Christy – Page 17

Homeschool Copywork — Handwriting, Character Building, Spelling, and More

My family received a complementary Lifetime Membership to Homeschool Copywork in exchange for this review. Normally, I’m not one for lifetime memberships, because I assume that automatically puts you on a hit list. Seriously, you know that if you win $5000 a week for life from Publisher’s Clearing House, you’re toast as soon as their budget gets tight. But in this case, we jumped on it. Homeschool Copywork doesn’t seem like the kind of place to have a hitman on the pay roster.

In fact, Homeschool Copywork is quite the opposite. Their site is a beautiful combination of copywork ebooks touching on a variety of topics for all age groups.

There are several different levels of handwriting in the ebooks. Your youngest writers can trace over the dashed letters. Older children can try various forms of printing as well as cursive. There really is something for each age level.

What I love about copywork is that it replaces the boring subjects, such as spelling and handwriting. Instead of writing “Abe ate Abel’s apples,” children are writing beautiful Scripture, quotes, historical facts, and other highly interesting phrases that stick with them throughout their lives. That’s so much better than Aa Aa Aa or spelling lists!

Here is a very brief sampling of the many available books:

animal alphabet
character building
Vincent Van Gogh and Monet
Beethoven and other composers
the armor of God (which is what Elijah is working through)
poetry of Emily Dickinson, Lewis Caroll, E.B. Browning, and others
hymns, such as Oh Love That Will Not Let Me Go and Be Thou My Vision
holiday topics, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas
historical topics and quotes, such as the Wright Brothers and John Audubon
coloring pages
notebooking pages

There are many, many more!

Some contain beautiful artwork for coloring which makes it even more fun to display the children’s copywork.

Elijah is currently working through this beauty:

He writes it on notebook paper, but you can print the ebook page or use handwriting paper, depending on your preference and paper availability. We use what we have…because we have it…so we use it.

Additional thoughts for my fellow roadschoolers:

Now normally with downloadable products, I’m griping about data limits and poor internet access. In this case, I haven’t a single gripe. The books download quickly without any hitches and use minimal data.

Obviously, there are no weight issues, as the books are ebooks and are lighter than air.

The one issue you may find is with printing. Ideally, especially for the younger set, you would print the sections of the ebooks you want for each child. We didn’t do that, although we will when the four-year-old is ready to participate, so she can trace the letters.

This is how we use it:

We choose the page they would copy and display it on the computer screen, and they copy it onto regular paper. It’s not as much fun, and we still have to have paper on hand, but it does save on printing costs and the annoying printer set-up issues that you have when you have 10 people living in a 30-foot trailer and you have to store your printer in the Cave of Wonders (or someplace equally as inaccessible).

That boy needs better lighting. We’ll get right on that.

Seriously, I can see no reason why this wouldn’t work for travelers. Can you?

To find out what stationary homeschoolers have to say about Homeschool Copywork, click here or on the banner below:

Analyzing Literature Without Losing the Love {A Review}

It is my legal duty to tell my readers that Memoria Press sent us the four student books and four teacher guides in their Fourth Grade Literature Guide Set to review, and I always perform my legal duty to the letter…except the time I showed up for jury duty with a new baby in my arms. All opinions here belong to me and my children–Memoria Press did not influence our decision.

Most of my readers know that I was an English major in college. What you may not know is that by the time I was finished with college, I rarely read books anymore. The joy of reading had been stifled by too much literary dissection and over-the-top analysis. The natural process of thinking through an author’s work and making friends with writers and characters had been replaced with trying to figure out what a professor thought the author intended to say and making friends with a syllabus.

For that reason, the majority of what my children read is not laid out on the operation table to be cut into layer by layer. It is allowed to dance in their brains and on their tongues as they share their own interpretations without my attempting to get what I want out of a reading.

That is why, despite my degree, this literature guide set from Memoria Press is, as far as I can recall, the first I have ever used with my kids. My opinion? I love it! My kids’ opinion? They love it! Let’s talk about why.

