An Audio Adventure that Makes You Think

Jumping, hollering, and excitement are always part of the scene when a new Heirloom Audio production comes into our home, and, the case was no different when we receiveda 2-CD St. Bartholomew's Eve set for review.

My children were super enthusiastic to listen to St. Bartholomew's Eve and to discover where this latest audio adventure would take them. 

However, silly me failed to prepare them for what they would be listening to...

Pausing the CD to Discuss Truth and Bias

Shortly after beginning to St. Bartholomew's Eve,  my children's comments required me to pause the CD for a chat about truths and perspective.

Truths include:

• St. Bartholomew's Eve is set during the time of the French Wars of Religion - a brutal period when Catholics and Protestants fought in France.

• The audiodrama is an adaptation of a G.A. Henty novel by the same name.

• G.A. Henty was a Protestant English novelist and war correspondent from the late 1800's who wrote popular historical adventure stories.

• People are human, and, therefore, imperfect.  Throughout history, people of all faiths have failed to live their faith well at times, including Catholics. 

Perspective, too, is important to consider.  Of course, when the story of a Protestant-Catholic war is adapted from a novel written by a Protestant author from the late 1800's, there is bound to be some obvious bias.  

Deeper truths, however, are even more important.

My wholly Christian, wholly Catholic children noticed the bias in St. Bartholomew's Eve and were, to varying degrees, jarred by it.  However, after a brief chat about that, they were also swept up in the strong characterization, realistic sound effects, moving score, and excellent adventure that is always a part of  Heirloom Audio productions and was absolutely well done in St. Bartholomew's Eve. 

Thus, in the end, they began to see that although bias was inherit in the combination of the time period and perspective of the story of St. Bartholomew's Eve, deeper messages were ecumenical truths. 

Truths such as:

• You can disagree with someone without despising them.

• There is such a thing as "just war", but many battles are unnecessary and simply bring despair and death. 

• We live God's will for our lives by looking to love and accept, by building one another up, not tearing one another down.

• People in power sometimes abuse their power, working against God's will.  Always consider truth before blindly following orders.  Obey the King of Kings, not the king (president, minister, leader) of (insert location or group).

• Not every (insert faith, type of person, etc.) is good/bad.  Look for the character of individuals; don't make assumptions based on labels.

Moreover, the story made me think about the great suffering of Christians of all denominations throughout history and how, in our current world, those of us who believe in Christ often face increasing hatred and scorn.  We must not get discouraged though.

God sanctifies and strengthens His people even in the midst of terrible trials.  Hardships happen.  Families are broken.  Countries divide.  Individuals make horrific choices that spread ill will like wildfire.  However, God always prevails.

We Christians must think and talk about what it means to be Christian.  We must understand that popular culture and government policies can change and, in doing so, can quickly and dramatically, oppose our Christian values.  And, in the end, we must be prepared to be ready to do God's will, trusting in his providence.

Heavy stuff, I know.

Quality stories do that.  They move you.  They make you think.  And, bias or no, St. Bartholomew's Eve does just that!


A Dramatic Story that Makes You Think

My 11-year old daughter describes the story this way: 

This story is about a boy named Philip Fletcher who is from Britain and goes to France to help his fellow Christian Huguenots in their war for freedom of religion.

When he gets to France, he practices how to use a pistol and prepares to fight with his cousin Francois.

A little bit into the story, when he has already faced a lot of trouble, Philip meets Argento, a boy whose father had died because of he Catholics .  Argento tells Philip where the leaders of his town are, and, after Philip takes care of them, he makes them promise that they will not hurt Argento or his family.   

After Philip leaves, the leaders break their word.  In the process of escaping them, Argento loses another thing - his leg! 

When he gets o Philip, a peg leg is made for him and he joins Philip in peacetime and battles.

The Huguenots go to Paris for a royal wedding where a Catholic princess is to marry a Protestent prince and an unexpected attack takes place.

There are many battles in the story. In one, when the Catholics are coming, the Huguenots block gates with skinned animals.  Then, they use the skinned animals for food at a party.

I enjoyed the characters.  They had strong traits perseverance, loyalty, and determination.  

The story teaches people to stand up for what they believe.

Most definitely, the characters in St. Bartholomew's Eve are well portrayed by the audiodramas star-studded cast, which included Brian Blessed (Star Wars), Elizabeth Counsell (The Chronicles of Narnia), David Shaw-Parker (The Muppet Christmas Carol), Brian Deacon (Bonhoeffer), Andy Harrison (The Secret Garden), and Hugo Docking (Oliver Twist).

Also, without question, growth in virtues and faith is evident in the main characters.

