The World's Story 1: The Ancients (Download)

My kids haven't used these yet but I have enjoyed going through them myself. Just like with America's Story, I love all the illustrations within these books it makes it so much more interesting and real.

Have you ever wondered how Biblical history ties in with Ancient history and how it effects us today? Well Angela O’dell has done an incredible job doing just that. World’s Story 1 is a beautifully scripted chronological narrative of ancient history, that will engage you and your student with the captivating pictures and stories. The text includes narration breaks, maps, Bible, apologetics, archaeology and much more. You could easily use this book with multiple ages and grade levels.
Disclaimer: I received a free download of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The World's Story 1 is a wonderful ancients history curriculum. It paints such a clear picture of history with Biblical history woven throughout. I have used "christian friendly" books before but got so annoyed at the general avoidance of actual biblical history.

A major quality of this book is is ample supply of photos and artwork. Its beautifully put together. There are descriptions for each photo and gives a real look at ancient times. The book provides various sections that give the opportunity to discuss such as the narration breaks and the connect sections. My favorite sections are the "Apologetics in Archaeology". This section shows how ruins and other archaeological discoveries point to biblical history.

The World's Story is a great curriculum and I love reading it each day.

I cannot say enough lovely things about this curriculum. I appreciated the introduction and the care taken in explaining the importance of studying ancient history. Not all students have an appreciation for this and Angela O'Dell did a fantastic job laying a foundation for the lessons.

We loved that the Bible is the ultimate guide in using this curriculum, leading students back to God continually. We're incredibly excited that we are given a full, accurate account of the world's beginning and a better understanding of God's plan for His people.

We're quite pleased with the amount, and diversity, of activities included in the curriculum. The World's Story far exceeds anything we could have anticipated. Families can expect to explore art studies, artifacts study, map work, copy work, narration, sketching, hands-on activities, timelines, "Dig Deeper" selections which include additional research prompts, and so much more!

And the best part? Everything is included in the set. No more buying of additional quiz/test books or answer keys. This set is all we needed to start our adventure in history.

When my 11 yr old started Ancient Civ this year, we also started with Genesis and creation. I wanted her to see how civilization changed, and how Christianity INFLUENCED it! And that is exactly what this book does (and OH do I wish we would have had it at the beginning of the year!)- while it keeps its focus on History, it interweaves the Christian perspective throughout the timeline, so that you have a WHOLE approach, not just 1 simple timeline, that you then have to go back and add narrative to! Your child will understand a WORLD wide perspective, not a small European based linear one!

But don't count science and archaeology out! What I TRULY love about this history text is that it INCLUDES it! In a worldview text! When it is appropriate, there are Apologetic sections, that focus on current findings, which support the bible history, as HISTORY. What kid doesn't want to find out that the bible is truth to find their science based friends who say it isn't???

The text is engaging and perfectly aimed at this age level! It gets kids THINKING and putting aside any preconceived notions they may have had. For example when my 11 yr old and I read the section about Celt migration, she was shocked to realize that the Celts had not only come OUT of central Europe, but had a massive migration. Course then she turned to me, after relooking at our DNA genealogy response and wondered just how much CELT might we actually HAVE! I LOVE any history text that can make her think and SEE connections!

In fact, that is a GOAL in this book! Each chapter has a connect section, to get kids thinking about how history relates and comes around. For the sample above, we both laughed, as those were EXACTLY the questions I had posed to her when we had studied Hammurabi early in the school year, as she had gotten so fluent in the US Constitution last year, I wanted to see if she could make those same connections, But what that means for the parent who is teaching (and who may not be the history buff that I am), you are given the means to test your child, to see if they are developing those critical thinking skills. You could even use them for a oral or written quiz grade!

And for those of us who LOVE it when curriculum crosses over multiple subjects- you also get relatable bible verses to read and discuss! This makes the bible history come so much more alive when your child reads the history text and then reads the SAME history in the bible. It's like getting a weekly bible study lesson built in! Something all of us homeschoolers love!

My daughter LOVES this text- the pictures are VERY colorful and well placed, to keep kids reading. You really don't consider them, when you look at curriculum, but even after ALL these years, I can tell you about the pictures in the 2 history books from my own pre-college studies that have stayed with me! Some were art pieces, others photographs. I think we've forgotten the impact they can make, and the ones in this book have been very well chosen! The reading level is right on par as well. She did have some word issues, but for her it was her dyslexia, and not the text. I love that by using an ebook, she can use her built in scanner for pronunciation help, and can take the book anywhere we go for studying! She's already eagerly asked me if we can use book 2 and 3, which I was happy to say "YES!" to!

This text is already available in both print and ebook form! So which ever way your kids learn best, you have a text for them! And if you buy as a set with the Teacher's Guide, you get a great discount! We LOVE this text, and your kids will too! It might even spoil them for high school history, so you might need to check out Angela's other titles too!

FYI- The teacher guide provides a full-year (36 weeks) history course with a daily schedule, worksheets, hands-on activities, research prompts and answers for all of the included work. Which means you don't have to do a whole lot to teach this course! Yeah! I would say the daily schedule would be about right as well. My kid likes block scheduling, so for us, we'd probably do 2 days a week, with her doing activity sheets in between, and testing on the second day.

I love this curriculum, I love how the author connects the Bible with the events of that time and even with the findings of archaeology to make the information come to a full circle. I also love how God is revealed to be behind the curtains orchestrating his redemptive plan for our lives. If you want a History book that will engage your children with beautiful pictures, maps and narration, while at the same time learning this is that book! love that is written in a manner in which children on different levels can understand. But what I love the most is that my children are not just learning History but they are learning about God’s handiwork through out history.

I received a complimentary download of this book from Masterbooks.

I was excited to review this book!! I have loved reading through this book and looking at pictures and maps. This is such an amazing book. The photos, illustrations, and maps in this curriculum are wonderful. I love how there are narration breaks so you can be sure your kid is understanding what you/they have read. The Connect parts of each chapter give them a little more to think about. I can't wait to use this with my kids!

I was excited to review this book for Masterbooks!!! It's absolutely gorgeous! There are so many things to love about this book - the maps, yes, the wonderful maps in every, single, chapter. An added bonus on the map pages is there are to questions: one to analyze and the other to connect.

I'm a visual learner so the all the illustrations is a huge plus. I love looking at pictures and all the details.
Each chapter begins with a Start Here - making it easy to find and know where the chapter begins and ends. It "introduces" the chapter so the student will know what it is all about. Lots packed into that page.

There are narration breaks in each chapter with a prompt. For example, "Discuss what the Bible said about the first people" and "Retell the stories of Pompeii and Constantine" one take from the first chapter and the other from chapter 27.

I absolutely love that there are reminders to read the Bible indicated with the word READ and a picture of an open Bible.

I'd highly recommend this books to my homeschooling friends. Five starts for this one.

I love everything about this curriculum. The student book is filled with photos, illustrations, and maps that are as stunning as they are helpful and informative. The lessons are engaging, without being overwhelming. And the material of the Student Book is written in an accessible narrative form that could easily be used with multiple age groups or a full-family study. I also love the narration breaks and connection points within the text, which provide helpful markers for the parent-teacher (or independently working student) to pause and reflect before moving onward.

While many textbooks covering ancient civilization include a focus on mythology, this one is awesomely biblical-centric. It more-or-less follows the biblical timeline from Creation through the Roman Empire, with an emphasis on the Hebrew people and their neighbors (Sumer, Babylon, Egypt, Persia, Greece, Rome, and others in between). I love the addition of apologetics and archaeology, and the emphasis on a relational/Hebraic worldview of Scripture. Every chapter goes back to Scripture in some way—even ancient cultures that are not directly tied to biblical accounts (like China, the Celts, and tribes in the Americas) have a mission-focus, and/or demonstrate humanity’s need for God in a direct manner. I really appreciate this perspective, and the way faith and Scripture are woven throughout the lessons.

My kids are going to have so much fun with this. I can’t wait for parts two and three to be released!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Master Books.