Homeschool Resources – The Story Of The World , Volume 1

Learn About The Story Of The World, Volume 1

The Story of the World is our homeschool spine.  Our writing, reading comprehension, vocabulary, and geography all center around the Story of the World.  We do a lot of art projects and field trips relating to what we are learning in the Story of the World.  I have compiled a list of the websites, additional reading materials, and projects that we have used to supplement our learning.

I always buy both the book and the Activity Guide for each level.  On several occasions, we had friends who had a volume or two that they were not using and that is SO helpful–my girls could read along or we could all take turns reading.
My children each have a binder with a section for each volume and a section for vocabulary.
I am only going to share additional resources, please note that we read each chapter, answered the review questions in the Activity Guide and the girls wrote a summary of the chapter.  I photocopied student pages that I wanted to use and the girls punch holes in them and include them in the summary for the chapter.
In this way, the girls have a nice binder filled with their summary of the story of the world.  For chapters where we did not do any supplemental activity, I will note that we just read and summarized the chapter.

Please Note:  This post contains affiliate links.  I do benefit if you click on the link and make a purchase.  All of the products I link to are products that I have either bought or borrowed from the library and found to be worthwhile.

A Word of Caution: Parents should preview the books and videos before showing them to their children, what I may find appropriate for my children another parent may not find suitable.

STORY OF THE WORLD VOLUME 1

Intro:  What is History?

  • We printed out a Book of Centuries
  • We created a Timeline for our Homeschool Room
  • We simulated an archaeological dig:  I buried several things in a section of our yard.  We roped the area off, the girls used screens to sift the dirt and found what I had buried.  Even at 8 & 11, they found this really fun!
Vocabulary:  archaeology, history, archaeologists, historians, ancient, civilization
 

Chapter 1:  The Earliest People

The First Nomads

  • we made cave paintings on brown paper bags as suggested in Activity Guide
Vocabulary: nomads

The First Nomads Become Farmers

Vocabulary: fertile

Chapter 2:  Egyptians Lived on the Nile River

Two Kingdoms Become One

  • We made a replica of the Nile and flooded it every day as suggested in the Activity Guide
Vocabulary: delta, silt

Gods of Ancient Egypt

Vocabulary: pharaoh

Chapter 3:  The First Writing

Hieroglyphs and Cuneiform

  • We made cuneiform tablets and hieroglyphic scrolls as suggested in the Activity Guide
  • We looked at examples of both using Google Images, there is so much to see that providing a link does not do it justice.  I encourage you to Google Image cuneiform and hieroglyphs to see some examples of both.
Vocabulary:  hieroglyphs, cuneiform, Mesopotamia
 

Chapter 4:  The Old Kingdom of Egypt

Making Mummies

Vocabulary: BC, AD, embalm, priest

Egyptian Pyramids

Vocabulary: pyramid, sphinx

Chapter 5:  The First Sumerian Dictator

Vocabulary: city-states, dictator, military

Sargon and Akkadians

  • We made the Sumerian seal as suggested in the Activity Guide
 
Quiz on this chapter

**I also gave a Vocabulary Quiz at this time and made sure our Timelines & Book of Centuries were up to date.

Chapter 6:  The Jewish People

God Speaks to Abraham

  • We read Abraham-God’s Brave Explorer

Joseph Goes to Egypt

  • the girls crafted Joseph’s coat of many colors using fabric scraps
  • We read Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors

Chapter 7:  Hammurabi and the Babylonians

Vocabulary: ziggurats, constellations 

Hammurabi’s Code

  • We discussed the laws and which we thought were fair and why or why not
  • We found Ancient Egyptians and the Neighbors in our library, the girls had fun with the activities
 

Chapter 8:  The Assyrians

Shamshi-Adad, King of the Whole World

  • we read, answered the review questions, and summarized this chapter

The Story of Gilgamesh

** I was not always great about adding everything to our Timeline or having the girls add things to their Book of Centuries, but every few chapters I made sure we were caught up!