The book selection is challenging, but not impossible by any means. The selection for fourth grade includes Homer Price by McCloskey (an old friend to most reading families or anyone who has fallen in love with the ducks in Boston), The Cricket in Times Square by Seldon, Dangerous Journey: The Story of Pilgrim’s Progress arranged by Hunkin, and Blue Fairy Book by Lang (the book we started with because we already had it on Kindle).
Together, the series touches on different styles of literature. Some students may not taste certain genres unless required to, and might never otherwise learn that they love it.
The discussion questions are not tedious or boring. We work through most of the questions out loud, and the kids are super enthusiastic. They do the quizzes on paper, and are just as enthused.
The questions guide them to think through character traits, but so far have avoided being preachy.
The Bible is brought into a few of the lessons, particularly in Dangerous Journey.
The vocabulary words are fun for the kids, because, overall, they are useful words the kids are now noticing or using in their everyday lives. Also, the new words per lesson are minimal–not overwhelming by any means. There are, of course, a few wonky words they will never use again, such as Genus Mephitis from Homer Price, which doesn’t pop up over pizza too often.
Character, plat, setting, an other literary devices are discussed in the guides here and there, more so in The Cricket in Times Square. The kids learn the literary words without being chased down by a literary bear with a chainsaw…if you catch my drift.
The books in the series complement each other, but are separate studies, so parents can begin wherever they like.
Not only is it good for children to read slightly above their grade levels, but to listen as well. Sometimes I read the story aloud; other times the kids read it to themselves. The program is flexible enough to be used however it works best for the family.
The appendices in three of the four guides add just a little bit extra to make the book that much more interesting, but not so much that you start drooling while reading.
The study guides introduce brief writing assignments–not torturous. My first grader loved them.
It’s age and grade flexible. While this is a fourth grade set, most of my kids listened in and the fourth and first graders actively participated. The other grades look equally as flexible, because the literature selections are timeless.

While I most definitely will continue giving my children a selection of books to read that will require no formal written or spoken analysis, and especially no worksheets, I will also continue to work through the rest of the Fourth Grade Literature Guide Set from Memoria Press. It’s that well done, and it doesn’t kill the joy.

Additional thoughts for my fellow roadschoolers:

With the availability of Kindles, you all know that our libraries can come with us–praise God for that! I’m old school and prefer a book in one hand and popcorn in the other, but I’m still ecstatic about how the Kindle has expanded the roadschoolers library. The Memoria Press Teacher’s Guide and Student’s Guide are both quite slim and will likewise not take up much room on the shelf. Three of the four sets can be stowed until needed while keeping the fourth at hand.

While it’s ideal for each child to have her own student book, if you have eight kids and a limited amount of space, you can adapt as we do and as described above.

The flexibility of the program has made it simple for us to have our literary discussions and sometimes readings in the van as we drive. The quizzes and lessons are short enough that they’re not going to get in the way of hiking through Bryce Canyon.

I see no reason why this one shouldn’t make the roadschool cut!

Read what other reviewers have to say right here:

Demme Learning’s Math-U-See Has Gone Digital!

Please know that I was given a free year’s access to the digital pack for level Delta from Demme Learning’s Math-U-See in exchange for my and my son’s fair and unbiased review. (We did buy the student books with our own money…not stolen money.) This is indeed a fair and unbiased review. As you know, I can be swayed with cookies, but rest easy, reader friends–my son is a man of integrity. Stand strong, Boy!

Over the past 15 years of homeschooling, we have had six children use Demme Learning’s Math-U-See, and number seven is on the horizon.

We are big Math-U-See fans, and this is why:

I am a disorganized, inconsistent, unstructured mess of a mama sometimes. But that’s okay…I mean, for math, because Mr. Demme teaches my kids (and me) on video. If I don’t get out of bed for three months, they can still progress in their math. (That would be super boring for me, although I’d get a lot of reading done.)
As the name implies, the students can see not only how to do math, but why they do what they do. The manipulatives are part of that, as is Mr. Demme’s break-down of the process.
Each level ensures mastery before moving to another topic.
Each lesson reviews previous skills.
There is no drill and kill–math should not be fatal.

