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The Story of the World Vol. 1: Ancient Times, Revised Edition Text
The Story of the World series brings to life the people, discoveries, conflicts, and stories that shaped human history, from the ancient era to our own time. Told in Susan Wise Bauer’s exciting, clear style, this series has been read aloud by millions of parents to their elementary-school children, and has been read independently by a generation of middle-schoolers. The Story of the World series has over 800,000 copies in print.
The Story of the World Vol. 1: Ancient Times covers Egypt, Hammurabi and the Babylonians, Ancient China, Ancient Africa, the Exodus, The Greeks, Rome, and more. Illustrated throughout with black-and-white drawings and maps, it 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 an entire year of history, literature, and geography study.
Consider this: the baby is crying, raw chicken waits for you in the kitchen, and little Johnny wants you to read him the chapter about the Minoan Bull-Jumpers again. Do you really want to hinder his thirst for history? Of course not! But dinner won’t prepare itself…No problem, there’s an Audiobook version of this Text read by Jim Weiss. He can read to your kids when you can’t!
Copyright Information: When you buy a physical (paper or CD) or digital (PDF, e-book or MP3) product, you acquire the right to reproduce the product as often as you want for use within your own family. You may not reproduce it either for resale or to give away to others. Making copies, either for resale or to give away, is a violation of United States law. According to the United States Copyright Office, “Copyright infringement occurs when a copyrighted work is reproduced, distributed, performed, publicly displayed, or made into a derivative work without the permission of the copyright owner.” For further information, see http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-definitions.html.
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Product Description
The Story of the World series brings to life the people, discoveries, conflicts, and stories that shaped human history, from the ancient era to our own time. Told in Susan Wise Bauer’s exciting, clear style, this series has been read aloud by millions of parents to their elementary-school children, and has been read independently by a generation of middle-schoolers. The Story of the World series has over 800,000 copies in print.
The Story of the World Vol. 1: Ancient Times covers Egypt, Hammurabi and the Babylonians, Ancient China, Ancient Africa, the Exodus, The Greeks, Rome, and more. Illustrated throughout with black-and-white drawings and maps, it 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 an entire year of history, literature, and geography study.
Consider this: the baby is crying, raw chicken waits for you in the kitchen, and little Johnny wants you to read him the chapter about the Minoan Bull-Jumpers again. Do you really want to hinder his thirst for history? Of course not! But dinner won’t prepare itself…No problem, there’s an Audiobook version of this Text read by Jim Weiss. He can read to your kids when you can’t!
Copyright Information: When you buy a physical (paper or CD) or digital (PDF, e-book or MP3) product, you acquire the right to reproduce the product as often as you want for use within your own family. You may not reproduce it either for resale or to give away to others. Making copies, either for resale or to give away, is a violation of United States law. According to the United States Copyright Office, “Copyright infringement occurs when a copyrighted work is reproduced, distributed, performed, publicly displayed, or made into a derivative work without the permission of the copyright owner.” For further information, see http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-definitions.html.
Additional Information
| Author | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | |
| Series | |
| Subject | |
| Grade Level | First Grade, Second Grade, Third Grade, Fourth Grade, Fifth Grade, Sixth Grade, Seventh Grade, Eighth Grade |
| Pages | 348 pages |
Danielle Root
Question
I have the same question as one already asked but their question did not get answered. Is this book meant to be used for both 1st and 5th grade? The Well Trained Mind suggested doing ancient history for 1st, 5th, and 9th grades, 2, 6 & 10 are medieval, 3, 7 & 11 are late renaissance and grade 4, 8 & 12 are modern times. I only see 2 sets of books “The Story of the World” and the “History of the World”.
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Press Minion
“The Story of the World” is suitable for BOTH the lower-elementary cycle (lots of people choose to do it as a read-aloud book when the child is in first grade) and also the 5th grade range (at that age, the student should read the book herself). The series called “The History of the World” is unrelated. It’s written at an adult level, but can be used by advanced high-school history students.
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Rebecca
Question
What is the difference between this revised edition and the previous one (copyright 2001, front cover has a Roman Soldier, children reading a book, and maybe a Greek goddess)?
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WTM Press Minion
Hi Rebecca! The revised edition has the following differences: all new illustrations, new maps, better typesetting for more easy reading, a pronunciation guide for ancient/foreign names, some corrections made to typos etc, a new cover, and a timeline with dates of all the major events.
