Four Violet Reviews: Captain Bayley's Heir ~ REVIEW

We have another audio drama Review for you from Heirloom Audio Productions, Captain Bayley's Heir. I appreciate their constant commitment to bringing Christian history to life. And I can finally say this one is my favorite of all of them we have listened to so far. Maybe it's because we have been watching old western movies lately or the fact that we live in Northern California. But, at any rate this adventure of G.A. Henty is fabulous. This audio drama is a 2 disc CD set or you can get it as a digital download. Along with a downloadable Study Guide that offers questions along the way to determine their comprehension. As with all their other productions, they are family approved.

We are redoing our school room so we decided to wait and listen while we went on a little weekend road trip. But, I went ahead and looked online at the new Live The Adventure Club to look at all the extras and Study Guide. Since we was listening on the road we listened to it completely before attempting any of the study guide work. I would not recommend that, we did end up having to review it a few days later once we got back home when we started on the questions. Good thing though was most of the vocabulary words that Kaden probably didn't know before listening to the story, he does now. The vocabulary words is one of the super fun things that we enjoyed doing online. Just run your mouse over the word and the definition pops up in a little blue box. So, simple to use and having Kaden write them out in his notebook also helps knock out handwriting time. YES!

So, what's this audio drama all about? It follows young Frank around as he ventures towards America from England as he waits to clear his name. He was accused of stealing while at school and felt this was the only way to get a fresh start in life. He leaves behind family and friends along with a newly made friend, Harry. One of the really neat things for us is that we live in an area that the Gold Rush took place. Not to mention our cross country trip we took several months back had us going along the same route that the story takes place many times. One of those memorable moments was when they passed through Omaha Nebraska on the way to California. When we went back over the CDs with our study guide Kaden was real involved in hunting down some of the places on our little map. We get to follow along as he pays his way as a deck hand first before he journeys on the mighty Mississippi river, clanks away on a wagon train where he encounters Indians. By the way this was Kaden's favorite part, that and of course once he arrives in California to partake in the Gold Rush. While Frank is working away back across the pond Captain Bayley discovers that his daughter who he had not seen in many years has died and left behind a son. come to find out there is a connection, the grandson is actually the new friend of Frank's. He is crippled and Captain Bayley brings him to his home to live, gives him the best doctor's and care that eventually heals him. And towards the end there is even more on the edge of your seat madness when Frank is left unconscious after a terrible shoot out with some wild west outlaws. The question you keep wondering though is his innocence, will his name be cleared? I could tell you, but I hate to ruin it for you....I'll just say that the theme here is Amazing Grace and he does experience it oh so beautifully through out the adventure in many forms.

What did we think? We have deemed this one our favorite, Kaden says it goes into the RV so we can listen to it over and over. I loved this one the most because I never got lost, not even once. Sometimes I do, I'll admit I get lost because I am a huge visual person. If I can't physically hold something in my hand then it's not there in my mind. I know, I'm crazy...but, this story was easy to follow, not super complex and filled with a ton of main characters or little side stories that simple never go anywhere. I do wish that we would have used the study guide along with the first listening, but in a way it was helpful to go over it on the 2nd time around too.
I love the layout and extra learning opportunities that you get with the Study Guide. The guide is split into chapters with Listening Well questions, Thinking Further questions and Defining Words section. Listening Well consists of just basic questions all over the board as far as difficulty goes. We normally pick just a few. But, the Thinking Further section requires more thought as it requires them to come up with their own conclusions of characters or situations and to define intentions or feelings. And the Defining Words is a great way to learn some of the words they may not know throughout the story.....super loved this portion! We also enjoyed learning about Mining Camps and Important People from the Gold Rush Time with the Expand Your Learning sections.
This CD Adventure along with any of the other ones would make excellent gifts for the Holidays coming up. I have had the pleasure of building my collection for our family over the past few years and they have brought us many smiles, laughs and great conversations. Make sure you Connect with Heirloom Audio Productions today with Social Media.

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I know I have mentioned the Live the Adventure Club before, I can't get enough of it. I go on several times a week to connect with other homeschooling families, get some amazing resource help and teaching ideas. I Love it! So, if you want to know exactly what you get for Captain Bayley's Heir in the Live the Adventures Club look bellow!