Recently Demme Learning came out with their digital packs. Instead of a physical teacher’s guide and a DVD, you have access to video streaming, digital manipulatives, the lesson summary, and the solutions all online for one year.

So instead of my son Elijah’s Delta level Math-U-See supplies looking like this:

…he has this:

Phenomenal cosmic math concepts…itty bitty living space.

Here’s what I love about the digital packs:

My son does not need to be sitting in front of the television. If we are in the van, he can watch his math video on the ~~library~~ Kindle Fire. He loves that he doesn’t need to wait for his turn with the DVD player. My husband loves that the math lesson can be a little quieter than when it’s on the tele.

Second, the digital streaming doesn’t get scratched, broken, lost, left in Arizona and not discovered until we’re in Colorado, stepped on, or need to be put away.

Third, last year I had six students in Math-U-See. (We graduated two last summer.) That was a lot of teacher’s books, I tell ya! They took up a lot of space that could have been used for literature or history–my favorite subjects. (Do you remember we live in a trailer?)

Fourth, the digital packs aren’t ever going to be outdated. There isn’t an older version and a newer version; you never wonder if your student text will line up with the teacher’s guide. It’s all good.

Fifth, you don’t have to wait for shipping–you finish, you re-order, you click a few times and you’re on the next level, which is a pretty big deal for me, the perpetual procrastinator…or percrastinator. Re-ordering is as easy as pi. That was a little math joke there.

Sixth, the work is still done on paper. There’s just something about paper and pencil that makes me happy…that and cookies and pie with an e.

Here’s what I don’t love about the digital packs:

I have eight students, and, quite honestly, I don’t want to be buying access year after year. I can’t pass them down, and I am totally into hand-me-downs.

I’m old school. I don’t like staring at screens; it messes with my eyes and makes me miss nature. I just want a book already. But you know what? My son is across-the-board-school. He likes screens and books, so, while I am a middle-aged, change-resistant Lutheran, he is totally hip to the digital version and even prefers it.

Additional thoughts for my fellow roadschoolers:

The ongoing space issue:

We have been traveling for four years with our enormous bucket of Math-U-See blocks. It’s not enormous in a house, but in a 30-foot Passport travel trailer, anything bigger than a two-slot toaster is outrageous. The manipulative solution Demme Learning offers online is far and away more space-saving than the box of blocks.

I (the old-school, change-resistant Lutheran), of course, prefer the blocks to the digital version, because I am not a fan of learning curves anymore and I like to hold things in my hands…like cookies and pie and babies. My son prefers the physical blocks as well. But here’s the thing–when he turns the computer off, the blocks are put away. You think Legos hurt on a trip to the bathroom at night? Try stepping on math manipulatives! Old school or not, those babies hurt.

Also, whine though I might about the learning curve, there’s a quick and easy manipulatives demo on the digital access page, so take that fellow Lutherans. We can handle change…maybe.

The ongoing internet issue:

As with all online curricula, there is the issue of internet connection. The digital packs do require you to stream videos, which we can only do when we have a strong internet connection or enough data left at the end of the month. (Yeah, we data budget.) My son has been flying through his lessons, so he’s been watching a video every day or two, but when he gets to the harder lessons, it will be more like once a week or so, making the access issue less significant.

The online manipulatives are not a big data hog, so he can use them for his assignments and practice whenever we are connected with no issue…although I think he may have recreated the Danish attacks on Wessex last week instead of working on his division. As with all online activity, supervise supervise supervise. Of course, he can also do his assignments without the manipulatives if there is no connection at all.

An unexpected bonus:

Just an aside, when he doesn’t have a connection, he tries to figure out the lesson himself, and then watches the video later. He owns the subject more when he struggles to think it through instead of being guided. It’s a Japanese concept that works with some of my kids. Of course, sometimes he ends up watching two or three videos at a time this way when we’re connected, but whoop diddly do, right?

Go here to read reviews from homeschoolers who fall a little closer to “normal” on the normalcy spectrum than we do:

The Highway Prayer–Simple Faith in Practice

Photo credit (Kim Siever)

The ambulance blew by, sirens blaring, lights flashing. My mom was silent for a moment, and then the conversation continued. We kids all knew Mom said a little prayer whenever an ambulance drove by—she saw a need and wisely handed it heavenward.

