The Brinkman Adventures {Review}

We were recently given the chance to review The Brinkman Adventures: Season 3 (physical CD's) from The Brinkman Adventures. 
The Brinkman Adventures was created one hot day in July by Ian Bultman. Ian was sitting alone in a hotel room reading his bible. Ian came across a verse in the bible Luke:8:16-18
"No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.  For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.  Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have."
After reading this verse, Ian decided that he needed to create a new radio station about missions and tell the real stories of real missionaries and their adventures. 
One of the neat things about this series is The Brinkman Adventures are based on true events with real life families. The names have been changed but each person plays themselves on the audio dramas. 

In The Brinkman Adventures: Season 3 you follow the Brinkman family as they adventure through the Taliban jail and terrorists to scary wolves and the cold weather! Every challenge will push these characters to the limits of their endurance and force them to face their deepest fears. Travel the world from Ecuador to Kashmir and from Africa to Alaska all while discovering Gods truth. 
The Brinkman Adventure: Season 3 set comes in a plastic case (just like a DVD case with a spot for each CD) and includes over 5 hours of quality family entertainment. There are 4 audio CD's with 12 action packed episodes. Each disk contains 3 episodes each. These episodes are:

Disc 1:

1. God's Mule

2. Mountain Mover

3. The Silent Ambassador

Disc 2:

4. Translating Trouble

5. Man-Up

6. Acorns & Oaks

Disc 3:

7. A Saint's Story pt.1

8. A Saint's Story pt.2

9. Untouched

Disc 4:

10. Busy Bees and a Bullhorn

11. Missionary Tourist pt.1 

12. Missionary Tourist pt. 2

If you go online to The Brinkman Adventure website you can even find more adventures, learn about the events in each story and go behind the scenes. You can also meet and communicate with the actual missionaries. 
What we thought:
Monster and I both are huge fans of audio drama's. We really enjoy getting to listen to the stories. 
Monster and I would listen to The Brinkman Adventures: Season 3 stories doing each story daily. We started with Disc 1, Episode 1 on Day 1 and went from there. Monster and I both found the stories to be very interesting to listen to each day and be able to discuss about the events that are going on in each story. Monster is getting to that age where at church they really begin to talk about Missionaries. Being able to listen to these CD's and hear what some of these missionaries experienced has been a great learning tool for Monster as well. 
I did notice on their website that they have a curriculum for season 1. I would really like to see a curriculum for each season to go along with them. These would be a great study tool.  If you would like to order Season 1, 2, or 3... or all of them... you can do so HERE. They use a donation type payment. There is a suggested donation price but you can pay more or less depending on your budget. You can also order the physical CD's which comes with free shipping or you can order a downloaded audio. 
If you would like to find out more about The Brinkman Adventures please find them on their social media account: Facebook
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Heirloom Audio Productions {Review}

Monster and I received With Lee In Virginia from Heirloom Audio Productions to review.  Monster and I try and find interesting things to do for History since we do not have a set curriculum for History. I pull things from different places. When given the chance to review With Lee in Virginia we were very excited. We love audio books and we have already reviewed an audio book from Heirloom Audio Productions before so we were thrilled to try out another!  What we received:

• 2-CD Active Listening audio set with over 2 hours of audio to capture your child's imagination. Comes in a trifold case.
•  Download study guide and discussion starter guide. 30 pages of discussion points, history learning guides and story related Bible study. 

• A printable copy of a inspirational quote that was found in a letter from Robert E. Lee to his son. 
• The official With Lee In Virginia MP3 download with the original music. 
• Unlimited access to the Live The Adventure Letter E-Newsletter. 
• With Lee In Virginia E-Book with all new colorful graphics.
• Professionally designed printable posted with cast included. 

All of these are included in the family four pack which can be yours for $99.97

About the story:

With Lee In Virginia follows 15 year old Vincent Wingfield as he fights along side many famous Confederate generals of the past. Including Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson and Robert E. Lee. General Lee's sense of duty and devotion to God inspires Vincent to take a stand for his country and fellow men. In the end though it may cause cost Vincent his life. 

This audio story has an amazing cast with voices from:

Sean Astin- from The Lord of the Rings

Kirk Cameron-Fireproof

Brian Blessed-Star Wars

Chris Anthony- Adventures in Odyssey

Kelsey Lansdowne- Curious George

Jim Weiss- Greathall Productions

and many more....

With Lee In Virginia is another amazing story from G.A. Henty. 

