Friday, September 5, 2014

Heirloom Audio Productions: Under Drake's Flag #REVIEW

Analytical Grammar Review
I have to say I was totally excited to receive Under Drake's Flag for review.  I love doing read-alouds with my bigger boys but sometimes I'm just not up to reading for two hours straight.  I had thought about audio books but typically they are dry.  Not the case with Heirloom Audio Productions!


What is it?

This audio delight is adapted from the book Under Drake's Flag by G.A. Henty.

For this review we received Under Drake's Flag physical audio CDs with study guide & prayer inside, as well as a digital Study Guide Download.


Products & Pricing:

Under Drake's Flag comes in 2 options:

(2)  Physical Audio CDs  + bonuses - $29.95

&

Digital Download  + bonuses - $20.00

There are many additional bonus  products that come with both purchase options:

You can see the complete bundles here. 



Age Recommendation:

This product would be perfect for 6 - adult. 


How we used the product:

I was planning on listening to the CDs during a four hour road trip but that plan didn't quite work out.  (It would have been perfect!)  So instead I did what we typically do when I read aloud to the big kids.  We piled on my bed.  I put the CDs in the Blu-Ray player I have and they worked perfectly.  We ended up listening straight through with a few bathroom breaks.  (I did some crocheting while listening which was awesome because typically I'm the one reading out loud.)

After listening to the cds I  read about G.A. Henty from the guide included with the CDs and we talked a bit about character.  I felt like this was an excellent topic with the great character of several people in the production.  Particularly Ned and Sir Francis Drake.


While we did not use the PDF Download study guide (a bonus product) - I have printed it out for further exploration.   It is a great way to make a simple story into a whole unit study because it includes vocabulary and questions to ask.  There is also a bible study that focuses on character - I plan to use soon in our morning bible time.  I am also going to have the kids memorize Sir Francis Drake's Prayer:

Disturb us, Lord, when We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.



This is just the first part but it is so powerful!  Amazing how something that a man wrote in 1577 is so relevant for today!


My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this production.  It was high quality.  There was a wonderful cast of voices to bring the story alive.  I loved the music and sound effects.  Within minutest of listening I was transported to the sea.  This story had plenty of action - enough to entertain  12 and 14 year old boys.  There were shipwrecks, battles, even a prison scene.  I honestly hope that Heirloom Audio Productions adds additional titles to their line up.

For me the experience was even more delightful.  We are big on read-alouds in our home.  I believe it is so important to read classic and good stories to your children even when they are capable of reading on their own.  It stirs the brain to imagination, it helps build vocabulary and it is quality time spent together.  I honestly think our read aloud time is some of the best homeschooling time we've spent together.

So I've been a bit envious of my big children because they get the luxury of sitting back and hearing Mom read the story.  I hope to convince my husband to read a few books to us in the future.  However, I think having the experience with Under Drake's Flag was a close event.  I was able to have some one else narrate the story to me.  While it was much more than a simple narration - with all the wonderful character voices, sound effects and music - it was still a similar concept.  It was a nice change from me being the one reading all the time.  





Under Drake's Flag Reviews


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