We have been so blessed with the Heirloom Audio CD’s, so I was definitely excited for the opportunity to review the newest audio drama from Heirloom Audio Productions – With Lee in Virginia. With Lee in Virginia is a Civil War adventure as a teen who joins the Army of Northern Virginia and fights alongside famous Confederate generals including Lee, who inspires him to take a stand for his country.
For our review we received the With Lee in Virginia 2-CD set as well as special bonuses that include an MP3 download of the story, a downloadable Study Guide, a printable quote, sound track and more!
Now reviewing the third audio drama from Heirloom Audio, I have found a system that really works for us. We listen to it all the way through the first time and then break it into 1-5 tracks for reviewing the material and using the Study Guide. I used to start with just listening to a few tracks at a time, but I found it actually broke up the full understanding of the story. It has been better to listen to it all and get a full understanding of the story. Then, breaking it down to answering questions a few tracks at a time is great for our kids that do better with breaking things down into smaller sections.
The Study Guide is 52 pages and is broken down into parts. It is broken down into these sections:
- Listening Well with comprehension type questions.
- Thinking Further with questions for a deeper understanding.
- Defining Words which are vocabulary words from the story.
It’s really an amazing Study Guide and even includes a book list and Bible study guide. Our kids are all younger – ages 9, 7, and 5 and all have special needs, so open-ended questions can be a little difficult, so I mostly stick to the Listening Well portion and give a little help here and there to spark their thoughts and answers. I am finding, though, that open ended questions are getting easier for them!
What I have found the most surprising is that though our youngest does like to listen to the stories, he hasn’t always been involved in the questions. He has loved With Lee in Virginia! In fact, when I do ask the questions he was answering most of the questions! I had to ask him to give his older brother and sister a chance to answer! I can’t express enough how excited I am that he not only enjoyed listening but was listening and comprehending very well!
Once again, I was impressed with the audio quality, sound effects, and acting. With Lee in Virginia includes quite a cast like Sean Astin, Kirk Cameron, Chris Anthony, Kelsey Lansdowne, and Jim Weiss. The amazing cast definitely helps make it more exciting, and the kids really stayed interested and engaged during the story.
Once again, Heirloom Audio really delivered. I love that we can listen to this amazing story and know that it offers a great background to the Civil War focusing on the qualities of courage, honor and duty. When they say “live the adventure,” I think that is exactly what it is. It’s so easy to get drawn in and feel like you’re part of the adventure as well!
For more information be sure to connect with Heirloom Audio on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ as well as With Lee in Virginia on Facebook.
Members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew had the chance to review With Lee in Virginia with their families. See how they used it and what they thought by clicking on the banner below!
