More Curriculum Choices

Yesterday I talked about math and why we are sticking with Saxon. Today I will touch on another favorite piece of curriculum that I have stuck with for the long haul... Story of the World. We started using this Haley's very first year as a homeschooler. No idea what prompted me to make my initial purchase, but its one I've never regretted. It might have been the glowing review in my ginormous Rainbow Resource catalog that never fails to enthrall me with all its awesome, homeschool goodies. Regardless, we are just about to finish the 2nd book in this series, and already have third sitting on my shelf ready to go for next year. Susan Wise Bauer truly brings history alive. She takes what I perceived as a dry, boring subject and makes it exciting and captivating. My kids will sit and listen to chapter after chapter without a complaint. It really does read like a story...hence the name.

Another huge part of the this curriculum that I love is the activity guide. Each chapter features maps, coloring pages, activities, narration activities, discussion questions and so much more. You can do as much or as little as you like. They also offer a test booklet which we used some the first year, but don't use any longer. Let me just say that I was amazed at how much my little 1st or 2nd grader retained and learned just from me reading a chapter out of a book. She's even retained that knowledge years later. She recently impressed the heck out of me during an episode of Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader. She was able to recall many facts and names from our ancient history text.

So, if you're looking for a wonderful resource for history, something effective, yet easy to use, look no further than Story of the World.