Audio CD ideas for CTG

[MelissaB]

Audio cds??

Hi - I am looking ahead to the fall when we will be in CtG. My kids loved listening to the Story Hour cds when we did Adven. This year with Ecc they have liked the Brinkman cd and Children of the World songs, along with Narnia and other stories. I was wondering if anyone has used the Diana Waring cds or maybe something else [for CTG]?

We love audio books in the afternoons, all gray out and cold. I knit and they kind of lay around with blankets. Ideas??

Hi, Andrea,
We have several that we love:

YWAM Publishing has their missionary biographies on audio CD. It isn't a drama; the person is reading the biography. So it may be a little boring for young children, but our older girls (ages 9 & 12) really enjoy them. They have Heroes of History biographies (Abraham Lincoln, etc.) on CD, too.

Focus on the Family has an excellent audio drama of Anne of Green Gables. I can't remember... Do you have boys or girls, or both? Your boys may not enjoy this one too much ... but your girls will love it!

Focus on the Family also has Adventure in Odyssey CD's. Have you listened to those on the radio? There are three 30-min. programs on each CD. They're full of adventure and usually teach character lessons, too.

We love the Life at the Pond CD's. Tony the Frog, Methuselah the Alligator, Floyd the Turtle and Bill the Duck perform audio dramas on CD that teach a character lesson (obey your parents, pick up your things, sharing, forgiving your enemies, etc.). They seem to be funny at all ages, toddler through Grandma's. (They have cartoon movies, too.)

HisKids website has all of their radio audio dramas available online for free (including Life at the Pond).

Our library has Little House on the Prairie books audio CD's.

Hope you enjoy!
Melissa

[Julie in MN]

We always enjoyed audios, like both of you. Reaching way back in my memory banks, I came up with a few:

1. Lives of the Musicians http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 564#p79564

2. Kingdom Songs (Bible) http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... ctg#p47837

3. Aesop's, the CD already in the package.
The Tortoise & Hare in "CTG enrichment items."
I'm sure there are more Aesop audios.

4. D'Aulaire's Greek Myths has an audio.

5. Cat of Bubastes audio (it's read again in high school, but I think would be okay for some elementary kids, it's the most easily accessible Henty). Jim Weiss does a younger condensed version (about 6 hours) and Jim Hodges does a full version (about 11 hours).

5. Look at other CDs by Weiss and Hodges, once you know which your family prefers. Weiss has a Greek mythology one. an Egyptian one, and an Old Testament one. Hodges has one on Troy, another on a Greek battle, and one on David. All of those could need prescreening?

As I was thinking & looking at my old posts, I realized that my ds didn't care for a lot of history-related reading that year. He thought the Bible was *the* source and so other books "about" the Bible or about other cultures didn't shine next to the real thing.

Instead, I think that was the year he enjoyed funny books for his reading time. I'm sure most of the old classics he read can be found on audio -- Homer Price, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Pippi, Hank the Cowdog, etc.

I was also going to mention videos. A couple of quality series that are fun:
- Drive Through History (they have a Holy Lands series now)
- What's In the Bible (Veggie Tales guy Phil Vischer, very informative for kids)

Hope you continue to get good audio ideas. You never know what my grandson will want to listen to
Julie

[jasntas]

YWAM Publishing has their missionary biographies on audio CD. It isn't a drama; the person is reading the biography. So it may be a little boring for young children, but our older girls (ages 9 & 12) really enjoy them. They have Heroes of History biographies (Abraham Lincoln, etc.) on CD, too.

We love these books and I've been planning on getting a few audios of these myself.

Our library has Little House on the Prairie books audio CD's.

Ours does, too! And I've purchased one or two. We love this series as well.

Instead, I think that was the year he enjoyed funny books for his reading time. I'm sure most of the old classics he read can be found on audio -- Homer Price, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Pippi, Hank the Cowdog, etc.

My kids loved Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle! We used to listen to it in the car on our way to P.E. class 30 minutes away. Good memories. My kids, especially my son also enjoyed listening to Encyclopedia Brown.

What's In the Bible (Veggie Tales guy Phil Vischer, very informative for kids)

These videos compliment CTG very well. There were only a few out when we did CTG but my kids learned so much from them.

As I was thinking & looking at my old posts, I realized that my ds didn't care for a lot of history-related reading that year. He thought the Bible was *the* source and so other books "about" the Bible or about other cultures didn't shine next to the real thing.

Julie's post made me think that maybe a dramatized version of the Bible might be good, too. My son has a NowBible with the NIV Dramatized Version. He really enjoys listening to it.

I had some other ideas when I first read this thread but now that I have time to post, I can't remember! Sheesh! So I guess I've mainly just reiterated what others have said.

[baileymom]

We used Diana Warings (Volume 1) from AiG, and the kids LOVED them. We're also HUGE fans of Jim Weiss. All Of A Kind Family on audio for CtG is also a great choice.

[4monkeyz]

Thanks ladies! I guess I was "focused" on making everything "fit" together that I hadn't considered more fun audio books!! Thanks Julie for the reminder - we loved Secret Garden, Five Little Peppers, Hank the Cowdog, etc. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle!! Oh, we love that one too!! Inspired to work on a list....And I had been curious about Diana Waring's cds. I met her at convention two years ago, such a fun workshop & chat!! Anyways, off to make sandwiches - we went to the library to look up info on pandas & snow leopards. The China/Japan learning is starting to blur a bit for the kids so I let them pick an animal to lapbook. Thanks again! We love MFW.

[cefcdana]

I have been researching this topic because we are doing CtG next year. This is what I have found from research online but don't have any personal experience with them. Diana Waring CDs are for around 6th grade and up. Mystery of History is for older kids as well but I think most people say 4th and 5th grade on up. Story of the World Vol. 1 is supposed to be good for the younger years. We are going with Story of the World Vol 1 because my kids will be 7, 8, and 9. Jim Weiss, if you are familiar with him, is the narrarator of the audio version of SOTW. There are blogs and files online that link up Mystery of History with CtG as well as SOTW with CtG- though several people say that it ended up being too much. You can google Story of the World with Creation to the Greeks or something like that and see if anything comes up.

Hope that helps. We are really getting into audios around here. Our library has a good selection so that has been really nice.