For years I did the same thing, only I took it one step further. When I saw an ambulance, I would pray out loud with my children. Nothing fancy—just joining with my littles to take the needs and pain of a fellow human being to the Creator.

It was always simple, like this:

Father, please be with the person in the ambulance and with that person’s family. Please take away their pain and fear. Thank you for the helpers and bless them all. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Short, sweet, easy-to-understand, powerful.

Having had three ambulance transports in our family over the past two decades, the thought that strangers—brothers and sisters in faith whom we have yet to meet—are wrapping us in their arms through prayer and asking God for help on our behalf is humbling and comforting.

I’ve since fallen out of the practice of praying out loud at ambulance or fire truck sightings, but I’m going to jump back in with both feet.

What do you think? Do you want to join in?

A Homeschool Writing Program Anyone Can Love!

Notice: I was granted a free one-year membership to Here to Help Learning where I am currently using Paragraph Writing: Flight 1 of their Homeschool Writing Program with my first and fourth graders in exchange for this fair and unbiased review. Also, I am an affiliate of this program, so if you purchase through my links, I receive a commission which, honestly, I reinvest in homeschooling. Contrary to what I say, I don’t blow it all on cookie ingredients…but wouldn’t that be fun!

Those of you who read my article in the Texas Home School Coalition Review entitled “How a Family of Writing Class Slackers Raises Top-Notch Writers“ may be surprised to know that for the past several weeks I have been using a bonafide writing curriculum with two of my children (three if you count the little four-year-old tagalong…who can’t write, but has brilliant ideas about glass slippers and what kind of underwear penguins wear). It is called Here To Help Learning.

What kind of program would tempt us away from our slacker approach, you ask? I’m tempted to say, “Go try it yourself and stop bothering me,” because it’s that much fun and can’t really be described by mere mortals, of which I am one, but that’s rude, and I was raised better than that, thank you, Mom.

You are going to find numerous normal homeschoolers describing it to you at the Review Crew, and you can also head to the website for a full description and samples of the program, so I’m going to keep the technical description brief. What I really want to dwell on is my perception as 1) a professional writer, and 2) a roadschooler.

A brief description:

Here to Help Learning is a video program that teaches the writing process.
It incorporates workbook pages, games, and assignments to practice the new skills.
You the parent/administrator are involved in the process as a guide, but not as the instructor.
It’s a Christian program, but it won’t slap you in the face if you’re not a Christian.

Now, my thoughts as a writer who raises writers:

Thought one: Non-writers can “teach.”

Most people cannot write. Many are afraid of even trying. Others think they can, but they can’t. It’s painful…like when I croon off-key to my musician husband. As the head writing tutor at my college umpteen gazillion years ago (exaggeration is bad writing form), I and my team were required to read papers from every single freshman in the school, as well as students who were recommended to our center by other profs. I vividly recall the agony of reading paper after paper after paper from people who thought they were good enough to skate in and out of the center, but who stunk like skunk roadkill sandwiched between two rotting fish fermenting in the bottom of your diaper bag on a summer day. Really. Their writing stunk–there, I said it. There were three freshmen whose papers needed minimal help, if any; I married one of them. (Just so you know, I used to stink, too, and sometimes still do, so there’s hope.)

Here to Help Learning offers writing instruction on video, so you yourself don’t have to actually know how to be a writer. Isn’t that great?! Anything you need to know you learn right alongside your kids…although it is helpful if you can spell better than they can. Let me reiterate this, because it is very important: you do not need to be a writer to teach your children to write…although a princess crown always helps.

Thought two: You all learn the process.

The instructor, Mrs. Mora, teaches the entire paragraph and essay writing process in a logical progression from the start. She reviews the previously learned steps until it becomes second nature. As a writer, I no longer follow this writing process in a step-by-step manner, since it’s more mushed together like casserole, but it’s important to master the skills before going the casserole route.

In other words, the kids are learning how to write, not just how to get through an assignment.