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Anna
5 out of 5 My Kids Love Listening to the Audio CD of this book
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
Question
Hi are these books from a secular point of view of history? Thanks!
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WTM Press Minion
Yes. Various religious stories and beliefs are discussed (Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, etc) as they arise historically, but each is presented as, “This is what these people believe” or “This is what they say happened.”
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smscism
Question
Is there a place to stop at the end of 1st grade and then a place to pick back up again when the child is in 5th grade? I read in The Well Trained Mind that grades 1, 5 & 9 are ancients, 2, 6 & 10 are medieval, 3, 7 & 11 are late ren and grade 4, 8 & 12 are modern times. I’m just wondering how these books work. Thanks!
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Lalu V
Question
I would like to purchase the hard copies of the all 4 volumes from Story of the world (the bundles are out of stock 🙁 ). And I got a message that for buying a paperback or hardcover I will get the downloadable version for free… but it doesn’t appear in the cart… it appears just for vol 4, but not for other volumes (and I got the same message for vol 1 as well…). Thank you!
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Press Minion
Yes, the bundles are out of stock right now because so many people purchased Volume 4 that we ran out. Sorry!
But yes, you get a free PDF copy anytime you buy a paperback or hardback copy of SOTW 1, 2, 3, or 4. If you don’t receive an email with the PDF after you make your purchase, contact us at support@welltrainedmind.com and we’ll get it to you.
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Jenni Koch
Question
I used this with my kids 15 years ago. I’m wondering what is new in the revised edition? thanks!
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Press Minion
We made a whole bunch of new (and, in our opinion, better) illustrations and maps; we made the typeface easier to read; we cleaned up some typos; and we added a timeline and pronunciation guide in the back of the book.
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E. Neil
5 out of 5 "Daddy, let's do HISTORY!" speaks for itself
What I think is less important than what my little man said…
“Daddy, let’s do HISTORY,” he said. A feeling of joy filled my heart to hear him genuinely captivated by the goings-on of the ancient world.
I’m just starting to “dual” school him… He just started first grade here in Japan. But I feel it essential that he not only gets education from his mom’s side of the world (Japanese) but mine, too (American). We’re starting with history, gently, and we’ll ramp up to other subjects that the Japanese education system neglects or just plain does horridly.
I anticipate many more purchases from The Well-Trained Mind folks…
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Iris
5 out of 5 Wonderful series!
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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Trisha Wall
Question
I’m homeschooling a group of kids ranging from 2nd-6th grade. All have come from public school, so any of this material will be new for them. Where would you recommend beginning, or does it matter? Volume 3 is what I’m most interested in because this season in the US seems to be full of questions about our history.
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Press Minion
You can start at any level. We generally recommend starting with Level 1 or Level 2…both because they provide important background to all that comes after, and because the vocabulary and subject matter of these books increase in difficulty with each level. But it’s certainly possible to start with #3.
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Victoria
5 out of 5 Much Homeschool Love for this book and the Activity Guide :)
I never liked history in school, and as a result didn’t retain much of it and definitely never dived into it. …So the first thing I love about using this book and the activity guide in homeschooling my kiddos is how much I am learning that I never knew before.
The second thing I love is that MY SONS LOVE HISTORY! I am astounded, but they ask every morning, “can we do History first today??” Yes. Yes we can.
At first I was surprised and a little dismayed by how short the sections were, but since we’ve been using the book, I feel that they are perfect. They are well suited for any age from 4-10, and when you remember that the point of history for this age range is not exhaustive coverage of the topic, but instilling the love of the subject and a general familiarity with the general topics, places, and characters, then it is definitely effective.
The third thing I love is the activity book (sold separately from this one). I am not one for “teacher/parent guides” in general, but I really like this one. Lots of map exercises, coloring pages, review questions, activities, and supplemental book suggestions.
BTW, Even if you are not a homeschooler, this would be a great readaloud for kids interested in history – you could read 1 section per day – takes about 5 minutes ?
We do history 2-3 times per week – it takes 30 min – 1 hr, and here’s what we do:
-read 1 section aloud (5 min)
-verbally do review questions from activity guide (3 min)
-do a narration (kids tell me what they remember from the section and I write it down for them) (10 min – 2 kids)
-maybe do a map or coloring page from the activity guide (10-20 min)
-sometimes do a supplemental activity from the activity guide
-maybe read library books relating to the topic (legends from that part of the world, encyclopedia entries, etc.)
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