Of course, due to the setting of the story, much of this growth is the result of battles, and the battles is what my 8-year-old keyed into.  

He said:

This audiodrama had a lot of battles in it.  I liked he battle scenes.  The sound effects made them actually sound like battles and the narration was good.  It was exciting, but not too gory. 

The story was a little bit bias, but it was good.  It was exciting and had meaning: People are silly about faith.  They should let other people worship how they want and should worship how they want themselves.  They should only fight when it's in dire need.  They should not kill innocent people.  God doesn't want that.

It's pretty good that a story can inspire a battle-loving 8-year-old to think such thoughts, huh?

It also had my 11-year-old thinking.

He is my most black-and-white thinker and is also someone who believes fervently in his Catholic faith.  So, he had some trouble with this CD, but still appreciated parts of it and thought about its deeper meaning.  

He said:

This story was difficult for me to listen to because of its bias, but I appreciated when they said not all Catholics are bad.  I also felt for the boy in it.  

Argento seemed to have very bad luck.  He was always losing something - his house, his parents, his leg!  He gained friendship with Philip...

I did not expect Philip's cousin to die in the story...

This time period was crazy and chaotic.  No one was living what they believed.  They were murdering each other because of the dumb mother of the kind.  Christians should make peace, not kill each other.

I love all the other Heirloom Audio adventures, but this one - nah.  It was too bias for me.  It only showed the "good Huguenots".  I am sure there were people doing wrong on both sides - people taught lies by Huguenots like people were taught lies by the stupid queen mom.  

I think Christians should not murder each other.  It breaks God's commandments.

Yes, my oldest struggled in hearing about the evil things Catholics did, knows that evil can be pervasive across all sides, and understands God does not want us to murder one another senselessly.St. Bartholomew's Eve may have been difficult for him, but it was a worthwhile story for us to listen to.  It made my family think.  It can be used a tool for all adventure-loving Christians to open discussion about past persecution of Christians - at the hands of people from other faiths and even from fellow Christians - and about the need to be prepared for whatever may come to Christians in our modern society.

I would recommend it to those who love historical audiodrama, with these two caveats:

1. Children under 6, and older children who are sensitive, might be disturbed by some of the scenes in the story.  here are scenes of death, etc., however tastefully portrayed.
2. Children like mine may need to be prepared for the bias of the story and guided to discern the truths of basic historical facts and deeper meanings to apply to the present.

Like all Heirloom Audio productions, St. Bartholomew's Eve is of to--notch professional quality!

Learn More

Find all the reviews.

Eighty other Homeschool Review Crew families reviewed St. Bartholomew's Eve, too.  Read all the reviews.

Find Heirloom Audio on social media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeirloomAudio
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeirloomStories  
• Google+: https://goo.gl/d8btpX
• Instagram: @HeirloomAudioOfficial

Discover other audiodramas that can help you "live the adventure".  We've happily reviewed all of the Heirloom Audio productions to date and encourage you to check them out.  They are all top-notch historical adventures told from a Christian perspective.

Wulf the Saxon

Read More

Get Hands-On with Ancient Greece ! {A Home School in the Woods Review}

If you like history and hands-on learning, you will love Project Passport World History Studies by Home School in the Woods!

We have been enjoying the Ancient Greece study recently and, like everything we've tried before from Home School in the Woods, we have found the quality of the Greece study to be top-notch.

What is Project Passport: Greece?

The Project Passport World History Study Ancient Greece is a resource that makes learning Greece hands-on and memorable.  The study has depth, breadth, flexibility, and fun!
You can use the complete curriculum as a deep, hands-on study of Ancient Greece, or you can pick and choose projects based on specific topics that catch your interest.  You can also do as many or as few projects as your life and learning schedule allow, since projects can stand alone or can complement one another.  That means that the Ancient Greece study can work equally well as a stand-alone curriculum our as a stellar supplementary one.

However you choose to use the Ancient Greece study, you are sure to find yourself immersed in active learning and review alongside your children!

Text portions are well researched and written, directions are explicit and easy-to-follow, and projects are engaging and often punctuated by delightful hand-drawn illustrations.

Make Up to 25 Stops on Your Virtual Journey Through Ancient Greece

Project Passport World History Studies Ancient Greece is recommended for students in Grades 3-8 and is available in a CD format or as a digital download, which is what my family received. 

The download version comes "zipped".  Once unzipped, the download has multiple folders and files accessible in your document folders or through a handy "start" button, which automatically opens a hyperlinked welcome page that makes navigating the copious amount of included files easy.  By clicking on the "start" button, you can easily get on with your learning journey without having to wonder, Where do I begin and how do all these files work together?

