The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 1: Ancient Times CDs [Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Susan Wise Bauer (Author), Barbara Alan Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Series: Story of the World: History for the Classical Child

An audiobook edition of Susan Wise Bauer's acclaimed children's narrative history, read by stage and voice actress and veteran homeschool mother Barbara Alan Johnson. This spirited reading of the first in Susan Wise Bauer's four-volume series brings to life the stories and records of the peoples of ancient times.

The Story of the World covers the sweep of human history from ancient times until the present. Africa, China, Europe, the Americas—find out what happened all around the world in long-ago times. Designed for parents to share with elementary-school children, enjoy listening together and introduce your child to the marvelous story of the world's civilizations. An effective educational tool, use this audio edition as an accompaniment to the print book, a supplement to a traditional history curriculum, or on its own.

• No music, sound effects, or other distractions over the text
• Painstakingly tracked every three to five minutes to help you find your place. In most cases, track marks correspond with natural chapter or section breaks in the text to preserve coherence. In other cases, tracks occur at natural textual transitions.
• Included booklet contains detailed CD and track listings, with references to the print book chapter and section titles for use with the text.
• Booklet also features indices by People and Story, to help you find your favorite passages easily.
• CD faces bear large numbers, making it easy to grab the next disc at a glance, in the car or anywhere.
• Chapter numbers and titles are also printed on the CD faces, so you don't have to search for the booklet unnecessarily.
• Packaged in a sturdy, protective plastic box. Resists drops, bangs, and spills.
• Special CD sleeves actually increase the life of your product by wicking dirt and debris away from the disc surface.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Susan Wise Bauer is a novelist and educator. With her mother, Jessie Wise, she co-authored The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home (Norton, 1999), a book which has rapidly become an educational standard. Susan teaches at The College of William & Mary in Virginia. She was home-educated herself; she and her husband Peter now teach their four children at home as well.

Barbara Alan Johnson is a professional stage actress, most noted for her portrayal of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Charles Turner’s one-woman play, "Woman in Light." Her voice can be heard on radio and television nationwide. As a twenty-year veteran homeschooling mother, she has spent countless hours reading aloud to her own three children. Barbara lives and works in Roanoke, Virginia.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Audio CD
• Publisher: Open Texture (September 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974239100
• ISBN-13: 978-0974239101
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,440,178 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Kids are Loving History - CD, June 6, 2005

By 

A reader (Austin) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 1: Ancient Times CDs (Audio CD)

First thing my 7 and 8 year olds did this morning was put on this CD which they started listening to yesterday. They have been listening to it for about 2 hours today, and show no indication of ever turning it off.

Reading through the reviews, I realize there are some people that will not want to buy this CD.

1) If you are a fundamentalist Christian who believes that only what is in the Bible should be taught as history, this is not for you.

2) If you are a fundamentalist secularist who believes anything in the Bible, or from Buddhism, Hinduism, or other religions should be omitted from history, this is not for you.

3) If you are looking for a college textbook, this is not for you.

If, on the other hand, you are looking to introduce your younger children to the story of the world, complete with legends and religious beliefs, starting with the nomads of ancient time, HERE IT IS!! It is engaging for children, it is chronological, it brings up great discussion questions, and it gives children a historical outline so when they grow older they will have a historical perspective as they learn more about various cultures. It is quality education that children love- at least mine do.

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pros and cons of Story of the World, May 18, 2006

By 

April Manier (Eugene, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 1: Ancient Times CDs (Audio CD)

I have used this program twice:
First, very loosely with my daughter in a self directed way. She loved it, but I only had her go 1/2 way through. She was able to do many of the projects herself and retained A LOT.
Secondly, I have taught this with a co-op group. As a teacher there were several things I discovered:
1. The use small area maps not in conjunction with a world map leaves the students unable to fathom spacail relationship and relativity. It would be great to have a world map on the corner of each page. I used Hold That Thought maps to provide this connection.
2. The craft section was easy to follow. There were so many to choose from it was easy to find elaborate or simple ones. When teaching at home, you can do more than one with exercises spread out for great retention. Although we did a chapter a week in co-op with one craft, the kids retained huge amounts.
3. It would be best to build a time line as you go so as to be able to lay out the figures in such a way to see how they overlap. I often wondered about the order in which she wrote. I do not have the NEW revised version and this may be remedied. Still a visual timeline would probably fix this.
4. The kids are on the edge of their seat! They really look forward to hearing the next part.
5. It is important to stress the differece between myths and historical figures. When quizzing kids with such things as "Is this story real?" there were mixed answers. I often had to clarify. Something to be sure to have a game plan for ahead of time.
5. As a teacher this was expensive. The copyright does not give you a blackline master to use. Confusing and even expensive for parents with more than one child? I have to buy the activity sheets for every kid? AND there is no price break at 10? I can purchase a copyright for a year but still have to pay for printing?
6. The book makes it EASY to teach. The prep is little. Maybe a movie or library pictoral books to drive it home. I always felt prepared at a mometns notice to teach.
7. How about pronunciation? There could be some phonetics in parentheses to help those of us who don't speak ancient dialects of all kinds! I guess that's how they get you on the audios.

I would like to state that this is an elementary program. Getting hung up on in depth historical facts at an early age is folly. Kids glaze over and do not retain. Therefore THIS program really works. Its enough of the intersting stuff to get them to delve deeper. As a homeschool teacher that is what I am hoping for! That THEY will take ownership of it and press on into who they are with their research.

If you really just want biblical history do Greenleaf Press' or Mystery of History. You will get more Bible than anything. I enjoyed the oppertunity to expose my kids to world faiths while discussing ours. It really caused my kids to know and research why and what we believe!!!

If you want a springboard with no head ache and projects that don't require 50 pounds of plaster of paris and chicken wire, this is your answer!

39 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Snuggle up together and learn ancient history, October 21, 2003

By 

Rachelle McGuire (Albany, Ca USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 1: Ancient Times CDs (Audio CD)

This book is by far the best read aloud history book I've come across. It takes you on a journey from Ancient Mesopotamia, through Egyptian dynasties,mighty Assyria and Babylonia, to the rise of the Greek culture and ends up with the glory of Ancient Rome. It even includes the history of civilizations such as Africa and Asia. Best of all, it is written in simple language with lots of ancient fairy tales and fictional accounts of what life might be like for a 6 - 8 year old child from that period.

My son's favorite part of the school day is when we curl up on our sofa and read Volume 2 of The History of the World. When we were still on Volume 1, he would beg me not to stop reading. Another thing I really like about this book is the fact that you can read a chapter, go to the library and explore more in depth on that time period. I have always thought history should be taught as a STORY, not mere facts and dates, and this book does just that. You can even read this book to your kids as a bedtime story, one chapter a night!If you decide to get the activity book(which you should if you are a home schooler)then you will have all the questions to ask your child after reading, maps to color, and suggested activities to reinforce the reading material. My only complaint is that the coloring pages (simple black line drawing for the kids to color) are not as high quality as they should be. My son didn't care for them at all and I didn't blame him. The illustrations in the reading book weren't that great either.

There is no theorizing about what came before humans and it is religously neutral, but still delves into the religous practices of ancient man with a matter of fact attitude;no judging or scoffing - just the facts. This was really important to me, since I have strong Christian beliefs but want my kids to be aware of other religions and their importnace to our history.

If you have kids who think history is a bore, or even if they already love history, this is a book I highly recommend.