Story of the World (Well-Trained Mind Press)

Story of the World is Susan Wise Bauer's four-volume history of the world written for elementary students, and it is the single most widely-used homeschool history curriculum in the United States. It is the history spine of choice for families across the ideological spectrum, classical, Charlotte Mason, secular, and Christian alike.

Last updated: 2026-04-20 · Every Homeschool Editorial Team

At a glance

Method	Narrative history / chronological / living-book approach
Worldview	Religiously-inclusive secular (Bauer is Christian but writes ecumenically); treats all world religions descriptively
Grades	Grades 1-4 (grammar stage); secondary volumes (History of the Ancient World, Medieval, etc.) serve middle/high school
Formats	Print narrative textbooks + activity books + audio recordings
Cost tier	Budget to Standard
Parent intensity	3
ESA-common	Yes
Accredited	No
Established	2001 (Volume 1); Well-Trained Mind Press founded 2009
Website	welltrainedmind.com

Our scoreboard (1-5)

Criterion	Score	One-line reason
Academic rigor	4	Strong content at age level; adult secondary volumes are serious scholarship
Ease of teaching	4	Narrative format is readable; activity book guides supporting work
Content quality	5	Bauer's writing is genuinely excellent
Flexibility	5	Works with nearly any curriculum; used across many full-curriculum programs
Value for money	5	Low-cost relative to comprehensiveness
Worldview scope	4	Inclusive; treats Christianity as one major world religion without privileging it
Visual/design	3	Illustrated but not visually lavish; audio versions are excellent
Support resources	4	Well-Trained Mind community, activity book maps, substantial online support

Who the publisher is

Susan Wise Bauer is the author of Story of the World and a central figure in the modern classical homeschool movement. She co-authored The Well-Trained Mind (1999) with her mother Jessie Wise, which became the foundational handbook for home-based classical education. Story of the World was written as the history spine to accompany the recommendations in The Well-Trained Mind.

Bauer has a PhD in American Studies from the College of William and Mary, where she has taught writing and literature for years. Her writing is scholarly but accessible, a rare combination. Volume 1 of Story of the World (Ancient Times) was published in 2001, with the remaining three volumes (Middle Ages, Early Modern, and Modern) appearing over the following years.

Well-Trained Mind Press, the publisher, was founded by Bauer in 2009 to publish her works and related materials. The press publishes Bauer's Writing with Ease and Writing with Skill programs, First Language Lessons, the middle-school Story of the World-adjacent work The Story of Science, and Bauer's adult-level "History of the Ancient World," "History of the Medieval World," and "History of the Renaissance World" volumes, which are serious works of scholarly history used by advanced middle-school and high-school students as reading material.

Scale is substantial. Story of the World is, in our editorial estimate, the single most-used elementary history curriculum in homeschool. It is the recommended history spine in countless full-curriculum guides, used by families using The Well-Trained Mind approach, Charlotte Mason families who appreciate the narrative style, and Christian families who appreciate its inclusive-but-respectful treatment of Christianity.

The core pedagogy

Story of the World's pedagogy is classical in the classical-education sense, chronological, narrative, and cumulative. Children study world history in story form from Volume 1 (Ancient Times: from the earliest records through the fall of Rome) through Volume 4 (Modern: 20th century). The four-year cycle is typically done twice at the grammar-stage level and once at the logic/rhetoric stage (with the adult-level volumes).

Scope and sequence is linear and chronological. Each chapter tells a short story (typically 5-15 pages) about a specific event, figure, or civilization. A typical Story of the World chapter is reading-aloud-length, a parent can read one chapter in a single sitting, and the child can remember its contents. This structure is deliberately different from the topic-based reference textbooks most children encounter.

Signature mechanics: (1) Narrative chronology, history told as a story, in order, without the cross-cutting topic organization of conventional textbooks. (2) Short, rich chapters, each chapter stands alone as a coherent story and is short enough to read aloud. (3) Activity book as supplement, each volume has a companion activity book with maps, coloring pages, discussion questions, additional reading recommendations, and hands-on projects. (4) Audio versions. Jim Weiss narrates the audio versions of all four volumes, and the audio is genuinely excellent; many families use the audio as the primary format with the text as reference. (5) Ecumenical and descriptive treatment of religion. Bauer writes about Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and indigenous religions as historical phenomena, describing beliefs and practices without either dismissing or privileging any. Christian readers find this balance respectful; secular readers find it appropriately descriptive.

