I’ve told you before how much I love the Story of the World history curriculum – the reading texts and the activity books. I’ve recently had the pleasure of adding the audio CD’s to my Volume 4 set, and now I love Story of the World even more!
With a toddler in our household, read-aloud time has become a little harder to come by. We used to sit together and read from this book or that for what seemed like hours a day and soaked up every minute it. Once my little guy entered the scene (and especially now that he’s bigger), we don’t have the luxury of hour upon hour of reading aloud. And this coming from a family that thrives on having two or three (or more) good books going at once!
With the Story of the World audio CD’s, at least part of my problem has been solved!
- The kids can listen to the reading lesson without my direct involvement.
- They can re”read” stories they’ve particularly enjoyed without my direct involvement.
- They can even sit and listen to several stories at a time without my direct involvement!
And believe it or not, they really enjoy listening more than once. Maybe it’s because of Jim Weiss, the brilliant narrator of this series – as well as many, many others. Or maybe it’s because the stories are very intriguing. Either way, it doesn’t matter to me because every time they hear a story, history is being embedded in their minds. And afterward, we can go ahead with the lessons from the Activity Guide if we choose.
We’ve already been through volumes 1-3 from Story of the World, but I’m considering purchasing the audio CD’s for those volumes just to have on hand for casual listening and review. They are a tad pricey, but there are several CD’s in each package. In the volume 4 set, for instance, there are 11 CD’s with 12 hours of listening. They come packaged in a box small enough to easily fit on a shelf. There’s also a disc guide that tells you exactly which chapters/stories you’ll find on each CD and the length of time for each story.
And in case you’re wondering, I’ve enjoyed listening to the CD’s as much as my children. I’ve always said that Story of the World has given me the understanding of world history that I was never taught in high school or college. The CD’s allow me the opportunity to sit back and enjoy learning right alongside my children!
-Written by Cindy, eclectically Charlotte Mason mom of 3. You can find Cindy blogging at Our Journey Westward and Shining Dawn Books.
The biggest reason Cindy chose to homeschool was because she loves experiencing life with her children and watching them grow inside and out. She's sure that’s why the Charlotte Mason method first caught her attention. It allows her to be creative in scheduling, rigorous in learning, yet opens the door for plenty of close-knit time, opportunities for her children to explore their interests and offers enough free time for them to be children. She implements many of Charlotte Mason's methods with an eclectic twist of things that work for her family! At Cindy's website, Our Journey Westward, you will find a blog packed with fun learning ideas and a shop full of creative curriculum, including the NaturExplorers studies.
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