Chapter 9:  The First Cities of India

Vocabulary:  citadels

The River-Road

  • We had the experience of making bricks in Williamsburg the summer before we read this book, otherwise, it is a great experience, as suggested in the Activity Guide

The Mystery of Mohanjo-Daro

  • My girls enjoyed building a clay model of the dwelling described in the Activity Guide
 

Chapter 10:  The Far East: Ancient China

Vocabulary: pictogram, dynasty

Lei Zu and the Silkworm

  • My girls enjoyed this story

The Pictograms of Ancient China

  • We made our own pictograms as suggested in the Activity Guide

Farming in Ancient China


**I gave a Vocab quiz at this time.

Chapter 11:  Ancient Africa

Vocabulary: artifacts, oases

Ancient Peoples of West Africa

  • We invited friends over and made all of the recipes suggested for this chapter in the Activity Book–I was surprised at how easy it was to make really yummy fried plantains!
  • the kids also made some paper beads necklaces (from Activity Guide) and still have them three years later!

Anansi and Turtle–

We took an aside here, followed a rabbit trail for a couple of weeks:

Anansi and the Make-Believe Food

 

Chapter 12: The Middle Kingdom of Egypt

Egypt Invades Nubia

  • we burned incense as suggested in Activity Guide, read and summarized this chapter

The Hyksos Invade Egypt

  • we watched this video: The Hyksos Invade Egypt
Vocabulary: ebony, shepherd
**We made sure our Timelines & Book of Centuries were all caught up around this time.

Chapter 13: The New Kingdom of Egypt

Vocabulary: polytheism, monotheism

The General and the Woman Pharaoh

Amenhotep and King Tut

Chapter 14:  The Israelites Leave Egypt

Vocabulary: reeds, exodus

The Baby Moses

    • This is one of my favorite Bible stories, we read this story from our beautifully illustrated Children’s Stories from the Bible

The Exodus from Egypt

  • We read this in our Bible as well.
  • We also watched this video below: 

Chapter 15:  The Phoenicians

Vocabulary: craggy, bellows, colonies

Phoenician Traders

  • We read, reviewed, summarized, and did the map work for this chapter.

The Founding of Carthage

  • We read, reviewed, summarized, and did the map work for this chapter.

Chapter 16: The Return of Assyria

Vocabulary: siege, siege tower

Ashurbanipal’s Attack

  • We read, reviewed, summarized, and did the map work for this chapter.

The Library of Nineveh

  • We read, reviewed, summarized, and did the map work for this chapter.
** I was not always great about adding everything to our Timeline or having the girls add things to their Book of Centuries, but every few chapters I made sure we were caught up!

Chapter 17:  Babylon Takes Over Again!

Nebuchadnezzar’s Madness

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Chapter 18:  Life in Early Crete

Vocabulary: sacrifice, dreadful, legendary, pumice

Bull-Jumpers and Sailors

  • we read, reviewed, and summarized this part of the chapter

King Minos and the Minotaur

  • the girls drew detailed mazes
  • we attempted to watch a video of the Minotaur, but my girls found it too scary

Chapter 19:  The Early Greeks

Vocabulary: uncivilized, barbarians

The Mycenaeans

  • We made a volcano out of clay, poured baking soda in and then vinegar so it erupted, and talked about how the lava could wipe out a city.

The Greek Dark Ages

  • we made the paper mache vase as suggested in the Activity Guide and then the girls painted their vases

Chapter 20:  Greece Gets Civilized Again

Vocabulary: merchants, pentathlon, penta-

Greece Gets an Alphabet

  • we wrote our names in the Greek alphabet as suggested in the Activity Guide (Greek letter sheet provided in Activity Guide)

The Stories of Homer

  • We read these graphic novels.  At 11 & 13, I felt my girls needed the illustrations from the graphic novel to help them understand and to keep their interest.  We loved these graphic novels!

