History: Grades 1 - 4
The Story of the World, History for the Classical Child
Author: Susan Wise Bauer
Publisher:  Peace Hill Press
For more information or to order: www.homeschoolingfromtheheart.com

The Story of the World is a read aloud series by Susan Wise Bauer, author of the popular book, The Well-Trained Mind.  Based on the classical model of education, these two volumes are the first half of a four part series.  World history is fascinating, but it can also be overwhelming.  The arrangement of events happening over a course of thousands of years can be difficult for young minds to grasp.  The Story of the World solves this problem by weaving together the details of kingdoms, battles, legends, cultures and customs from every continent into each volume, making history come alive for elementary students.  The books contain short chapters and provide an overview of history in a format that is easily understood by children.  Because the books, particularly Volume I, occasionally jump back hundreds or thousands of years from one chapter to the next, I would recommend having your children create a timeline to help them have a perspective of people and events that happened at the same time.

The Story of the World tells stories of real people and events as well as legends and myths.  While this blending of fact and fiction makes the books very enjoyable, it can also make it difficult for young children to separate myth from reality.  Of course, Mom can provide clarification where needed IF she knows what events really happened verses those that are fictional stories important to the culture/time period.  Christian homeschoolers will find that, although some Bible history is included, the telling of Biblical events isn't always consistent with Scripture.

While the books can and do stand alone as great read alouds, there is an accompanying activity book and curriculum guide available for each volume.  We were sent the activity/curriculum guide for Volume 1 and found it to be a tremendous resource!  The guide provides questions to discuss and even offers examples of narrations children might give as they "tell back" what they've heard from the day's reading.  Each lesson suggests additional reading material and directs the parent in what coloring/activity pages to use to correspond with the lesson.  This thick guide has pages and pages of activity/coloring sheets and maps for the student to use in their history notebook; it also provides instructions for hands-on activities and games.

I remember thinking of history as just a bunch of names and dates that I had to memorize in order to pass the next test.  The Story of the World gives children a much different taste for history and creates a hunger to learn more! 

Making the Grade:  -A
Cost:  $14.95 Book, $24.95 Activity/Curriculum Guide
Value for Your Homeschool Dollar:  9
Review provided by Cindy Prechtel, Editor