Included in the curriculum are 25 "stops", or lessons, which will take you 8-12 weeks to complete if done as suggested.  However, as I said before, the curriculum is flexible.  You can use it at any pace that works for your family, dipping in here and there, doing the entire thing in order, choosing portions that speak to your children's learning styles...

My family tends to use things in spurts, picking and choosing activities based on our interests and time availability.  As we've been journeying through Ancient Greece with Home School in the Woods, we have typically checked out some of the included photos of completed projects, read through the menu of specific topics, and, then, let the children work on a select maps, timeline portions, or mini-projects, while I have read the Guidebook (or text) to them, just starting at the beginning and stopping when time for our studies ends on a given day, then picking up where we left off on another day.

As I have read and the children have worked, we have paused to chat about different points that come up.  This has been working well for us, and I find, therefore, that this curriculum is one I like to do with my children, not one that I would hand over them and say, "Here, go to it!"

I like being present and reading the Guidebook to the children, so I can learn and discuss as they do.

Undoubtedly, there is plenty to learn!  Lessons cover a bit of everything - both in specific topics about Ancient Greece (from clothing to government, to mythology, to geography, to people, to so much more) and in ways materials are presented (as maps, lapbook pieces, timelines, printable mini-projects, cooking projects, building projects, etc.)   There are even audio tour portions!  Love that!

Plans are laid out with clear instructions for what you'll need to print, what extra materials -such as scissors, colored pencils, tape, glue, file folders, cooking supplies, etc. - that you will need to gather, and how you might wish to approach each lesson segment.

There are also visual snapshots of completed lessons projects, so you can get an idea of what each might look like, or, as I said my children and I do, my children use the pictures, to help you decide which portions of the study to do next.

Being able to quickly get a handle of what projects are about and might entail through looking at the photos as well as through browsing the well-named links on the "start" page, handy icons on that page, and linked quick-look instructions is a huge perk of the curriculum.  For truth be told, there are so many projects included in the study, that I know my family will never get to them all.

My time and patience for printing materials is limited and my family's schedule always leans towards "full", so, while we love Project Passport World History Studies, we simply can not commit to "doing it all".  The well-organized nature of the studies and the awesome sneak peak pictures of completed projects, then, help us to decide what we can and will do.  Decisions made, we dive in, and without exception, always enjoy our time journeying through history with Home School in the Woods.  We believe you will, too.

Seriously, the Ancient Greece study is fantastic!  Taken in part or as a whole it promotes engaged, hand-on learning.  There are other Project Passport World History Studies, too, including a just-released Rome one we hope to do in the future.

What We Think about Project Passport: Ancient Greece

By now, it is no secret that the only part of the Ancient Greece study I do not relish is all the separate files for printing.  (I would much prefer files bundled into single documents per type of study - lapbook, mapping, craft instructions, or, better yet, per stop, so I could simply open one document, select pages to print, hit print once, walk away, then, come back to enjoy learning alongside my children.)

Still, the time and relative tedium it takes to do all the printing is well worth it.

Why?

Because each of my children enjoys Project Passport studies and, once we are all sitting together immersed in them, I thoroughly enjoy the time, too.

No kidding.  We sat down to do a brief amount with the study this past week and found ourselves late running out the door over an hour later because we got so pleasantly caught up in what we were doing that the time flew by!  You just have to love a resource that engages like that!

When I asked my children for their thoughts on the study so far, my 11-year-old daughter said:

I really like this Project Passport World History Study on Ancient Greece.  It has coloring sheets and glue projects you can do while Mom is reading.  That entertains your hands while the reading entertains your mind.

I also enjoyed making a clay pot and helping my brother with his helmet.  These are two of the many crafts suggested in the study. 

I think this study is good, because there are lots of different things.  If one person prefers reading, another prefers copying, another drawing, another pasting... there is all of that in there.  There are many different ways to learn about Greece in this study. I really like it!

Obviously, she enjoys the hand-on nature of the curriculum and also appreciates how different parts of it can appeal to different learning styles.

My 8-year-old son said:

I like the crafting, pasting, and coloring.  Mom has not been doing as much of this with us lately, and I really like it.  I also liked learning about Ancient Greece because it is easy and fun.

So far, I like making the helmet the best.  We did not have everything we needed, so I looked at the directions and came up with other ideas.  I used a toy workers hat duct tape, foam, and cardstock and plan to cover the cardstock with duct tape and try spray painting it all. 

I think people who like crafting, coloring, pasting, and history would like this!

