During these long days at home due to sickness and icky weather, screen time is extremely tempting. TV, iPad, computer, etc.....it's all so convenient and easy. Yet often it seems to backfire when it's supposed to help. One area of technology that I've been trying utilize more deliberately is audiobooks and the like. There are two that have been extremely popular in our house the past month:
The Scrambled States of America
Beethoven Lives Upstairs
The Scrambled States of America comes just as a book or with book and CD. We have the CD and the boys have been listening to it multiple times a day for the past 2 weeks. A very silly story, but enjoyable nonetheless and a few random facts are learned along the way.
Beethoven Lives Upstairs is a wonderful introduction to the life and music of Ludwig van Beethoven. It's the story of a boy who's mother rented the upstairs apartment to Beethoven. He then writes letters to his uncle telling of the various things that happen while Beethoven is living in their house. They use Beethoven's music in the background to set the tone for the story. It is wonderfully done, and I look forward to exploring more CDs in this series.
Other audio series the kids have enjoyed for a while are Cat Chat and Glory Stories. We have listened to both the 1st and 4th volumes of Cat Chat (Mary Leads Me Closer to Jesus and The Mass Comes Alive). They seem kind of silly upon first listen (talking cat?!), but the music is very catchy (with a couple exceptions) and the kids have learned a lot. Glory Stories tell stories of various saints in a engaging way. I've learned a lot! The links to both are below.
Cat Chat
Glory Stories
Now that I've discovered our new car will actually record CDs and store them in it's memory (crazy, huh?!), I hope to have more things at the ready for our listening pleasure. Hopefully it will make these LONG days pass with a little more joy.
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