We do read alouds as part of our daily homeschool. While we love doing read alouds, it isn’t always smooth sailing. Some days are simply way too busy and I feel like there isn’t enough of me to go around. That’s where The Dragon and the Raven swoops in to save the day.
The Dragon and The Raven
Recently we have been listening to The Dragon and The Raven another amazing audio drama from Heirloom Audio Productions and have really enjoyed it.
Why Heirloom Audio Products
First off, they aren’t like your typical audio books at all and it’s certainly better than the boys always listening to me read all the time.
They are
John Rhys-Davies: The Lord of Rings & Indiana Jones
Helen George: Call the Midwife
Brian Blessed: Star Wars, Tarzan, & King Lear
Sylvester McCoy: Doctor Who VII & The Hobbit
John Bell: The Hobbit
Katherine Kellgren: Award-Winning Narrator
While we were listening to The Dragon and The Raven, I had to mention the boys that this was something like would have been enjoyed during the old radio shows but has a completely modern feel. It’s complete with sound effects and music and listening to this particular story left us perched at the end of our seats waiting to hear what would happen next. I wasn’t sure if my youngest (age 5) would be able to get completely into this, but he loved it as well.
I loved how this set is broken down into 2 discs and it’s very easy to stop and start this if you need to. The study guide that is included in the set is fantastic. It has questions for each track of the audio. We would go so far, stop the audio and then talk about the questions that were asked. Not only did it ask you questions about what you just heard, but it encouraged additional learning such as researching and even doing activities. I really liked that it told the kids to get their parents permission if they were going to research. It also has a “defining word” section which was nice as well. The only thing I would change about this is for it to be on plain background. While it’s beautifully done if you keep it in digital form, it’s not so easy on the ink when printing it out.
Listening to the audio while looking at the study guide.
Family Pack
Also, if you choose to purchase their Family Four-Pack, you get 7 awesome bonuses!! The bonus features are:
1: You get the complete The Dragon and the Raven e-study guide and discussion started. I felt it brought more to the book. We printed off the study guide and would refer to it as we went along. At times my boys tend to daydream and the study guide kept them all ears.
2: A beautifully done poster printable of the inspirational verse (Proverbs 21:31) during the book.
3: The Dragon and the Raven Soundtrack MP3 download.
4: Unlimited acess to the Live The Adventure Letter E-Newsletter. Our family really enjoyed this as well. It’s designed to bring Christian history to life and to encourage parents and children alike to see history as part of God’s handiwork.
5: G.A. Henty’s original The Dragon and The Raven E-Book and once again, I’m gonna tell you how awesome this is! The graphics really bring the story to life!
6: A 24″ x 36″ printable promotion poster that features the star-studded cast of The Dragon and The Raven.
7: Behind-the-scenes documentary that features the awesome cast, crew, and actors of The Dragon and The Raven. It’s exclusive content is over 50 minutes long!!
How we used this product
First off I have to say that we loved this product. We studied the Middle Ages last year, so it was fun to bring that back into our rotation. We did choose to do it a little different than a traditional audio book though. Thanks to the study guide, we broke this down into sections. We covered so much daily and used the guide. With us doing that, it kept their attention and they looked forward to doing it daily.
All in all we loved The Dragon and The Raven and would highly suggest it to anyone that is a fan of audiobooks. Once you listen to this, you’ll have a hard time going back to the traditional audio books.
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1 comments
What a great way to study the middle ages!