only, bear in mind that they may not arrive before Christmas if sent using the
normal postal service as they seem to be experiencing massive delays.
November 22, 2020 / Ben / 0 Comments
Many people enjoy settling down
with a good book and are eager to talk about their current read especially if
it is absorbing so what better way to do this than start a book club.
The main idea of a book club is
that everyone reads the same book and then either meets up in person to talk
about it or online if meeting up is not possible. Some novels have ideas for
discussions at the end of the book that can be used to stimulate debate and provoke
thoughts into character motives, plot lines and author intent giving the group
a good starting point for discussion.
Another way to organise a book
club is to use it as a way of swapping books that have been enjoyed. Obviously,
discussions about the book could only take place once every member has read the
book to avoid any spoilers. Members could however provide a brief synopsis of
the book whilst not revealing any twists that the story may contain.
Joining a book club is a good way
to make new friends with similar interests as yourself and it is certainly
worth finding out if such a club exists if you move to a new area.