What We're Listening To

We have made a move towards audiobooks in the car--not just on long trips, but every time we get in the car.  Time in the car is a great educational opportunity for all of us, I try to never let it go to waste. We started out with Story of the World (SOTW) and still listen to them often but then we discovered that the narrator of SOTW also has countless other CDs of historical events told in a similar story style. We have been grabbing them all from the library and listening constantly. You know something is really great when your nine year old is sad to get out of the car because he wants to know what Lewis and Clark are doing to do next.

Abraham Lincoln and the Heart of America

We are currently listening to Abraham Lincoln and the Heart of America. Jim Weiss, the narrator, has such a gift for making the story come alive.  I did not have a classical education. I learned about Lincoln the same way I learned about all history. It was dry, dull, and didn't matter and didn't affect me. Obviously in classical education, history is the exact opposite. It is exciting, and full of life, and it matters. This audiobook really helped us all see Lincoln as a real man, with rough times and heart aches and struggles. 

Another cool thing for us was  that we visited Lincoln's boyhood home last summer. It was actually not completely planned. We were headed to Holiday World in southern Indiana and we realized that we were going to arrive 3-4 hours before we could check in at the cabin we rented. I started googling like a crazy person and discovered that on the very same road as Holiday World was the Lincoln's Boyhood Home, which is a national park. (Check it out here.) We were completely unprepared that day and found ourselves in clothing that did not even remotely pass for hiking clothes--and the walk from the parking lot to the site of the home was quite far, up and down hills through the woods with many areas unshaded for long stretches. We were a mess! But it was really cool. And now listening to the audiobook about Lincoln, when the narrator is describing where he grew up, we can picture it! We've been there! We know how far out in the middle of nowhere it is so we understand when we hear that Lincoln walked two miles to school, that wasn't an easy walk. It was hilly and uneven. 

Lucas was so inspired by our experience last summer that he chose Lincoln for Faces of History this year. He did a great job on his first research paper and dressed as Lincoln to read it to a room full of people. And now he's really enjoying getting to know Lincoln even better on this CD.

Most of the audiobooks we listen to lately are historical non-fiction rather than fiction. Although we did interrupt our historical adventures to try a 'Shakespeare for Kids" CD. It didn't go over that well. I had a hard time focusing on it despite the stories being familiar to me and I am pretty sure the kids checked out and didn't listen at all. We may attempt to listen to all of the Narnia books this summer, though.  We have a total of 2100 miles in the car in a couple weeks, and I think we will cover a lot of books in that time!