How cool to start the school year off with a Bang!!! A few weeks ago we were asked to Review Under Drake's Flag from Heirloom Audio Productions. The kids Love Audio Dramas, so of course we were all pleased to jump on this boat! :) It was Perfect for us, because I am running a little behind in the curriculum department. It's been a L-O-N-G summer.
Under Drake's Flag is a two-hour audio drama that comes in 2 CDs and is based on the book, Under Drake's Flag
by G.A. Henty. The 2 CD set costs $29.95 and it also comes with a simple outline and study guide, but
you can also download a longer PDF version of each story(chapter) from their site, this is what we used. The three Bible Studies included really work on showing what it is like having Godly Character, True Manhood,
and Confessing Christ. This was a little bit over Kaden's head, but I will be thrilled to do this again with him in a few years. The study offers scripture references so you can go deeper. You will find that along with the study guide you will get a
helpful quick Bio of GA Henty as well as Sir Francis Drake.
There are 3 sections in the study guide for each chapter. Listening Well, Thinking Further and Defining Words. This is where you will find comprehension questions about each chapter. Think Who, What, Where, Why and When. It really makes your Kiddo put themselves in the story and to dig a little deeper in thought. Your Kiddos will have fun searching for the New vocabulary words listed. Kaden and I raced to see who could find them faster in the dictionary. :)
The recommended ages for this Audio Drama is for Kiddos 6 and up, of course Adults too. This Adventurous story combines both fiction and real historical
events. The fictional characters in the story are, Ned Hawkshaw and his best-friend, Gerald. Ned is seen in action as he executes a surprising rescue. He catches the eye of Sir. Francis Drake, an English explorer who helped take over the Spanish Armada. Sir. Francis Drake promises Ned that he can be one of his Newest crew members. I don't want to spoil all of their Adventures that they have while being on board Drake's ship. I'll just tell you that there is tons of excitement from the very beginning that includes Sharks, Dungeons, lots of close calls and a lot of Faith.
What did we think? Well we are very Visual over here in the Manic house. Usually Kaden has No problem at all listening to Audio Dramas. But, this one was a little more difficult. I feel the main reason is the amount of what was happening. Sometimes it was a little unclear who was talking, they had a little accent, so I think it was a bit confusing at times for him to keep up. There was a lot of background noise, but understandable background noise. I mean they were on a boat out at sea a good portion of the story. HAHAHAHA But, being Sensory Sensitive like he is, he did find it more difficult to focus. Other Kiddos without this issue would probably not even notice the extra clanking and murmur of sounds.
So, I needed to make the story more visual and hands on, so I set out to learn more about Sir Francis Drake and the Spanish Inquisition. We made boats out of clay, made meals with fish and learned some Pirate and Spanish words. We even used an old fishing net to capture the vocabulary words and their meaning. Did that help? Yes, it did, that and just listening 15-20 minutes a day. 
All in all he loved the story and all the new vocabulary. I just tweaked it a little to fit his Sensory issue. We will be keeping this in Our Tool Box and hopefully when Kaden is a few years older we can try again. I think it would be a great addition to a History Unit Study or as a break during Reading time. That's why my Kiddos love Audio Dramas. They can sit back and listen as their imagination runs wild!!!
Remember Under Drake's Flag is a 2 CD set and can be purchased for $29.95 Or you can digitally download it for only $20!
You can find Under Drake's Flag on facebook
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