St. Bartholomew's Eve: An Heirloom Audio Review

Are you concerned about what your children are consuming on all their screens?  I think most of us are, even if we feel limited sometimes in doing anything about it.  As far as I can tell, it is impractical and unnecessary to abolish all screen time.  What we can do is provide plenty of activities that are engaging without dependence on a screen.  A great alternative to screen time is audio books and stories.  Heirloom Audio shared with us their newest audio drama production, St. Bartholomew's Eve to review and it has been a multi-faceted blessing!

I am happy to say, this isn't our first Heirloom Audio review, but our third.  Heirloom Audio's audio dramas are more than just an audio book. These are full theatrical productions inspired by the adventures of G. A. Henty.  The beauty of this type of strictly audio adventures is that it requires a listener's brain to create a visual companion to the sound effects, music and fast pace dialogue. This kind of creativity and learning just isn't matched by videos, but equally as engaging.
The 2 CDs we were given are over 2 hours long.  St. Bartholomew's Eve takes place in 16th century France and tells of the Huguenots' (Protestant Christians) struggle with persecution for their differences with the Catholic church. The story follows Philip and his cousin François as they prepare to stand up for their "God commanded" rights to worship God how they believe to be right.  The actors have varying (story appropriate) accents which can make paying attention really important and sometimes challenging, but a really good exercise in active listening.  

One of the growing pains we are experiencing in our homeschool is my need to focus on tasks separate from my children conflicting with their inability (unwillingness) to stay on task and contained for periods of time.  Mr. Butler is always telling me to utilize the television more, but this has given me a great reprieve and sufficiently engaged my kids as well! J has been more than happy to curl up in a sleeping bag in his room or the school room and listen away! It has prompted questions about the freedom of worship and reinforced how significant the history of America's revolution is in the world context as well as just our own national history.  As a family we have had discussions about those who don't believe in God or those who don't feel it important to obey Him.  While it is confusing at first to consider multiple groups claiming to love and obey God and still be at war, the kids have enjoyed the excitement and have gained a little more historical context.

In addition to the audio CD's, there is also a host of resources at Live the Adventure Club and Live the Adventure Letter for further study of all Heirloom Audio presentations.  Do you have middle school or high school age children?  Consider browsing some of the other crew members for different ways to utilize these audio dramas - like note taking or history studies.  

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