This being our first full year of homeschooling, I was hoping to find a co-op we could be a part of. I was thrilled to find one that was new and starting about the same time we were starting our homeschooling year in September. One of the subjects we’re studying is History. We’re using Story of the World History for the Classical Child Volume 1: Ancient Times, Revised Edition.
I had been trying to decide on a History curriculum that we would be using at home and was delighted to find out this was the one the co-op would be using. It probably helps that I “teach” the activity lesson at co-op each week.
I purchased a copy of the book. The leader of our co-op already had the Activity Guide and she provided me with it in order to plan the activity lesson each week.
What is included:
- Written for Grades 1 through 6.
- Each book is purchased separately. The series covers four major periods of history: Ancient Times, Middle Ages, Early Modern Times, The Modern Age.
- You can use the books alone or combine with the curriculum guides and tests for a complete elementary history/literature/geography program.
How We Use It:
- Each week, I read two chapters to my children, ages 7 and 5, then we discuss what I just read. My son, the oldest, seems to have a love of History and is always asking questions, even about time periods we haven’t even discussed yet. This tells me that I’ll be using Story of the World for our History Curriculum even if things change in the co op.
- Sometimes we will do an activity at home, most weeks we just do it at co op with the others.
Story of the World is written as a story of history rather than a listing of dry facts such as names and dates. This resource makes me feel that if I had learned history this way, I might have done better. For children who aren’t reading yet, this curriculum works excellently as a read-aloud. If necessary, an older elementary student could read Story of the World independently.
The Story of the World is a very easy way to introduce history to your children, especially for new homeschoolers. It’s inexpensive and easy to plan, and the texts provide an excellent foundation for the study of history. I would recommend purchasing the Activity Guide also, it’s chock full of coloring pages, map work, activities, review questions, narration exercises, recommended additional history reading and corresponding literature suggestions.
Story of the World for the Classical Child Volume 1 : Ancient Times can be purchased directly from the publisher, Peace Hill Press.
~ Alicia lives in Oklahoma with her husband and 2 children. Follow them in their first year of homeschooling at Walking In Faith.
We will soon fish Volume 1 of SOTW. I used it with my daughter, who is in 7th grade, but since this is our first year of Homeschooling as well, it was a perfect introduction!
We enjoyed all the SOTW volumes. Aren’t they well written? And the Activity Guides are wonderful, especially the suggested reading lists. Right now, we are finishing up volume four. Thanks for the great review!