(Please note that they are not, as far as I have discovered, learning how to write a sentence. This is for the paragraph and essay levels, or roughly anywhere within 1st through 6th grade (and I would say beyond as needed). I have had to do some technical explanation of a complete sentence to properly play the sentence game, and my tagalong still thinks anything that mentions princesses, cookies, or kittens is totally a complete thought and therefore a complete sentence. Don’t bother teaching four-year-olds the technical side of grammar. Now is a good time to mention that this is not a grammar program. Don’t get confused. They do, however, offer this language guide as a freebie, which you can get right now.)

Thought three: It’s fun!

This class isn’t boring or corny, like previous courses we’ve dabbled in. Okay, so maybe it’s potentially corny at times, but in an amusing way that doesn’t speak down to the kids. (My 19-year-old disagrees, but she’s 19 and not in the target learning audience.) I honestly thought the talking dog would register pretty high on the annoyance meter, but after the first 30 seconds, I was totally into him. Even most of my older kids thought he was a hoot, and they’re a tough crowd.

Mrs. Mora herself is hee-haw hilarious! I don’t know what it is about her quirky self, but she totally resonates with our quirky selves. We had to re-watch her flight prep videos just for fun. If you’re not quirky, you may disagree. Seriously, I wish I had a fourth grade teacher as engaging as she is. (No offense, Mr. Fett. You were great, and you taught me a mean game of Sheepshead.)

The course takes the “ugh” out of learning writing. The main reason I didn’t use a writing program for years is because I didn’t want my kids to hate writing. I wanted them to love it like I love it! Some of the writing programs we tried made my kids groan. The authors either tried too hard to be hip (and failed) or the programs were menial and pathetically boring…even for me. It’s not that I think everything in life needs to be fun–just clean the stinkin’ bathroom already–but it does help if something as intimidating as staring down a blank sheet of paper can be made exciting. (Personally, I think a blank piece of paper is an invitation to a feast, but apparently that’s just me.)

With Here to Help Learning’s Flight Lessons, my kids have been begging to do their writing. They’ve been begging for a decent internet connection so they can watch the next video. They’ve been begging me to print the papers (you have the highly desirable option of buying the workbook) and setting up binders for them…which I didn’t, because I’m a meanie…and because roadschoolers have space and weight limitations that you foundation schoolers only think you understand. The begging is annoying, but it’s great how much they enjoy their writing lessons and how enthusiastically they pull out paper and pencil to write.

Additional thoughts for my fellow roadschoolers:

Thought one: Internet connection versus DVDs

This is a program whose usefulness on the road depends on your situation and whether you opt for physical or digital products. We went the digital route. For us, being in a new spot every couple of days (and sometimes every day), we do not know what sort of internet connection we will have. Also, video streaming, as you know, uses up our limited data, so we have to wait for a freebie connection. This means lesson days are hit and miss, which is no biggie for us, since we’re adaptable. On the other hand, you don’t watch a video every day in this program, so you just have to exercise those amazing logistical skills full-timers acquire to make it work–also no biggie. Still, if you’ve paid for a one-year membership, you don’t want to miss so much that it isn’t worth it. Of course, at $6.99 a month for access to the entire six years worth of instruction, it isn’t too big a hit.

That said, most of you don’t move around as much as we do, so your connectability is less of an issue. Of course, if you buy the DVDs, you don’t have to worry about the internet connection.

Thought two: Printing versus buying workbooks

You can either purchase workbooks or download and print worksheets from the site. We did neither. RVers understand about weight and space limitations and the necessity to adjust to both. We managed to do this program with very little printing–okay, we didn’t print anything, but don’t tell Mrs. Mora! We may well have benefitted more if we had, and my son sure would have preferred that, but we work within our limitations–simplify, simplify.

How did we do it? We skipped some aspects, such as the rewards coupons (cookies are lighter and require no additional storage space–ahem). Also, instead of printing images and papers for them to write on, we looked at the images on the video while it was paused, and we wrote everything down on reg’lar ol’ paper. Not as exciting, but it’s cheaper, it saves space and weight, and it’s how we roll. Honestly, the amount of space required for the workbook is so negligible that it would have worked better for us having a workbook for each child or one workbook to look at and looseleaf papers to write on. I would do that if I were slightly more sane, which, sadly, I’m not.