 

The First Olympic Games

Chapter 21:  The Medes and the Persians

Vocabulary: taxes, democracy, vote, forum, domestic

A New Empire

  • we read, reviewed, summarized, and did map work for this part of the chapter.

Cyrus the Great

  • we read, reviewed, summarized, and did map work for this part of the chapter.
**I gave a Vocab quiz around this time and made sure our Timeline and Book of Centuries were caught up.

Chapter 22:  Sparta and Athens

Life in Sparta

  • the girls wrote a story about a child growing up in Sparta

Life in Athens

  • the girls wrote a story about a child growing up in Athens
After we read both sections, the girls wrote a Compare/Contrast essay on which of the two parts of Greece they would want to live in and why.

Chapter 23:  The Greek Gods

**My girls were fascinated by mythology, we took a month out of Story of the World to do Literature pockets and read the Percy Jackson series.

The Golden Apple

 

Chapter 24:  The Wars of the Greeks

  • We had a lot of fun with this book and it was also helpful when we learned about Ancient Rome ( a few chapters later).
Vocabulary: architecture, frieze, defeat

Greece’s War with Persia

  • we read, reviewed, and summarized this part of the chapter.

The Greeks Fight Each Other

  • We read, reviewed and summarized, and did the Map Work as suggested in the Study Guide for this chapter.
  • We looked at photos of the Parthenon.
  • We got this book from the library Parthenon (it’s great if you get it from the library, I wouldn’t buy it).
  • And this book Greek Temple
** I was not always great about adding everything to our Timeline or having the girls add things to their Book of Centuries, but every few chapters I made sure we were caught up!

Chapter 25:  Alexander the Great

Vocabulary: chariot, axlePhilip and His Son
  • We discussed being brave, what it means when the girls have been brave, etc.
  • The girls wrote a personal narrative about a time when they faced their fears and how it turned out, how they felt, etc.

Alexander’s Invasions

  • We read this picture book aloud: Alexander the Great

The Death of Alexander

Chapter 26:  The People of the Americas

Vocabulary: meso-The Nazca Drawings
  • I splurged and bought the girls these Sand Painting Kits – the kits have nothing to do with history but sand painting was suggested in the Activity Guide and I could not see myself dying sand.

The Heads of the Olmecs

Rabbit Shoots the Sun

Chapter 27:  The Rise of Rome

Vocabulary: peninsula, patricians, consuls

Romulus and Remus

  • We found this sweet little book Romulus and Remus

The Power of Rome

Chapter 28:  The Roman Empire

Vocabulary: milestones, aqueducts

The Roman Gods

  • We had done a lot with Roman and Greek Gods with the Evan Moore Literature Pocket, so the girls were familiar with them.
  • We have this book at the library and it is pretty good: Roman Myths

The Roman Builders

  • We built the Roman Archway and Aqueduct as suggested in the Activity Guide.

The Roman Gladiators


The Gladiator School


Quiz on this chapter

**I gave a Vocab quiz around this time and made sure our Timeline and Book of Centuries were caught up.
 

Chapter 29:  Rome’s War with Carthage

The Punic Wars

 

Chapter 30:  The Aryans of India

Vocabulary: Hinduism

Life on the Ganges River

  • We played Tiger Hunt as suggested in the Activity Guide

The Castes of Ancient India

  • I explained to the girls the difference between a caste system and a class system.

Siddhartha

  • I was disappointed not to find any children’s books/graphic novels of the life of Siddhartha
  • I did find this video for kids on the life of Siddhartha
 

Chapter 31:  The Mauryan Empire of India

Vocabulary: brahmin, Buddhists, merciful

The Empire United

  • The Story of India on Amazon video was excellent!  (Again, parents should preview to make sure it is suitable/appropriate for their family.)

The Jataka Tales

 

Chapter 32:  China:  Writing and the Qin

Vocabulary: characters, calligraphy

Calligraphy in China

  • We practiced Chinese writing with the worksheets in the Activity Guide.

