I love when a review project coincides perfectly with our life at the time. The newest project from the TOS Crew, Growing Up Wild, could not have happened at a more perfect time for our family. The Growing Up Wild series introduces the "Wild's", a family of missionaries, and gives a wonderful, behind the scenes look at their journey living in the jungles of Indonesia.
The "Wild" family consists of mom and dad and four brothers, Morgan, Hudson, Kian, and Asher, as well as pet cat- Phineas, dog- Kopi, and their beautiful cockatiel- Yukon.
Having a "wild" child and a budding missionary myself, I knew this review would be great for us when I first heard about it, but little did I know how helpful it would be for our family at this time in our lives. This DVD series is made up of four volumes, each with three episodes and including a supplemental activity guide for extended learning opportunities.
Each episode is approximately 15 minutes in length and gives an in-depth look at life in the jungle and the wonderful aspects of missionary life in general. The pictures of the Wild family interacting with the native Wano people are truly breathtaking. This series was birthed out of a passion for sharing the love of missionary work with the next generation in hopes of encouraging future missionaries in their calling.
For this review, the Crew members were given Volume 1 and Volume 4 for review and there was a palpable excitement when our package arrived and we were able to begin learning about the "Wild's". I was very interested to see how my children would react to such a culturally different way of living.
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I have to say I was not very surprised to find that with the first episode on Volume 1 they were hooked. My wild boy wanted to know how we could go visit the "Wild's" and if they would take in one more "wild boy" (he would fit in so well there- he might even be a little too "wild" for them). He loved seeing how they interact with the wildlife at their doorsteps including handling snakes, living with HUGE spiders, and even watching Phineas-the cat- feast on a rather large rat. It was truly a dream for my wild boy!!
My daughter was not as equally as excited about the wildlife, but I could see the excitement about how living amongst a native people group could impact their lives for the Lord. I feel that their mission was completed when I could see the dream of mission work become more deeply rooted in her heart.
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Disclaimer- I received no compensation for this post. I did receive one copy each of Volume 1 and Volume 4 of the Growing Up Wild series at no charge to assist in my writing this review. The opinions in this post are mine alone and were in no way influenced by outside sources.
Having a "wild" child and a budding missionary myself, I knew this review would be great for us when I first heard about it, but little did I know how helpful it would be for our family at this time in our lives. This DVD series is made up of four volumes, each with three episodes and including a supplemental activity guide for extended learning opportunities.
Each episode is approximately 15 minutes in length and gives an in-depth look at life in the jungle and the wonderful aspects of missionary life in general. The pictures of the Wild family interacting with the native Wano people are truly breathtaking. This series was birthed out of a passion for sharing the love of missionary work with the next generation in hopes of encouraging future missionaries in their calling.
For this review, the Crew members were given Volume 1 and Volume 4 for review and there was a palpable excitement when our package arrived and we were able to begin learning about the "Wild's". I was very interested to see how my children would react to such a culturally different way of living.
I have to say I was not very surprised to find that with the first episode on Volume 1 they were hooked. My wild boy wanted to know how we could go visit the "Wild's" and if they would take in one more "wild boy" (he would fit in so well there- he might even be a little too "wild" for them). He loved seeing how they interact with the wildlife at their doorsteps including handling snakes, living with HUGE spiders, and even watching Phineas-the cat- feast on a rather large rat. It was truly a dream for my wild boy!!
My daughter was not as equally as excited about the wildlife, but I could see the excitement about how living amongst a native people group could impact their lives for the Lord. I feel that their mission was completed when I could see the dream of mission work become more deeply rooted in her heart.
The timing of this review could not have happened at a better time for our family as we recently learned that we will be moving our family of 5 out of our current 2000+ square foot house into a 400 square foot basement space where we will all be sharing one room and one bathroom. Our children have taken the news of our move well, and although we are not moving to the jungle, this transition will be a challenging one for our family.
I think watching a family survive and even thrive in such a remote and different setting gave my children a good sense that we will make it through this challenge in our own lives and could even come out better for it in the end. The accompanying activities on the first episode gave us inspiration to design and create our "dream home" situation and I was thrilled to see that my children valued quality over quantity in their designs.
This series also gave us plenty of opportunities to talk about how different people live and how families interact in different settings. It also allowed us to challenge our children to look outside of our circumstances to see how we can make a difference for others in our family and in our community- understanding that if we keep our focus off ourselves and on others that our challenges often fade from our view.
I was personally challenged and inspired by this series and although it was created as a homeschool curriculum, I feel sure there are many other arenas that it could be used- sunday schools, VBS, group Bible studies, and more. I know we will continue to enjoy learning with the Wild family as Volumes 2, 3, and 5 have already made it to our Christmas lists.
You can purchase each volume of the Growing Up Wild series on their website for $18.99 or you can purchase the whole series for $80.99- a savings of 15%.
Connect with the Wild Family:
Disclaimer- I received no compensation for this post. I did receive one copy each of Volume 1 and Volume 4 of the Growing Up Wild series at no charge to assist in my writing this review. The opinions in this post are mine alone and were in no way influenced by outside sources.
