The Cat of Bubastes from Heirloom Audio Productions ~ a TOS review

It was like Christmas came early when our newest audio drama, The Cat of Bubastes, from Heirloom Audio Productions arrived in our mailbox! Montana eagerly grabbed it up and plopped it right into the CD player to listen to it while completing her schoolwork.

Having reviewed several of the other titles from Heirloom Audio we are quite familiar with the outstanding Christian radio theater they produce. Let me tell you a little more about The Cat of Bubastes.

Be prepared to be transported back into the time of Ancient Egypt right into a thrilling story of responsibility, perseverance, and God’s providence with this 2 disc set. Much like the rest of the audio theatres produced by Heirloom Audio, The Cat of Bubastes is also based on the G.A. Henty novel bearing the same name. It tells the story of a young prince, Amuba and his faithful friend, Jethro. Amuba and Jethro find themselves captured by the Egyptians and enslaved in the beautiful city of Thebes. All of a sudden the two find themselves trapped in a murderous plot to attack the Egyptian family they serve and consider as friends. They must flee the city but will they survive? Where will they go? Their loyalty and character is tested and they soon learn of the wonder of God’s providence. There is even a surprise character who appears in the story, Moses!

Our package from Heirloom Audio included the 2CD set with access to an account that included a bunch of downloads in PDF and MP3 format. This is the same options you would have if you were to purchase the Family Four-Pack.

 ~ Official Soundtrack 

~ eBook of G.A. Henty’s original book with full color graphics 

~ MP3s of the production

 ~ Promotional poster that shows the cast and cover of the CD case

 ~ Inspirational poster with 1 Chronicles 17:20 

~ Complete study guide and discussion starter set 

~ Live the Adventure E-Newsletter

 ~ Behind the scenes documentary

The Study guide is a full color eBook with learning guides to help tie in the story as a whole. It includes sections for comprehension, vocabulary, and Biblical references to scripture as well. There are several purchasing options. You can order directly from Heirloom Audio Productions including:

 • $19.97 for an audio MP3 download that gives you instant access and includes bonuses like the Study Guide and printable copy of the inspirational quote from the centurion Julius.
 • $29.97 plus $6.95 shipping gets you the two CD set plus the two bonuses above and the MP3 soundtrack download
 • $99.97 plus $9.95 shipping gets you the Family Four Pack this gets you 4 CD sets, all of the bonuses mentioned above, plus 5 additional bonuses:
Unlimited access to the Live the Adventure Letter, The Cat of Bubastes eBook, printable poster with the star-studded cast, behind the scenes documentary.

All of the prices listed below come with a 90 day money back guarantee if you are not satisfied.


So, what’s the bottom line?! We love this CD! I love that the Henty stories from Heirloom Audio Productions not only entertain and educate the listener, but they always point back to Christ. I wholeheartedly recommend this product to any and all looking to add a bit of family friendly audio / radio drama into the homes.

Be sure to check out what my CrewMates think of this product by clicking the banner below.

Company ~ Heirloom Audio Productions 

Product ~ The Cat of Bubastes 

Format ~ physical 2 CD set 

Price ~ see above for prices 

Ages ~ 6 years and up

Social Media Links:
Facebook
Twitter
Google+
Instagram: @HeirloomAudioOfficial 

 #hsreviews #HeirloomAudio #TheCatOfBubastes #LiveTheAdventure #BringingHentyBack #AudioAdventures 

Wordless Wednesday

©2008 - 2016 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author. 

 http://astablebeginning.com

Ultimate Phonics Reading Program ~ a TOS review

Did you know that by 8th grade, statistics show that only 4% of students are what is called an advanced reader, while 22% can’t even read at all! That is mind boggling to me, especially since I have a child who struggles with reading and comprehension. Lately, we have been testing out the Ultimate Phonics Reading Program from Spencer Learning to improve overall reading skills in my beginning and struggling reader.

For over 50 years the Spencer family has been teaching reading to tens of thousands of people. From beginner readers, older students with learning disabilities, and even to adults who struggle, Spencer Learning has been there to teach reading with direct, systematic phonics instruction.

