You provide the best answer to the is it Christian or secular question that I've seen. Some people can't handle the pure mention of religion or person but I think it's an important part of education to know that some people believe religion and what and how it fits into history. This is totally possible to do whilst still being secular. I love how you showed examples of this, not seen someone do such a good job of showing the book and answering that question. Thank you 🥰

We just switched to this curriculum and we're feeling it out so your post is a God send! Thanks Abby💓

This was amazing seeings how we are in the same county. Thank you so much

You did a great job on the flip through! Better than any other SOTW reviews I've seen on KZfaq. We have used it from the beginning too! We love it just as much. But at some point we kind of ditched the activity guide because my kids just didn't want to color or do any of the projects. We stopped use the map work and maps, and the read aloud suggestions from the activity guide. We did our own version of narration were the boys drew their own picture of what we read and then they or I would write their narrative of what we read about. I'm not as happy with the Volume 4 activity guide either, but we will just keep going with the way we have tweaked to work for us. We love the book itself! I have learned so much and actual like history now after reading SOTW. I personally believe it to be a secular curriculum or view point, which I like!! We are believers in Jesus for sure, but I find that most Christian based curriculum tend to lean towards a specific doctrine or religious traditions and we don't follow any of the man made Christian doctrines or traditions. We simply follow the bible; so I like to be able to tie in the bible to history on my own. I love how open and go SOTW is and how if you want to pause and dig deeper you can! Then you just pick SOTW back up and keep going until you want to dig deeper again. We love the sassafras science Adventures for the same reason. They are interesting books about real things. We usually read, discuss and watch a video and read more if we really want to know more. I love the idea of picking your favorite thing/person you learned and do a report on it/them at the end of the year. I would love to hear more about how you work through that with your kids! Thanks so much for sharing!

Yes, please make a second video on Story of the World! We plan to use it next year! Thank you for your videos 💛

Thanks for doing this video 👍 After watching this I realize that I need to wait and start SOTW around mid elementary. ☺

Thank you for sharing this.

I’m so excited you did this video - I’m pretty sure we are switching to Story of the World for my kids next year. It looks like something we will enjoy a lot!! We used SCM’s geography this year and it is fantastic! Just wanted to mention that since you briefly talked about moving Bella to their history...we absolutely loved it and their book choices are fantastic.

We’ve used SOTW in years past. I’ve loved some of the volumes, but didn’t like the fourth volume. I would say it’s written in a neutral way and passes as secular. Beautiful Feet books has been my favorite for history thus far, but this was a fun history.😉

My son may like the way it is in story form.

Thanks for this very helpful review! I’ve been wanting to incorporate history as a family subject in addition to our Waldorf spine and we wanted something secular. I definitely like that it covers things objectively across faiths and you idea to pause and go deep where inclined! Happy a Valentine’s to your lovely family❤️

Thank you for this detailed review!!! Did you find it hard to photocopy the activity book pages? Wondering whether you would recommend having the spine removed and placing in a 3 ring binder or page protectors.

We are using SOTW volume 4 this year as well. This volume was designed for older children, though you can make it work for all ages. I’m using it for my 8th and 10th graders. Some may think they are too old for this curriculum, but I believe we make it sufficient. They fill out the outlines to take notes while we are reading the chapters. We discuss them after the reading. I choose a writing project from the activity guide for each chapter, if there’s not a writing project they will write a narration. We do the cooking projects and anything that seems worthwhile for their ages. We read aloud and they read independently corresponding historical fiction novels, occasionally we will read a different genre. At the beginning of our next history day they will take the test/quiz from the last chapter( I purchased the tests separately), I allow them to use their notes/outline. Then they switch papers and we correct them together. This is how I grade their history, participation and these quizzes. I think those are timeline figures at the back of the volume 4 book. We don’t use them though. I have review cards that I got from a “Build your Bundle” sale last year, the company’s name is Olive Grove Educators. Also learningmama.com has free note booking pages for all the SOTW volumes. I make my kids a history notebook every year including all the photocopies I think we will use as well as these notebooking pages for notes or writing assignments. I make a separate notebook for their tests. I love the history fair idea for the end of the year! My boys will definitely be doing that! Next year I’ll be looking for something different for them, but have loved using SOTW for the last 4 years.

Just switched to this! Doing book 2 alongside with our church homeschool history program (they’re doing the same time period). When do you suggest starting the map work?

Yes, this was very helpful!!!!!! And yes I would be interested in “5 in a row” video just like this one! I have heard you mention it but no other info. But many times I have bought the books you said you were using! Or walk us through supplies a lesson etc. I am not considering SOTW but my daughter is 5 so future planning!

I am considering switching to this as next year I will have a 4th grader and K. I would like to see what is covered about American history and how you cover it.

According to Rainbow Resource catalog “Story of the World” is Neutral Curriculum. Not secular, not Christian.

That was great! That’s a bummer about the coloring pages. We are loving book 3. Do the kids pick their presentations toward the end of the year so that it’s someone or someplace they’ve already studied or do they do it at the beginning just by what would interest them?

You can buy the coloring pages for volume 4 as a digital download on the publishers website. :)

Do you read straight through (like 1, 2, 3) or group regions together and skip around (Asia, Rome, etc) ?

Vol 4 does have coloring sheets, they just need to be purchased separately. Here's the link in case you're interested: welltrainedmind.com/p/story-of-the-world-vol-4-coloring-pages-pdf/?v=7516fd43adaa

We used the Simply Charlotte Mason curriculum and did not like it. It said bible history but it was just African Geography, that’s how I felt. It also was not a good match for my kids. We ended up trying TruthQuest and it’s also CM. We loved it! And it is Christian based. I also saw Story of the World as Secular. There is a large Muslim community here where I live in Florida and I do a lot of their annual portfolio evaluations, some use Story Of The World. So if it is Christian is obviously doesn’t bother them because they love it.

This is used in our public schools, so I learned a few yrs back it's not Christian faith based. Its affordable that's for sure.

Hello I just watched your video. Can you tell me what you use for science? This was a great selection for me. I just started Unit 1. In Story of the World

Isn't this secular?