Making Audio Books a Part of Your Learning Experience

Do you have young learners in your home? Are you a busy momma who can’t possibly read for 2-3 hours a day? Do you have a struggling reader who still loves to hear books? Are you looking for a way to make car trips more pleasant and educational? If you answered yes, then I’d like to introduce you to the magic of audio-books!

I have a seven-year-old son who absolutely LOVES to be read to! In fact, he would be perfectly content for me to read to him all day long . . . of course, that’s not feasible 🙁 I do have to cook, do laundry and care for the other kids. But I have another trick up my sleeve: the wonderful world of audio-books and audio-adventures.

My son is enthralled with these! He’s only seven, but the books he’s “read” are absolutely amazing! I’m going to name a few of his favorites: Where the Red Fern Grows, My Side of the Mountain, The Far Side of the Mountain, The Railway Children and Farmer Boy. He’s also listened to almost the whole Little House series, Uncle Tom’s Cabin and many of the Thornton Burgess books. Now, honestly, how many seven-year-olds would be able to wade through these books on their own if they had to physically read them? But my son has devoured them, audio-style. He has an extensive vocabulary, a great deal of which I attribute to the books he listens to.

Not only has he listened to great literature, but he also loves audio adventures and has learned so much history and science from them. Some of our favorites are from Heirloom Audio, which produces the G.A. Henty books on audio. He has learned about the Saxons and the Danes, Captain Drake, Robert the Bruce, and William Wallace (just to name a few!). How many first- and second-grade programs teach that history? He also loves Jonathan Park and has learned so much science from them! Just the other day, he was explaining what a fulgurite was to his Dad. Seriously, how would he have even been exposed to that knowledge without listening to Jonathan Park? (I had no idea what one was, lol)

We’ve also found a couple of new series that he’s crazy about: Munford the H2O molecule goes on journeys to discover the Gold Rush, Lewis and Clark, and many more adventures. On the way, you learn tons of history and science. He doesn’t even realize it’s an incredible learning experience, but he’s definitely learning! He goes around telling us loads of facts from these books. We also just found a missionary series from the Brinkman’s, which teach history, along with encouraging a desire for people’s salvation.

So, how do you incorporate these into your day? There are so many ways! Car trips, of course, are a great one. He also listens on a tablet every day at naptime and nighttime to wind down. Then, if he needs a break from his brother and sister, he goes and sits (actually, he usually acts out the parts, lol) and listens to one of these. He begs to listen to them! Use them as a reward or as a regular part of your history, science, literature and Bible programs (I’m sure you can find more ways!).

I hope I’ve encouraged you to give them a try! Here are a few resources to get you started: Jim Hodges Audio, Heirloom Audio, Raising Real Men, Jonathan Park, Brinkman Adventures, Audible, and Christian Audio. Many of these have free trials, free downloads or discounted programs! Let me know how you use audio in your learning experiences!

Jenny is a wife to her amazing husband of 17 years and stay-at-home momma to 3 kids with another on the way. She blogs at https://www.inconvenientfamily.com where she is learning that blessings aren’t always convenient.