Customer Reviews

The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child: Volume 1: Ancient Times

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Bauer's book and activity guide are priceless. As a homeschooling parent who is presenting all major religious beliefs to my child and allowing him to decide matters for himself, it is wonderful to finally have these important religions summarized (and in correct chronological order!) at a first-grade level of understanding. (I am assuming Islam is discussed in Volume 2.) In response to the reviewers who claim that this book treats Christ's resurrection as fact, please note that the passage is prefaced with "The Gospels tell the STORY of what happened afer Jesus' death." And following the story of Christ's death and resurrection, the text is: "The followers of Jesus told this STORY all around Jerusalem." Buddha (Siddhartha) is not presented as a myth, but as a historical figure. One of his teachings is presented as a "tale", but that is because it is! It is a parable-like story to teach the value of generosity. I am not suggesting that Bauer is not a Christian writer, but she has written a very even-handed, engaging story of the ancient world. I especially appreciate the inclusion of the ancient American civilizations, but would appreciate the Anasazi being included in future editions. The reviewers who claim this book is biased toward Christianity have clearly failed to read the book. At our home we supplement this book with the Usborne History of the World (Internet-linked) so that we can begin at the very beginning, with the formation of the earth. In this way my son can see how recently humans have been inhabiting the earth compared to, say, bacteria. My 6-year-old loves this book and the activity guide and I am so grateful that it was published. We are also enjoying Mary Pope Osborne's "Tales from the Oddysey" (6 volumes). My son can't wait for each day's exciting installment!

We love this curriculum. The Ancient volume is a little weak on Old Testament history, but combined with "Our Young Folks' Josephus," by William Shepard, it is perfect. It covers a wide range of ancient cultures and is a joy to read aloud. Even my older children enjoy listening in. We also like using the activity guide in that it rounds out the curriculum very nicely providing fun hands-on activities. As an often overwhelmed homeschooling mom teaching many grade levels at once, this is the perfect core curriculum for teaching world history.

I really like Susan Wise Bauer's books. At first I thought it was a little too juvenile with all of her explanations and how she presents some of the topics, but as I've watched my children and their retention on the information, I am second guessing my first assumption. This is very easy to read and understand.