Warring States

  • We made paper
  • We read Ch’l-Lin Purse: A Collection of Ancient Chinese Stories

The First Emperor and the Great Wall

The First Emperor’s Grave

Chapter 33:  Confucius

China’s Wise Teacher

 
** I was not always great about adding everything to our Timeline or having the girls add things to their Book of Centuries, but every few chapters I made sure we were caught up!

Chapter 34:  The Rise of Julius Caesar

Vocabulary: rhetoric, possessions, triumvirate, legendary

Caesar is Kidnapped

  • We were VERY fortunate to be able to see the play, Julius Caesar, at a Shakespeare Theatre in our area.  If Julius Caesar is being performed in your area, I highly recommend taking your children to see it.  I always struggled to understand Shakespeare until I saw it performed–it makes all the difference, as the play was written to be performed not just read.
  • My girls and I read this together before we saw the play: The Young Reader’s Caesar
  • I do not have experience with this, but it looks cute: Julius Caesar for Kids

The Consuls of Rome

  • we made the Roman mosaic suggested in the Activity Guide

Caesar and the Senate

Chapter 35:  Caesar the Hero

Vocabulary: conquer, Rubicon

Caesar Fights the Celts

Caesar Crosses the Rubicon

Caesar and Cleopatra

  • The girls memorized what “Veni, Vidi, Vici” means.

The Death of Caesar

  • We studied the Roman numerals 🙂

Chapter 36:  The First Roman Prince

Vocabulary: princeps

Augustus Caesar

  • My girls loved learning that July is named after Julius Caesar and August is named after Augustus Caesar.  We made the mosaic calendar as suggested in the Activity Guide

Chapter 37:  The Beginning of Christianity

Vocabulary: Pax Romana, crucifixion, resurrection

The Birth of Jesus

  • We read this story in our Bible Stories for Children book

Jesus Crucified and Resurrected

Chapter 38:  The End of the Ancient Jewish Nation

Vocabulary: imperator, rickety, catacombs

The Destruction of the Temple

  • We played dreidel and made latkes
  • We listened to the Festival of Lights song
 

Chapter 39:  Rome and the Christians

Vocabulary: tartan

Nero, the Evil Emperor

  • We made the salt dough map of Italy as suggested in the Activity Guide

Christians in the Catacombs

  • the images of Catacombs were really creepy, but here is a video tour of some if you are daring

The Emperor is Christian!

  • We talked about how Christianity was relatively new.  We refreshed ourselves on the other religions that had gone before and how the birth of Jesus changed things.  We talked about the message of Jesus and how it was different.  The girls each wrote about an essay on how Jesus Changed the World.
 

Chapter 40:  Rome Begins to Weaken

The British Rebellion

Rome Divided in Two

  • We discussed how things weaken and why divisiveness weakens any entity
 

Chapter 41:  The Attacking Barbarians

Vocabulary: warhorses, hun, visigoth, barbarian, execution

Attila the Hun

  • Attila the Hun: Leader of the Barbarian World

Stilicho, Roman, and Barbarian

  • We looked at this book on Pompeii
  • I am fascinated with Pompeii, so we explored this quite a bit.  I challenged the girls to look it up at the library and find books and read about it and tell their dad and me some facts.

The Coming of the Visigoths

Chapter 42: The End of Rome

Vocabulary: scrolls

The Last Roman Emperor

The Gifts of Rome

  • We made a poster of the “Gifts of Rome” and the girls cut photos out of magazines of some of the gifts 🙂
** I was not always great about adding everything to our Timeline or having the girls add things to their Book of Centuries, but every few chapters I made sure we were caught up! I also gave a Vocab quiz when we finished the book.

3 thoughts on “Homeschool Resources – The Story Of The World , Volume 1”

    1. I do not have other versions. Maybe google search other sites. Sorry… my kids are way past this now.

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