I'd say his comments are spot on and would like to highlight that, while my son always doe well with creativity and problem-solving, the clearly written directions for the helmet and the inspirational photos included in the downloads spurred him to easily figure out how to use the pattern and idea for the helmet with the materials we had on hand.  It brought him such joy to do so!

My 12-year-old son said:

I wanted to do this study for the costumes, but have not done that part, because we have been so busy and, when we have sat down to use the study I have not been feeling the best.  So, instead, I have listened to Mom read the history parts, done some mapping, and done the Aesop tales.

I like the way the history is written.  It has a good style and is interesting.  Now, I know why the period is called the Hellenistic period.  I learned some new things and made connections to other things I have learned. 

I did not like the fact that there is cutting and pasting for the maps, so we printed the key map instead and just colored and found places. 

I think this study would be good for people who like history as well as for those who think they hate it.  Sometimes history is taught poorly, but this study great.  It's not just names and dates.  It is stories and activities.

Between a busy schedule out of the house, trouble sleeping, and a summer bug, my oldest has not been himself each time we have sat down with this study. Yet, he has been drawn into things and has also appreciated how we can adapt to his glue-hating ways. (We use the teacher keys instead of the cut-n-pastes for him.) He also has noted what I note: the Project Passport Study can make history engaging for anyone - even those who think they don't like history. 

We love history here. We also appreciate opportunities for family learning, curriculum resources we can stop and start with as life demands, and well-designed options that help us create memories as we expand knowledge.

Project Passport World History Studies Ancient Greece is all this and more. It is a fantastic hands-on resource that can be used as a base curriculum or as a supplement to other studies, with you picking and choosing which included projects to complete.

Well-researched materials engage the mind. Inviting hand-drawn artwork makes for wonderful coloring, painting, or just looking.  A wide variety of activities appeal to visual, kinesthetic, and auditory senses. Everything included in the study is, without question, top notch.

Home School in the Woods offers a wide variety of products, some in-depth, some one-shot, all well worth a look.

Read the reviews.

Homeschool Review Crew Families have reviewed different  Home School in the Woods, including:

Hands-on History Lap-Paks

Project Passport World History Studies

Time Travelers American History

Hands-on History Activity-Paks

Hands-on History Activity Studies

À La Carte Timelines

You can also see some of our prior reviews:

Art, History, and More A La Carte from Home School in the Woods {A Review}

Flexible, Fun, Hands-On History for Every Learner { A Project Passport: Renaissance & Reformation Review}

Connect with Home School in the Woods at:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/homeschoolinthewoods
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/HSintheWoods
• G+: https://plus.google.com/+Homeschoolinthewoods
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hsinthewoods/

Read More

Bible Study for the Whole Family {A Review}

If you've been wanting to focus more on timelines, mapping, and the Bible in your homeschool, co-op, church, or classroom endeavors, then the Bible Study Guide For All Ages is worth looking into.  
Our family has been working our way through the Intermediate (3rd & 4th grade) and Advanced (5th & 6th grade) and, so far, I am impressed.

Homeschool Bible Lessons with Something for Everyone

The Bible Study Guide For All Ages is a multi-faceted resource that aims to take folks of all ages through the entire Bible at the same time over the course of four years.  The program helps you learn the "big picture" of the story of the Bible while also sharpening your knowledge of Bible details.  It also challenges you to think about how to apply Bible teaching to your own life.

The full course has 416 lessons offered at levels for ages 3-K, grades 1-2, grades 3-4, grades 5-6, teens, and adults.  Each level has its own student pages, but the lessons in all levels study the same Scripture at the same time.  That way, your whole family can study the Bible together - with each person using age-appropriate student pages - and, when a child outgrows one level, the child can simply move onto the next lesson in the next level.  This makes the program fabulous for multi-age families!

The program also offers components besides the student pages, including CD's, Bible Book Summary Cards, Wall Maps and a Time Line and more.  That means, there is something for everyone - auditory, kinesthetic, and visual learners of all ages!

Further, the program can be used no matter what Christian denomination you are, for as the creator of the program says:

"We are sometimes asked if we are owned or controlled by a particular denomination or if we teach various church doctrines. We work independently of any church group or denomination and make no attempt to teach our opinion about issues of debate. Our goal is to present the Bible and the Bible alone. We believe that it is through the prayerful study of God’s word that people come to a true and lasting faith."

So far, I have seen this to be true - the program seems to stick to the Bible alone.  (My children and I did note that it does not contain anything for deuterocanonical books - the Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, and Baruch- which are a part of our Catholic Bible.