A day in the life

A third-grader using Story of the World Volume 2 (Middle Ages) does history 2-3 days per week for 30-45 minutes per session. Session: the parent reads the day's chapter aloud (or the child listens to Jim Weiss's audio, or the child reads independently), they discuss the content, the child does activity book pages (map work, coloring, simple writing response), and possibly reads supplementary library books recommended in the activity book. This is history as family reading time, memorable, conversational, and reusable.

A seventh-grader using Bauer's adult-level History of the Medieval World (as a logic-stage history) reads approximately 40-60 pages per week, takes notes using a classical outlining approach, and writes responses to the reading. This is college-preparatory history done with serious primary-source respect.

What they do exceptionally well

Narrative history writing. Bauer's prose is the single best history-for-children writing currently published. It is adult-quality history writing made accessible to 7-10-year-olds without becoming simplistic. Children remember Story of the World chapters for years, which is a substantive indicator of pedagogical quality.

Audio versions. Jim Weiss's narration is excellent, and the audio versions of Story of the World are genuinely enjoyable. Families use the audio during car rides, during household work, during family meals. History becomes ambient rather than scheduled. Few curricula achieve this.

Ecumenical flexibility. Because Bauer writes about religion descriptively rather than polemically, Story of the World works for Christian, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, secular, and eclectic families. This flexibility is rare and extremely valuable for a national homeschool publication. Families who disagree on almost everything else agree on Story of the World.

What they do poorly

Focus lags on American history. Story of the World is a world history series. American history receives appropriate proportion within world history, but families who want extensive American history coverage at the elementary level typically supplement with a dedicated American history spine (Beautiful Feet Books, Notgrass, or another publisher).

Activity book work can feel thin. The companion activity books are competent but not distinguished. Map work and coloring pages are adequate; discussion questions are adequate; hands-on projects are adequate. Families wanting richer activities often supplement with Pandia Press' History Odyssey or with unit studies.

Late-modern volume (Volume 4) feels different. Volume 4 (Modern) covers much more compressed time (the 20th century) across fewer pages than earlier volumes covered ancient and medieval history. The result is a less-balanced final volume that feels crowded relative to the earlier books. This is a minor but real complaint.

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• Pick Story of the World if: you want narrative chronological history that works across worldview traditions; you have a family with multiple young children and want shared history reading; you want a flexible history spine that works with nearly any other curriculum; you value audio versions; you want low cost.

• Skip Story of the World if: you want exhaustive American history at the elementary level (supplement); you want a history program that takes a specific religious or ideological stance; you prefer visually-lavish textbooks; you want a curriculum that provides extensive daily activities and worksheets; your child is past the early-middle-school age range where narrative history works best.

Cost honest assessment

Story of the World Volumes 1-4 (hardcover or paperback) run approximately $15-$25 per volume; audio versions $20-$30 per volume. Activity books $25-$35 per volume. All four volumes plus activity books and audio: $250-$400 one-time.

Because the volumes are reusable across multiple children and multiple cycles, the per-child-per-year cost amortizes to $30-$50 for a family with three children doing the four-year cycle twice.

This pricing makes Story of the World among the lowest-cost comprehensive history curricula in homeschool, particularly when compared to Sonlight (which uses Story of the World plus many additional books) or Veritas Press History (significantly more expensive).

ESA eligibility notes

Story of the World is approved on essentially all state ESA marketplaces including Arizona ClassWallet, Florida Step Up For Students, Iowa Student First, Utah Fits All, and Arkansas LEARNS. The secular-but-respectful content faces no religious-content restrictions on any marketplace. Well-Trained Mind Press has a dedicated ESA ordering workflow.

Alternatives

• Mystery of History (Linda Lacour Hobar), a family would choose Mystery of History over Story of the World because Mystery of History is explicitly Christian in framing and includes Bible history integrated with world history.
• Beautiful Feet Books, a family would choose Beautiful Feet over Story of the World because Beautiful Feet specializes in American history and geography through literature rather than world history narrative.
• TruthQuest History, a family would choose TruthQuest over Story of the World because TruthQuest is Christian-worldview and more focused on primary-source engagement.

How we verified this

Our editorial team reviewed Well-Trained Mind Press's catalog at welltrainedmind.com, sample chapters from Story of the World Volumes 1 and 2, the companion activity books, and selected chapters from Bauer's adult-level History of the Ancient World. We cross-referenced against Cathy Duffy's review, HSLDA's publisher profile, and extensive community discussion across classical, Charlotte Mason, and eclectic homeschool communities.