Thought three: Time

I somehow thought that on the road I’d have all sorts of extra time for book-larnin’. Turns out I was oh-so-wrong. There’s too much life and road happening (don’t ask me how road happens). This program does not require prep work or teaching time. Do I get a cookie for sharing that vital information with you?

My final thought:

If you can handle the internet access and printing issues, or if you purchase the DVDs and workbooks instead of relying on online access, or if you are not as printer-phobic as I am, this will work beautifully for your roadschooling writing class needs. Those postcards to Grandma are going to get pretty exciting!

I have to say one more thing. We’ve been talking about pride quite a bit in our family, trying to differentiate between being proud of yourself and being proud of yourself. Beth Mora does that beautifully in the first video lesson. Right there I was sold.

Here’s what more normal homeschoolers have to say about Here to Help Learning:

What to Do With Your Unwanted Electronics

Photo Credit

We have some serious computer geniuses in the extended family–I mean serious. As technology advances, so do they. This means they have veritable computer graveyards, known in the biz as e-waste. It’s impressive, really, how they can extract a skeleton and some guts from their graveyard and create the computer world’s rendition of Frankenstein’s monster. Go bro!

Most of us have our own budding e-graveyards, some old unused techno-gadgets stuffed in a drawer or closet or that old desktop computer from high school sitting unused in a corner. Unfortunately, most of us don’t have Frankenstein-like computer revival skills. It’s tempting just to toss the e-waste, but that’s a no-no for several reasons I won’t get into here, but which you can read about here. What is a responsible grown-up supposed to do with old cellphones, iPods, televisions, Kindles, computers, and other techno-clutter?

First things first. Before kissing your e-waste goodbye and shedding that final tear, do the following:

Check your state’s laws.
Consider upgrading instead of replacing old equipment.
Wipe out the memory and any other personal information–you want total computer amnesia.
Remove the battery if that bugger has to be recycled separately.

Photo credit.

Next, check out these websites for quick and easy e-waste solutions:

Where to Recycle Unwanted Electronics

Environmental Protection Agency

Earth911.com

The Manufacturer–some companies, such as Samsung, Dell, and these fellas, will take back their gadgets at no cost to you…although I’m not sure why it should cost you. They should give you a cookie.

Where to Sell Unwanted Electronics

Gazelle.com

BuyMyTronics.com

Nextworth.com

Craig’s List (Who is Craig, anyway, and why does he have such a big list?)

The Manufacturer–many companies, such as Best Buy, Dell, and Amazon will buy back your e-waste to refurbish or recycle for parts and either give you a gift card or deduct the cost from an upgraded unit. Some of those companies will buy back other company’s electronics, too. Cool beans, eh?

Where to Donate Unwanted Electronics

National Cristina Foundation — NCF gives the products to organizations in need.

Cell Phones for Soldiers

Freecycle

Goodwill

Interconnection.org — They put new operating systems into old computers and donate them to needy causes.

How to Repurpose Old Technology

Update the innards.

Pass it down to the kids to be used as a word processor or typing tutor.

Make a fish tank out of a monitor.

Make jewelry.

Make a cat bed…my personal favorite use.

Try one of these techy ideas.

There are hundreds of ideas online or in the head of the exceptionally creative.

Get rid of those squeaky computer mice and stale memory chips…and my cheesy puns while you’re at it! You may be connecting soldiers to their families or making a little cash in the process.

What do you do with old electronics?

Adventure, Courage, and Loyalty on the High Seas with G.A. Henty

This is a non-biased review of The Dragon and the Raven, a dramatic audio production of G.A. Henty’s book of the same title, created by Heirloom Audio Productions. All opinions are my own and those of my children. There was no exchange of cookies, pie, or money to alter our opinions.

Ever since we listened to a Librivox recording of G.A. Henty’s The Cat of Bubastes over a decade ago, read in a drone voice that we grew strangely fond of, we have been huge Henty fans. A Henty novel is an education in itself–language, history, geography, human nature, character. It’s a treasure trove of Christian virtue wrapped in adventure and courage and tied with a bow of literary prowess.

