Last year, about Aprilish, it came to my attention that we spend a lot of time in the car. Avonlea's harp lessons are 35 minutes away and piano is 30. I do the milk route (picking up and distributing raw milk) which usually takes 2 hours round trip about once a month. I started feeling like we could use our car time to better advantage but didn't ever really do more than get some books on CD. I have now had a summer to plan and a collection of Cd's in my arsenal for the when the fall driving recommences. These are some of my favorites:
Geography Songs - The kids love these songs and I love knowing how to pronounce all those crazy Russian countries.
Addition Songs - These songs hypnotize Rowan and Rose, I look back into glassy eyes and mouths chanting "1 plus 1 is 2. 1 plus 1 is 2. 1 plus 2 is 3..." etc. I can only handle so much of this one as I don't need anything hypnotizing me as I'm trying to drive.
Catechism Songs - The catechism questions are referenced often in reading. Once at church the pastor asked, "What is the chief end of man?" My kids sat up and whispered, "Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." Amen. The music on these is folksy and I also like to play it when we're painting.
Lyrical Science - There are four volumes to this science course and we have used three of them. They use familiar tunes to help us remember science facts. Ask me what are the characteristics of living things are and I'll sing them to you to the tune of........I love the mountains, I love the rolling hills, I love the flowers, I love the daffodils...........you get the picture. It's a little random to hear your kids naming body parts to show tunes, but it keeps things interesting.
Joshua Bell - This is our favorite classical violin music. He is amazing. This is also great painting music.
Wee Sing America - The kids love learning new patriotic songs and this has a huge collection. We usually start the week off with the pledge and a rousing song of "I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free, and I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me..." But unfortunately we will forget if we don't celebrate them and our wonderful country. I never want my kids to take their freedom for granted.
Henty books on CD - These books are L-O-N-G and wonderful for extended car rides. The stories are all historical, well written and well told. The older two love them the younger two fall asleep.
I'd also like to get a Bible on CD but am unsure of which one to buy. Any recommendations?
So.....we'll see how this year of traveling goes. I pray they find their car time more enjoyable and possibly even..........fun?
Great list! I'll pass it on to my sister who was just asking about learning CDs. Twin Sisters is another great resource, especially for young children: http://www.twinsisters.com/
ReplyDeleteThanks Annie (and thanks Julianna for the link). I just put several of them on my "wish list" on Rainbow Resources.
ReplyDeleteI really like the Bible on CD by Max McLeon (not sure if that's how you spell his last name), he's pretty dramatic, though.
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