Easy to Tailor to Your Family's Needs

For this review, we received:

•  a set of the Large Bible Book Summary Cards: full page, glossy card stock cards that have full-color illustrations on one side and questions and answers on the other to help you get the big picture of the Bible.  (These were my favorite part of the program!)
  
  
  
  
  
• Intermediate Student Pages through Lesson 26: These are legal paper sized black-and-white student pages that are bound quite loosely (for easy tear-out, I suppose.)  They include Bible drills, review games, timeline and map drills, application activities and more and are written so a child can guide themselves through the pages or work with a parent or teacher on them. You can view samples of them here. 
  
  
  
  
  
• Advanced Student Pages through Lesson 26: These are similar to the intermediate pages, but, of course, are a little more challenging. They include interactive, illustrated Bible study, Bible and memory drills, timeline, maps, application activities, and more.  You can view sample pages of these, too.
  
  
  
  
  
• an Advanced Teacher Key through lesson 26:  These are a companion to the Student Pages and provide additional teaching aids such as definitions of Bible words, background information, instructions for placing labels in the Unlabeled Wall Maps and Time Lines, etc.  The Student Pages may be used with or without this key.  To decide if you'd find it helpful, you can view sample pages.
  
  
  
  
  
• a Wall Map & Time Line Label Book: This small 3-ring binder contains keys to where labels go as well as all the labels needed for the first 104 lessons.  The labels are in full color and made of sturdy glossy cardstock.  You cut them out yourself and attach them to the Wall Maps and Time Line using adhesive putty.
  
  
  
  
  
• Wall Map & Time Line: These are blank maps and timelines that help you see where Bible events took place and how all the stories of the Bible fit together over time. The size of the Time Line is 76" x 25". The sizes of the three maps are 38" x 25", 19" x 25" and 19" x 25".  (This is what drew me into the program.  I have been wanting to focus more on time lines and mapping and these make doing so handy!)
  
  
  
  
  

Of course, then, the first thing we did when starting to use all this was put up our Time Line and Wall Maps and begin cutting out the labels.  I, personally, do not love having to keep track of lots of little pieces, but my daughter enjoys cutting, placing labels, etc. and said, "The Time Line is my favorite part of the program!"

Then, we sat down together with the Student Pages, Summary Cards, and our Bibles and began with Lesson 1.  My children were a little confused at first because I had them at two different levels and so their pages were different.  Then, once they realized we had different level Student Pages, my youngest wanted to try the Advanced level.  I let him, but, he quickly decided the Intermediate Level was for him, and stated, "The whole Intermediate Level because it is easier and I like the activities!"

My oldest son liked the Advanced Level best and said, "I liked that I could move ahead with it, and, then, do something else while you guys caught up."  And, yes, this is what happened - proving the Student Pages can be used independently and do not require the Teacher Key.

Due to the nuero-diversity of my children and our life schedule, we tend to do particular family lessons for only 15-20 minutes in a sitting, and my oldest tends to get distracted easily.  So, he either spent time going ahead of his siblings and I a bit or racing through a portion of the program and then reading or writing his own stuff until we were ready to move onto group use of the Wall Maps, Time Line, and Summary.  This worked for us.

The fact that the curriculum is written with two pages per lesson, but many small sub-lesson bits worked, too.  In 15-20 minutes, we could not, of course, get through an entire lesson, but, because of the way the program is written, we could easily find a logical breaking point, and, then, pick right back up with lessons the next time we sat down together.

As a family, we found the Bible Study Guide For All Ages easy to adapt to our schedules, learning styles, and needs and will definitely be using it in rotation with our other faith studies as time continues.  This means it might take us far more than a 1/4 year to complete the Quarter 1 materials we have, but, that's okay with us.  We are relaxed and eclectic.  For those that are more structured, using the materials 2-3 times a week for longer than 15-20 minutes at a sitting, you could certainly work through 1/4 of the Bible in a year, and the full Bible over four years.

We can recommend Bible Study Guide For All Ages for those who wish to combine Bible geography, history(time line) and Bible studies (but will add the caveat for fellow Catholics that not all the books of the Bible are included and, also, we have yet to see what every lesson is like, so would recommend families work together so that if the odd theology question comes up, it can be dealt with right away.  I do not foresee this happening since so far we've found the program truly does just stick to the Word, not interpretations of it.  However, I would feel remiss not mentioning to fellow Catholics that I have not yet read every lesson and, therefore, cannot speak to the entire 4-year program.  I like what I have done so far!)

Learn More

Find all the reviews.

Want different points of view?  Seventy Homeschool Review Crew families tested out different levels of the Bible Study Guide For All Ages.

Find the Bible Study Guide for All Ages on Facebook and Twitter.

Read More