Jonathan Park CD’s

 Living books, Science, Unit study resources  5 Responses »
Feb 022010
 

I think my older children were 8 and 5 when we bought the first volume of the Jonathan Park audio series.  We’ve been hooked ever since, buying a new volume each year for Christmas.  What an exciting, educational joy these CD sets are for our entire family (not just the children!)

The action-packed story lines follow the Park and Brenan families as they find themselves involved in adventure after adventure that often center around Mr. Park’s occupation as a Christian paleontologist.  Even though the characters are fictional, the places they visit all over the world are real, as are the creation-based facts that are introduced.  It’s been a wonderful way to present arguments against evolution to my children.  I can’t even begin to list all the topics covered, but a few include fossils, animal adaptations, Noah’s flood, Charles Darwin and so many more!

Each of the CD stories is God-honoring as the families are often working together to reveal or defend the Truth.  The stories are also pro-family and pro-homeschooling as the children, parents and even grandparents can be found working, schooling and playing together.  And even though the stories are not in printed form (that I know of), I still consider them very much to be living literature with creation science as the main theme.

When I first started buying the CD sets, a free study guide came along with them.  I think the study guides are only available online now – but they are FREE!  And wonderful additions to the CD’s, I might add!  In fact, if you’re a unit study family, these study guides could easily help you plan entire creation science units fueled by the audio stories.

Each of the six volumes currently available includes 12 different episodes (that were originally aired over the radio) on four CD’s that are neatly housed in a small, sturdy container.   The sound quality, sound effects and character voices are all very professional.  If you’ve followed many of my reviews, you know our love for audio books as we travel.  These are truly at the top of our listening list!

-Written by Cindy, eclectically Charlotte Mason mom of 3.  You can find her blogging at Our Journey Westward and Shining Dawn Books.

Story of the World Audio CD’s

 Classical, History, Living books  No Responses »
Nov 022009
 

I’ve told you before how much I love the Story of the World history curriculum – the reading texts and the activity books.  I’ve recently had the pleasure of adding the audio CD’s to my Volume 4 set, and now I love Story of the World even more!

With a toddler in our household, read-aloud time has become a little harder to come by.  We used to sit together and read from this book or that for what seemed like hours a day and soaked up every minute it.  Once my little guy entered the scene (and especially now that he’s bigger), we don’t have the luxury of hour upon hour of reading aloud.  And this coming from a family that thrives on having two or three (or more) good books going at once!

With the Story of the World audio CD’s, at least part of my problem has been solved!

  • The kids can listen to the reading lesson without my direct involvement.
  • They can re”read” stories they’ve particularly enjoyed without my direct involvement.
  • They can even sit and listen to several stories at a time without my direct involvement!

And believe it or not, they really enjoy listening more than once.  Maybe it’s because of Jim Weiss, the brilliant narrator of this series – as well as many, many others.  Or maybe it’s because the stories are very intriguing.  Either way, it doesn’t matter to me because every time they hear a story, history is being embedded in their minds.  And afterward, we can go ahead with the lessons from the Activity Guide if we choose.

We’ve already been through volumes 1-3 from Story of the World, but I’m considering purchasing the audio CD’s for those volumes just to have on hand for casual listening and review.  They are a tad pricey, but there are several CD’s in each package.  In the volume 4 set, for instance, there are 11 CD’s with 12 hours of listening.  They come packaged in a box small enough to easily fit on a shelf.  There’s also a disc guide that tells you exactly which chapters/stories you’ll find on each CD and the length of time for each story.

And in case you’re wondering, I’ve enjoyed listening to the CD’s as much as my children.  I’ve always said that Story of the World has given me the understanding of world history that I was never taught in high school or college.  The CD’s allow me the opportunity to sit back and enjoy learning right alongside my children!

-Written by Cindy, eclectically Charlotte Mason mom of 3.  You can find Cindy blogging at Our Journey Westward and Shining Dawn Books.