the WRITE Balance: Wulf the Saxon: An Heirloom Audio Productions Review

Listening. Imagination. Combining the known and unknown into a world of adventure! If you haven't introduced your family to audio books or audio adventures like the ones from Heirloom Audio Productions, you are really missing out on not only an educational tool, but a family building experience too. Last month we were given an audio adventure from Heirloom Audio, Wulf the Saxon to review. The shared experience of listening to these stories is so good for my job as a teacher, because it gives me more examples to pull from in all kinds of educating, from history and geography to personal virtues and principles.
When you're busy in the throws of life, auto-pilot sometimes takes over and you miss great opportunities. A while back my husband, Mr. Butler, had a great idea to listen to an audio book off of Youtube on a 30-minute car ride. By the time we returned home, we had finished it and the kids loved it! So, when Wulf the Saxon came in the mail, I decided to try it out in the car too. Over the course of about a week taking short trips here and there we were able to finish it!

Wulf the Saxon is about a young man in the year 1065 who through various adventures and trials plays a big role in the history of England. His commitment to those he serves and honor in his dealings with others - even enemies in battle - paints a beautiful picture of principles in action. It certainly presents a lot of examples of sacrifice for others and the price of selfish ambition. However, with kids, you just never know what they are going to zero in on and come up with. Toward the end of the story, Wulf asks for Agnes De Burg's hand in marriage and, of course, she accepts. Afterwards, the story breaks for a moment and the children being told the story react with "Ew! Gross!" and "Can we skip the kissing part?" I started chuckling and stopped the CD at this point because we had arrived at our destination. My kids, who never miss a reaction coming out of me, started questioning my laughter hard, which only made me laugh harder. They didn't understand why the kids were so grossed out. I'm not sure if they just weren't paying close enough attention or perhaps they are used to their dad and I kissing at home. Either way, I explained it as best I could in between my laughter, though they never seemed fully conviced. You just never know what kind of questions will be sparked from listening to these kind of audio adventures!

Heirloom Audio's series of adventures is complimented by their online resource center, Live the Adventure Club. When you become a member of the Adventure Club, you receive 3 CD sets (audio adventures) a year automatically sent to you, access to a ton of education resources like study guides, scripts to read along with, games and activities linked to their stories, access to hundreds of old time radio shows, and so. much. more. If you're looking for a great gift for a birthday or holiday, this is one of those fun AND educational gifts that keeps on giving!

My favorite thing about listening to these types of stories is the reaction I got from my 7 year old son when I asked him what he thought of Wulf the Saxon. "I liked it. It was kind of scary." he said. He smiled really big. I laughed and asked, "Scary in a good way? I didn't think you liked scary things." And this is what I wasn't expecting but absolutely loved! He said, "It just makes me want to read the book. Is there a book about it?" Before listening to it I hadn't said what it was, whether it was from a book or not. Education is at its best when interest and understanding is sparked from multiple directions. Audio adventures like Wulf the Saxon are a wonderful way to engage students further into a subject or time period.
Interested in knowing more about their other Audio Adventures? Be sure to check out Heirloom Audio on social media below!