With 262 progressive lessons the Ultimate Phonics Reading Program is geared to help students work: ~ towards fluent reading 

~ improve reading, comprehension, and spelling skills 

~ eliminate whole word memorizing, guessing, or skipping of words

 ~ accelerate reading development for beginning readers and struggling readers regardless of age

 ~ achieve excellent results with just a few hours per week usage

Normally this program sells for $69.95, but if you purchase before Friday, September 30th you can take advantage of the $20. off sale. For the price you get:

~ A complete phonics program that teaches all the phonics sounds and rules of English and accelerates reading levels for all ages

 ~ one time payment, no expiration and no subscription fees 

~ Free updates forever 

~ All 262 lessons

 ~ More than 4,400 words sounded out and more than 2,100 sentences sounded out up to a 5th grade level 

~ Progresses from basic to advanced Level 

~ Complete online User's Guide 

~ All lessons are downloadable and printable

Installing the program was super easy and quick! I didn’t have any trouble at all installing the program on the kids computer after I received the product key code. You can use the program on multiple computers which is nice if you need to take your lessons on the road like we do most times. I simply, used the product key code and installed the program on my laptop too. System requirements for the program suggests Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP; or for Macs, OSX 10.5.8 or higher. And like I mentioned earlier, updates are free!


Over the last 8 years we have used many different phonics programs in our homeschool and I tend to not like online programs, but the Ultimate Phonics Reading Program from Spencer is a real keeper in my book! I love that it is portable and we can bring it with us, especially with our travel season quickly approaching. Mikayla (13) has been working through the program, slowly, but I have seen improvement in her reading and comprehension overall. Because Ultimate Phonics Reading Program is geared towards beginning readers, middle/high schoolers, adult literacy, struggling reader/ remedial reading, ESL / ELL, dyslexia suffers, and those with Autism, the program provides something for everyone to get them reading.

Check out what my Crewmates think by clicking the banner below!

Company ~ Spencer Learning

 Product ~ Ultimate Phonics Reading Program 

System Requirements ~ Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP; or for Macs, OSX 10.5.8 or higher 

Price ~ $69.95 

 Ages ~ beginning readers to adult literacy

Social Media Links:
Facebook
Twitter  @spencerlearning

 #hsreviews #phonics #phonicsapp #dyslexia #strugglingreader

©2008 - 2016 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author. 

 http://astablebeginning.com

KidsEmail.org ~ a TOS review

Montana has expressed interest in having an email account but there are so many dangers out there in the online world that I have been hesitant, until now. My youngest two daughters, Montana and McKenzie, now have their own kids email address! They both have been sending and receiving emails with the Annual Subscription from KidsEmail.org.

KidsEmail.org has been around since 2009 and was designed to help protect children and families while online by providing aceess to safe email for kids. I wish I would have known about this when I was signing Mikayla up for email a few years ago. It would have saved me the heartache of deleting all the *junk* she gets in her email box.


With KidsEmail all the power is in the hands of the adult with this safe email service. Pricing is super reasonable for all of the many features you receive and you have the option to create up to six accounts:

Mail Monitoring ~ parents are able to receive a copy of all incoming and outgoing, if you choose, mail so you know just what is being received and or sent. 

Time restrictions ~ set time limits or restrictions on your childs account. They will only be able to log on during set times. A friendly message will display if they try to log on during restricted times. 

Mail queue interception ~ this feature allows the parent to intercept an email that did not follow the prescribed safety rules for the account. After reviewing the email the parent can then approve or deny the message all together. 

Blocking senders ~ block senders you don’t want contacting your child, even if you allow your child to receive email from anyone. 

Contact manager ~ manage your child’s contact list of who can send or receive emails. 

No ADS ~ THIS IS THE GOLDEN TICKET, NO ADS at all! 

Custom mailbox folders ~ create custom mail folders to organize mail. 

All accounts get the features listed above and also these powerful features too:

 Remove Links and Images 

Control Attachments Types 

Offensive Word Filter 

Spam Filtering 

Template Options 

Activity Log

With so much to offer, we are super pleased with our subscription! One of my favorite parts has to be the Read It Feature. McKenzie is still a beginning reader, so being to select the “read it” feature on an imcoming email is so helpful. She can check her own email, like a big kid. I also appreciate the fact that KidsEmail grows with my children. As they grow I can switch them over to the teen and older address seamlessly and know that they still have all the same features as a little kid account.

In fact, I have just recently switched Mikayla to the teen account and have disabled her orginal email because of the questionable emails she has been receiving. Setting her up was just as quick and painless as when I opened Montana and McKenzie’s email accounts.

Be sure to check out what my CrewMates thought by clicking the banner below. And if your kids want to be email pen pals, drop me a line and we can set something up for Montana and McKenzie.

Company ~ KidsEmail.org

Product ~ Annual Subscription

Format ~ online

Price ~ see pricing chart above

Ages ~ Little Kid to teen

Social Media Links: 

 Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest 

Google+

Instagram

 #hsreviews #kidsemail #emailforkids

©2008 - 2016 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author. 

 http://astablebeginning.com

Wordless Wednesday

©2008 - 2016 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.

 http://astablebeginning.com