While nobody can really improve on Henty, one can tie it with a different bow, so to speak. And that’s exactly what Heirloom Audio Productions has done with their dramatic reproduction of Henty’s The Dragon and the Raven.

What’s it like?

Using famous voices that you’ll recognize (Bilbo Baggins, anyone?) and stirring music by John Campbell that makes it hard to press pause, Heirloom Audio Productions has released a highly professional two-and-a-half-hour adventure that brings courageous Christian heroes to life.

Set during the time of King Alfred the Great, this story of loyalty and perseverance follows two boys as they follow the young Alfred as he follows his Christian virtues during the Danish attacks on England. (That’s a lot of following.) That’s all I’m telling you, because I was once called a very bad name in college for accidentally giving away part of a plot. I still have the scars. If you want to know more, however, you should watch this video. You should watch it anyway, because it’s good.

We have little patience with productions that aren’t well done. This is well done! The Henty story is spell-binding. The Christian virtues are an example I’m proud to have my children emulate. The voices and music are spectacular. The story is timeless.

Is it True to the Book?

If you’re like us, this matters…probably more than it should matter. Geek alert! The adventure is primarily true to Henty’s original novel. There is a slight shift in the main characters, however, with a previously non-existent lad stepping in and a previous main character being offed…literally.

The story is still excellent, and the variation allows for some quality discussion and compare and contrast practice…which we never call “compare and contrast,” because that takes the fun out of it.

What does it come with?

There are downloadable bonus items included with the CD. This includes the original book newly re-illustrated (which our 10-year-old boy can’t wait to dive into), the score, printable posters, making of video, and, my personal favorite, a 48-page study guide. Stick with me a minute while I talk about the study guide, because it really adds to the drama.

The downloadable guide breaks the story up into bites around 3-5 minutes long. Each section of the guide contains the following:

Comprehension questions geared toward helping the younger students better understand what they heard. These were particularly helpful for the 10 and under crowd who didn’t quite catch everything.
Digging deeper questions, including some research questions. These added depth for the older kids (like me–Mama), as well as painted a picture for the younglings.
Vocabulary
Special activities, including a recipe for Alfred Cakes, which, as you know, is right up my alley
Information about Henty and Alfred the Great

While we started out pausing the audio to focus on the study guide, truth be told we sometimes were so immersed in the saga that we couldn’t press pause. Seriously, it was paralyzing. Wink wink. Still, the study guide has proven very valuable and makes this Henty treasure a solid historical, character, and language study.

Who’s it for?

My entire family listened together (although Daddy was, admittedly, in and out and would show up and say, “Is this Tolkien?” every single time). Here they are checking out the name of one of the characters as written on the disc case, so we could spell it right for our “character tree” (like a family tree, but you don’t have to be related…although you do have to be in the same book.

The other side of the room:

The four-year-old there enjoyed it, but she wouldn’t have gotten the gist of the stories without the discussion; mostly she waited to find out if there was a princess in it…which there was…sort of. The seven- and ten-year-olds benefited immensely from the comprehension discussions. The thinking questions benefited everyone, including Mama, who learned more about the Danish attacks on Wessex than most Americans, I’m guessing.

Additional Thoughts for My Fellow Roadschoolers:

Because everything is available as a download, this is absolutely ideal for roadschoolers. Download when you have a good (preferably free) internet connection, and you’re all set for the entire study. If you (unlike us) have the ability to listen to CDs or MP4s while driving, you can do this in the van. (Our Bagabus lost its CD player the first week out over four years ago. Major boo. Major sore throat for this mama.)

Seriously, I see no drawbacks using this for your roadschooling family. And when they fall so immensely in love with Henty that they want more than the four currently available, download the books for free from Amazon. Just do it!

If the other dramas in the Heirloom Audio Productions’ Henty adventures are as spell-binding and character-building as The Dragon and the Raven, I can’t recommend them enough! Toss one or two in an Easter basket or slip one on the table for a graduation gift. It’s almost as good as chocolate. Dare I say better?

To find out what other homeschoolers think, go here: