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The Story of the World Vol. 1: Ancient Times, Revised Edition Text
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Product Overview
Explore the ancient world from the pyramids of Egypt to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and from the Spartans to Attila the Hun. Illustrated throughout with black-and-white drawings and maps, The Story of the World Volume 1 Text also includes a pronunciation guide and chronology. History doesn’t happen in a vacuum; it happens in real places, so we put lots and lots of maps in our history books.
Use this Text along with the Activity Book for a full year of history, literature, and geography study along with fun and engaging hands-on activities. Enjoy your studies now and lay the foundation for a life-long interest in, and understanding of, history.
Titles Available in this Bundle
The Story of the World Vol. 1: Ancient Times, Revised Edition Text
Bring ancient history to life as you learn about Egypt, Hammurabi and the Babylonians, the Greeks, China, Rome, and more! Whether used as a read aloud for elementary students or as independent reading for middle schoolers, The Story of the World Volume 1 Text is the spine for your ancient history studies.
The Story of the World Vol. 1: Ancient Times, Revised Edition Activity Book
The Activity Book turns The Story of the World Volume 1: Ancient Times Text into a full year of history and geography study! Provides curated reading lists, map work, coloring pages, review questions, exercises, and hands-on projects to bring modern history to life. Includes teacher instructions and one set of consumable student pages.
The Story of the World Vol. 1: Ancient Times, Revised Edition Audiobook
The Audiobook brings history to life with this spirited and unabridged reading of The Story of the World Volume 1: Ancient Times by renowned narrator Jim Weiss. Save time by listening on the road or while preparing dinner, or let it lull the children to sleep at bedtime.
Courage and a Clear Mind
The courage of the 300 Spartans, the trick of the Trojan horse, the first Olympics – the whole family will enjoy listening to these accounts from the history and culture of ancient Greece.
Egyptian Treasures: Mummies and Myths
Come face to face with mummies, ancient pharaohs, and daring archaeologists, and thrill to myths of Egyptian gods and goddesses. The mysterious land of ancient Egypt comes to life for you and your children in this audiobook adapted and narrated by Jim Weiss.
Julius Caesar and the Story of Rome
Adventurer, conqueror, political genius, classical author – Julius Caesar lived one of history’s most amazing lives. Yet it was the story of his death that William Shakespeare turned into a dramatic masterpiece. Introduce young listeners to this classic with Jim Weiss’s abridged and adapted retelling.
A Treasury of Wisdom: Stories of Hope and Inspiration
Timeless wisdom drawn from a wide variety of cultures and eras offers insight, inspiration, and hope to listeners of all ages. Adapted and narrated by Jim Weiss.
Anna –
My kids are really enjoying this book. We listen to the Audio CD in the car or during meal times. I like the book suggestions (we check them out from our library) and the narration questions).
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Falynn –
Hi are these books from a secular point of view of history? Thanks!
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"Daddy, let's do HISTORY!" speaks for itself
E. Neil –
What I think is less important than what my little man said…
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Iris –
I am a HUGE fan of the Story of the World series. It’s been so much fun delving into history with my kiddo. The books are engaging and accessible and the activity book really brings the whole thing to life. I’ve noticed I’ve become passionate about history and love researching and planning our lessons! So: educational and fun for the whole family 🙂
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One of our family favorites!
Lindsey –
My 2nd grader and my kindergartner love this book. It’s one of our favorite things to do together. Even my 3 year old was running around the house saying “If I were Hammurabi…” We love the activity book and we pick and choose what activities work for us. We are getting a new dog and this book has given us plenty of name ideas! 🙂
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SABY –
Does SOTW have a suggested plan for completion like FLL 3 & 4 do?
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Aline –
will you no longer have the kindle version of story of the world?
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Answer Desk –
We do not, but That Certain Online Store That Sells Kindles does. We do have it in PDF, which comes with an available download that is formatted for reading on tablets.
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Question
Leanne –
About 20 years ago I bought The Story of the World, volumes 1-4 in the spiral bound paperback edition. Unfortunately someone borrowed the volume 1 and never returned it. Now I am a Grandma and would love to have a volume 1 in the spiral bound edition to complete the set. The spiral books are so easy for little hands. And I’m tickled by the thought that my daughter-in-law wants to homeschool.
Please tell me that you still have the spiral bound available for purchase
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Answer Desk (verified owner) –
I wish we did, so that you could have a complete set, but we do not. One idea would be to buy the PDF and ask a copy center to print to size and spiral bind it (wait, reverse that, ask if they can do it before buying). You might be able to get a pretty close match.
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Susan Shelton –
What is the suggested pacing guide for this book – 5 days per week, or less?
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Answer Desk (verified owner) –
It’s very adaptable and doesn’t have a set pacing guide. Some people like to schedule by chapter; in a typical school year of 180 days, you would have just over 4 days per chapter if you did 5 days per week; just over 3 days if you did 4 days per week. Some chapters have more than one section, for a total of 94 sections. If you did one section per day, and added in 11 days to review, that would be 105 days.
Periodically adjust the time scheduled for the remaining chapters when your kids fall in love with a topic and linger on it!
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Brittney –
I have seen some talk of this becoming available on Audible. I’d like to buy the set, but would much prefer Audible, so I’d love to know if it’s coming soon before I make the purchase. Is there any idea of a timeframe? Thank you!
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Answer Desk (verified owner) –
I don’t have a timeframe yet, but we do anticipate getting an update this month (August). If you can wait a while longer, we will hopefully have better information for you.
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Question
Rachel –
Does this book cover California State Standards for Social Studies?
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Answer Desk (verified owner) –
This book does not have a Scope & Sequence yet but it should be done this fall.
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Melissa –
Hello-I have two children ages 7 and 10. . Do I need two activity books? Thanks!
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Answer Desk (verified owner) –
The Activity Book has one set of consumable Student Pages. You can copy those pages for your own children, or you can buy Student Pages only in either print or PDF.
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Eden Copeland –
Can the revised edition narrative books be used with the older nonrevised edition of the activity guides? I bought my activity guides about 15 years ago.
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Answer Desk (verified owner) –
Yes, they can! The differences will be minimal regarding actual text.
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Question
Sophie –
I noticed this book rarely if ever mention dates’ why is that,
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Answer Desk (verified owner) –
38 of the 42 chapters reference dates -sometimes within the chapter and sometimes in the Note to Parent at the end of the chapter. If you’d like an overview of dates, there is a Chronology of Ancient Times in Appendix One.
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meti.shkreli –
I want to purchase ONE book and two of the activity books but your site will not allow me to do that. It automatically puts them as a bundle.
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Answer Desk (verified owner) –
You can add each book from the product page rather than making it a bundle (the bundles are just for convenience, it doesn’t save you money). So, if you click here and got to the Text product page, you can just click on Add to Cart. On the Activity Book page, change the quantity to 2 and then Add to Cart.
Also, the Activity Book has the teacher instructions and one set of consumable student pages. If you are a parent teaching two of your kids, you don’t need to buy a second Activity Book; click here to buy Student Pages only instead.That will be less expensive.
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Angelica –
Hi, I am wondering what standards for 5th grade this material covers?
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Answer Desk (verified owner) –
Hi Angelica, please click here for our Scope and Sequence page.
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Georgia –
I started homeschooling my kids when they were in 6th grade and I didn’t know about this series! Now in 9th grade, would this be “too young” for them to start with volume 1? I wouldn’t necessarily do this as a curriculum but more of a reading together. I’m not sure how much history they learned when they were in public school so my thought is for them to get a foundation. Or, would you recommend starting with History of the World. I plan on using the audio as well. Thanks!
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Answer Desk (verified owner) –
While we have both families and schools that use The Story of the World as curriculum in middle school, Volume 1 in particular skews young (first to fourth grade if you don’t level up the assignments).
Some people do have their older students read through all four volumes just to get that foundation before moving on to History of the World. It’s obviously a very easy read! The sample (which you can see underneath the illustration of the book on each product page) gives a good feel for the level and tone of reading.
Because you would be moving on fairly quickly, you might skip the audio (or, conversely, just do the audio in the car if you have a lot of activities). If you have to choose, having both text and audio will be most helpful for History of the World, as it’s at such a higher level. We don’t sell the audio here, but it’s available on Audible and similar platforms.
If you need more assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our customer service team at [email protected].
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Adrienne –
Is there a way for me to pay using paypal?
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Press Minion (verified owner) –
Yes, it should offer you a PayPal option during the Checkout process…it’s below the “Credit Card” option.
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Chaz Gundry (verified owner) –
My mom read this series with me and my siblings, and now I’m starting to read it to my own children! I always loved history because these books make it very engaging.
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Sarah –
How many pages is the pdf?
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Answer Desk (verified owner) –
The PDF is 350 pages.
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Bob Lochner –
If I purchase a paperback workbook can I also get the pdf included, or does it need to be purchased separately?
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Answer Desk (verified owner) –
It needs to be purchased separately.
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Alexandra –
The sample download isn’t downloading
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Answer Desk (verified owner) –
It seems to be working now, please try again!
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Marta –
Does this book exist in spanish?
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Answer Desk (verified owner) –
Unfortunately, it does not.
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Amanda –
To clarify: Volumes 1-4 are to be used for first though fourth grade? Are they all written at the same level or are they more advanced as you progress through the volumes? As in, could I use volume 4 for first grade and volume 1 for fourth grade? I understand I’d want to go in order.
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Answer Desk (verified owner) –
Both the text and the activities increase in difficulty as you go through the volumes (although there are so many activities to choose from that you can just ignore any that are too young or too old).
They were written grades 1-4 in mind originally, but we do have many families and schools that use it in the middle grades as well. A common approach is: Volume 1 for grades 1-4, Volume 2 grades 2-5, Volume 3 grades 3-6, Volume 4 grades 4-8.
While the books work very well for mixed ages in general, Susan Wise Bauer does not recommend Volume 4 before fourth grade. Modern history can be less engaging and more upsetting to young children. While there is violence throughout history, events such as the bombing of Hiroshima are more overwhelming, and also hit closer to home (1945 is old-fashioned but also recognizably modern compared to 1600, and the student is likely to know people who have lived through some of the troubling events in the book).
If you need more help deciding which volume would be best for your family, send a message to [email protected] – we’re happy to help!
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Audra –
Is the content secular?
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