Between living outside of town and having a bit of a drive to get places and going on road trips around the state, our family spends a lot of time in the car, especially me and the kids. Sometimes we try to put that time in the car to some good use—not that talking or resting isn’t good use, but sometimes I try to use that time to actually get some things done. Both kids will take books to read or sometimes my son will take written work with him.  And recently, we entered the 1990s and got a new car with a working CD player.

Yes, we had been without a CD player, radio, or clock since one spring Thursday morning when all three stopped at once on the way to gymnastics.  This was also the morning I forgot my phone, so I had no clue what time it was until we got back home.  At this point my car was old enough that I didn’t want to spend money on something like that when the car itself might not last much longer, so I did nothing.  Of course, the car lasted us another year and a half until we got a new one, so in hindsight, my advice would be to at least get an estimate.  But I digress…

Now we have a CD player and we feel pretty awesome.  The kids can listen to SpongeBob’s Greatest Hits until I can’t take it anymore and I can tell what time it is while we’re on the road—even if I’ve left my phone at home.  And being a homeschooling mom, I can even use it to make them learn.  (Cue evil laugh.)

You may be familiar with some of these resources, but just in case, I wanted to share with you what we’ve been playing lately!

• Audio Books:  These are free to check out at the library and great for long trips.  I also love them for books where the characters have accents.  I’m really no good at accents.  Look for books that go along with what you’re studying or the next book in the series you’re reading.  This is one of my favorite ways to pass the time!

• Hide ‘em in Your Heart:  This is a great CD series for learning Bible verses.  There are several different volumes of these verses set to catchy music.

• Jim Weiss CDs:  I’m not sure how to even describe these because they’re all different!  There are all kinds of CDs on all kinds of topics for all ages.  Some are retellings of stories or myths, some are historical, and some are about holidays.  We haven’t listened to one yet that we didn’t enjoy!  This week we’ve been listening to Thomas Jefferson’s America as we are learning about the Declaration of Independence.  My three year old’s favorite is Fairy Tales.  If you want to bring your cost down a bit, you can download the mp3 version or check the Greathall booth at the homeschool convention this spring to see if they’re having any specials.

Hopefully that’s enough to get you started on your way to halfway educational and hopefully bickering-free rides around town!