Our family LOVES books on tape. I greatly enjoy reading wonderful literature aloud to my children, but quite honestly, I don’t have as much time to read aloud as I used to. Our library has a huge assortment of classic literature on tape and CD. Several years ago, we started checking out a new book every couple of weeks to listen to as we drive here, there and everywhere. I can’t even tell you what a treasure this time together has been! (Not to mention the amount of great literature I’ve been able to check off the “to read before my children leave home” list!)
For many years now, I’ve heard how wonderful the Your Story Hour CD’s are. I’m glad to say that I’ve finally had the opportunity to listen to Great Stories Volume #3 and I agree – they are wonderful!
In Volume #3, there are six CD’s that total about six hours of listening time. Written with the feel of an old-time radio show, the stories are full of historically accurate and adventurous tales of early American history. They’re full of sound effects and professional voices that bring the characters, settings and storylines to life. Topics on this particular set include:
- Robert E. Lee: Hero of the South
- Johnny Appleseed: Story of John Chapman
- The Daring Locomotive: Tale from the Civil War
- Sacagawea: One Little Indian Girl
- Sacagawea: Indian Guide
- The Girl Astronomer: Story of a Little Quaker Girl Who Grew up to Discover a Comet
- Precious Burdens – not early American history, but a true tale that’s very precious
- Part-time Indians
The sets are a bit pricey, but very comparable to other books on CD. And if your children are like mine and ask to listen over and over again, the price is worth it. With really long books on CD, it’s hard to say ‘yes’ to listening again and again. The Your Story Hour stories are a reasonable length, making re”reads” enjoyable rather than drudgery.
There are 24 different CD sets available at Your Story Hour! Topics include a vast variety of Bible and history stories. And, although I haven’t seen them, there are even four activity guides to go along with four of the history sets.
I love the mission statement located on their website:
“We believe that children are an invaluable and precious component of families, communities and nations. In today’s world, right role models portraying beneficial decision making strategies are scarce. Children can be inspired to make sound choices by exposure to dramatized stories evidencing the positive results of developing character traits such as honesty, integrity, courage and faith. Your Story Hour exists to provide children with this exposure.”
To that I say “Amen and Thank you”! Enjoy reading – er, listening!
The biggest reason Cindy chose to homeschool was because she loves experiencing life with her children and watching them grow inside and out. She's sure that’s why the Charlotte Mason method first caught her attention. It allows her to be creative in scheduling, rigorous in learning, yet opens the door for plenty of close-knit time, opportunities for her children to explore their interests and offers enough free time for them to be children. She implements many of Charlotte Mason's methods with an eclectic twist of things that work for her family! At Cindy's website, Our Journey Westward, you will find a blog packed with fun learning ideas and a shop full of creative curriculum, including the NaturExplorers studies.
A couple of Christmas’s ago, the girls aunt got them MP3 players for Christmas and have since upgraded to much nicer and rechargable ones.
One resource that the girls have greatly enjoyed is Librivox – they record out of print books. We’ve gotten to listen to all kinds of old books this way – most of the Oz books – and dozens of classics – all for free.
The MP3 player they have has a built in speaker, so often one or the other will set it so the whole family can listen while they work together in the kitchen or whereever. They usually listen while doing chores, makes the work easier.
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Cindy, this was on my list to review as well! I LOVE these discs. We are huge audio book lovers too. I bought four sets of these from Beautiful Feet several months ago. I figured that if I was going to have expensive shipping I may as well get a lot for my money. I bought them solely on the reputation of BF. They sell good stuff, so I figured they would be good. And I was NOT disappointed. These are so wonderful! We don’t even consider them homeschool. Sprite listens to them for fun. They’re in the category of watching a movie. 🙂 (Shhh.. don’t tell her she’s learning.)
Rachel, I can’t wait to look into Librivox!
Jimmie, I won’t tell if you won’t tell! LOL
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You can also buy many Your Story Hour albums on iTunes (I think in the audiobook section) and download them as MP3 audiobooks. They are cheaper that way. Their Bible story albums are exceptional!
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Thank you so much for the kind words and promotion of our fine albums. Tammy, Sales Manager, Your Story Hour
I have been wanting to get the Bible series of these for a while now, and since we are reading through the Old Testament Chronologically, I think now is the perfect time to invest!
My daughters also enjoy the audiodrama Down Gilead Lane, from CBH ministries, and they love books from Lirbivox.org!
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