Friday, July 11, 2014

Your Story Hour - Dramatized Audio Stories For The Entire Family

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Your Story Hour is a global, non-profit, interfaith Christian educational organization that was established in 1949.  Your Story Hour speaks to children around the world through their dramatized audio stories from History, the Bible, and everyday adventures. 

A moms review:
We were contacted by Your Story Hour and asked to review one of their audio story albums. Our family loves audio stories so I gratefully accepted. Since we homeschool a lot on the road audio stories are perfect for our family.

First let me tell you more about Your Story Hour then I will tell you about the album we choose and what we thought.

More about Your Story Hour:
In today's crazy world it is hard to find decent role models that teach positive decision making skills. However what if I told you that through dramatized audio stories children can be inspired to make sound choices by being exposed to stories that show the positive results of developing character traits such as honesty, integrity, courage and faith. Each CD set from Your Story Hour teaches positive values and morals that children will remember for a lifetime while being educated and entertained. Your Story Hour stories are narrated by Uncle Dan and Aunt Sue and are enhanced with sound effects and music to help bring them to life and captivate children. Your Story Hour is great for the entire family...even parents. Though many of their products are faith based their history albums are secular.

Here are some of the products currently offered by Your Story Hour:
  • Acts of the Apostles
  • Adventures in Life (4 Volumes)
  • Bible Comes Alive (5 Volumes)
  • Great Stories (12 Volumes) 
  • Heritage of our Country
  • Patterns of Destiny
  • The Teen Scene
  • The Young Abe Lincoln
  • Activity books to compliment various CD sets

Each album comes in a sturdy, plastic case with protective vinyl sleeves to hold the CDs. On the front of the album cases are a terrific illustrations depicting some of the figures from the stories.

How we used it:
We choose to go with the Great Stories Volume 3 set which features 12 dramatized, historical audio stories on 6 CDs. Volume 3 features the adventures of several historical figures who faced much adversity, but persevered with courage and determination. Each episode is approximately 30 minutes in length.

Stories included on Volume 3:
  • Johnny Appleseed - (2 parts) Story of John Chapman - the  man who gave apple seeds to the early American pioneers
  • Robert E. Lee - (4 parts) Hero of the South
  • Sacagawea - (2 parts) One Little Indian Girl and Indian Guide - Indian girl who was kidnapped from her tribe and eventually became a guide for the explorers Lewis and clark
  • The Daring Locomotive Chase - (2 parts) Exciting true tale from the American Civil War
  • The Girl Astronomer - story of a little Quaker girl who grew up to discover a comet
  • Precious Burdens/Part-Time Indian - Two stories about the things in life that matter most.

We choose to go with this set for a few reasons. First my daughter is very passionate about the Native American culture and loves learning about Native American history. Second we live in Georgia and are surrounded by Civil War history. We have visited many of the Civil War sights in Georgia and have even seen the real "General locomotive."


Immediately after popping in the first CD I had a sense of nostalgia. I then realized that I had heard the Your Story Hour dramatized stories before on the radio as a child. When I was a young child my parents would put on Your Story Hour Bible stories just about every Sunday.

Listening to these audio stories really helped bring history to life for my 7 and 8 year old. The stories also taught them important values as well. We mostly listen to them on our car rides. It always seems to take us 1/2 hr to 1 hr to get everywhere we need to go so we have plenty of time to listen to a story or two! While the children listened they would draw pictures to illustrate what is going on in the story. Even I learned a thing or two from these amazing CDs.

My daughter loved the Sacagawea story and begged to learn more about her and Lewis and Clark. My son loved the story about the General locomotive and is really looking forward to visiting The Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History again so we can see "The General." I loved the Robert E. Lee story. We recently visited Stone Mountain which has a large carving of President Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. It was during our visit that I realized I knew very little about these 3 men. Lee in my mind was a tyrant and could not possibly teach us any important values or character traits. But after listening to the 4 part audio story on Lee I realized there was a lot I didn't know about him. Though Lee fought against the Union and believed that slavery was not wrong he showed great persevere for several years with a Confederate Army that was outnumbered many times. And even though he was eventually defeated, his army achieved amazing victories that brought the Confederacy to the verge of its independence on several occasions during the Civil War.

Freebies:
Check out the Kids Korner for FREE activities and learning tools. Also check to see if your local radio plays the Your Story Hour stories.

Links to follow:
-Your Story Hour Facebook
-Your Story Hour Twitter

Where to buy:
You can purchase CD albums and MP3 downloads directly from Your Story Hour product store. CD albums range from $22.50-$45 and MP3 download versions are $18-$36. You can also purchase individual stories in MP3 download format for $2 a piece.

You can also find Your Story Hour albums on Amazon.

Now time for the giveaway:
One lucky winner will receive a Your Story Hour - Great Stories Volume 3 album (U.S. addresses only.) Only the first entry is mandatory. Other entries are optional and give you extra chances. This giveaway is not affiliated with Facebook in any way. The winner will be posted on the blog and will be emailed. Winner must reply within 48 hrs with their contact information or another winner will be chosen. Prize will be mailed via Your Story Hour.

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24 comments:

Teresa M. said...

My favorite historical figure is Sacagawea. It is impressive how she managed to survive in the harsh conditions and care for her infant, while ensuring the safety of the travelers.

Brenda S. said...

Washington, Wilbur Wilberforce, so many...

Sandy said...

Joseph and his faith in God through crazy life circumstances.

natosha said...

Sacagawea who actually should be known more in history books for her help.

fibia said...

Sacagawea and Lincoln.

Tracey M. said...

Abraham Lincoln is my favorite historical figure.

Emily Quesenberry said...

Jesus :)

Tiffany Ghigliotti said...

Queen Elizabeth the I

Polly Fontenot said...

Joan of Arc

Ivy said...

Teddy Roosevelt is my favorite.

ASliceofHomeschoolPie said...

Abraham Lincoln (Clara at ASliceOfHomeschoolPie.com)

Heather Archer Cansler said...

Corrie Ten
Boom

Sharon Dail Normark said...

So many! Today… Thomas Jonathan Jackson

Tiffany DeOs said...

Corrie Ten Boom for sure.

Erica Bankston Stokes said...

George Washington & Ben Franklin.

zekesmom10 said...

Do I have to pick one? :) I'm interested in Corrie Ten Boom. We are studying the war right now and I find people like her family fascinating.

Rebecca C said...

I would love to win!

Thaleia Maher said...

Not sure, I hated History growing up with all the dates and places to memorize WITHOUT the story being taught behind it. Would love to learn while in the car.

Sheila Chastain Cassa said...

Benjamin Franklin for sure!

Lori said...

Jesus!

Amanda C said...

Jesus! And then Corrie Ten Boom

hope jackson said...

too many to choose just one! =)

Brittney said...

Abe Lincoln

Kimberly R said...

It is hard to choose! I'd say the Founding Father's of our country.

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