How we used this:

I allowed Monster to decide when he wanted to listen to this story. He, of course, was thrilled to receive another audio story. We used this as our History. Monster and I would listen to this story several times over the several weeks since we have gotten this. One of the best things is seeing how engaged Monster would become listening to this story. He would listen so intently and you could just see his mind working, creating pictures of the story in his head as he heard the words!

What we thought:

Of course we loved this story! We loved sitting together and listening to the story unfold. One of the great things is this set can be used for the whole family. We were able to use some of the study guide questions and discussion started questions to help us talk about the audio book. Monster I think is still too young for the study guide alone, but doing it as a family works really well for us. 

One thing I did notice about the study guide is there is not much room for writing if we were to print it off and use it that way. I would like to see more room for the students to write out their answers. 

I did notice in the study guide the different types of questions it had. There were Listening Well questions and Thinking Further questions. There were also Defining Words. The Defining Words were great to discuss with Monster when he was wanting to understand what a certain word meant. 

Overall, this is an amazing product and great for any family looking for adventurous audio books! I would highly recommend this to all of my family and friends. 

Heirloom Audio Production company has a few different buying options. You can order:

• Download MP3 version for $19.97
• Single Pack for $29.97
• Family Four Pack for $99.97

Each set comes with free bonuses items! Click HERE to order

You can find Heirloom Audio Productions on their social media accounts:

Facebook-Heirloom Audio Productions

Facebook-With Lee In Virginia

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In Freedom's Cause ( A Schoolhouse Crew review)

Monster and I have not done as much History this year as I would of liked. I am always looking for new ways to learn about history. I felt that the In Freedom' s Cause Single Package, from Heirloom Audio Productions, would give us the perfect chance to try out audio books! I had never heard of G.A. Henty until I was offered to review this and I am very glad I was. I will be looking into more by this author!
What we received: 

 One single set of 2 CDs in a full color trifold case. You can order here for the low price of $29.97

Digital Bonuses with online access:

• Instant access MP3 copy of In Freedom's Cause for download.
•  The complete In Freedom's Cause Study Guide and Discussion Starter.
• A printable copy of The Prayer Of William Wallace (Psalm 23 in the Latin Vulgate).
•  The In Freedom's Cause Soundtrack MP3 download.

About the story:
This Christian audio drama is 2 hours long, is based on the book from G.A. Henty, and is about the battle for Scotland to become free. William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, along with Ned Forbes, lead their Army to fight the King and his men to help protect and free Scotland. 
How we used this:
On the way to co-op on Friday mornings we would listen to this instead of the radio. Monster and I listened together and then my husband would listen to it also on his way to and from work the other days. I was able to take some of the questions from the study guide and discuss them with Monster as we listened to the story. I am planning to keep the study guide and cd for the future and plan to review it again when we learn more about Scotland! 
What I thought:
I honestly loved it!  I have never been one to listen to stories or people read to me, but I think because it actually sounds like you are listening to a movie instead of just a reading, I really liked it. It is one of those that you could close your eyes and listen to and feel like you are right there in the middle of everything going on. I really liked how the story taught about being honest, keeping your faith in God, helping others, and even some history! I loved listening with Monster and this audio production being something the whole family could enjoy! We could listen to this and discuss it and it seemed more like a fun activity than it did school work. We plan to use this again!  The study guide has three main focus areas. The Listening Well are questions I was able to ask Monster to make sure he was listening and able to understand what was going on. Even though the study guide could be printed and used like worksheets, I simply asked Monster the questions from the study guide and allowed him to answer questions that way. The second part are the Thinking Further Questions. These questions make your child think. I really enjoyed these to see how Monster would answer and if I had a different answer than Monster or how my answer and his would compare. We were also able to ask my husband a few of the Thinking Further questions to see how his answer compared to ours. The last part are the Defining Words. This was not a part we used as much as i had hoped. I think Monster still may be a little young for some of those words and meanings. If Monster wanted to know what a word meant we simply looked it up to find out. I think these will come in handy later when Monster is a bit older and we study Scotland and reuse this story again! I also liked that the study guide has extras in it. There are links to a website that shows the British Museum. There are also notes on the history of Scotland and three short bible studies at the end. Overall I find the study guide to be a wonderful tool to go along with this audio production! 
What Monster thought:
" It was really good. I really enjoyed being able to listen to the story in the truck. I like listening to the story and hearing all the action going on. It was like I was really there!" Monsters own words! 
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Make sure you stay up to date as they are coming out with a new audio book called With Lee in Virginia. It is set to release right around Memorial Day! 

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