The World's Story 3: The Modern Age (Download)

My kids haven't used these yet but I have enjoyed going through them myself. Just like with America's Story, I love all the illustrations within these books it makes it so much more interesting and real.

My daughter enjoys what she is reading, and is also challenged. I feel 8th grade should be quite a "step up" in work load..to prepare for high school. This was just that!

These books are beautiful and engaging! The information presented is from a Biblical worldview and I like that it is just enough information without the kids’ eyes glazing over. The layouts of the pages are beautiful and the paper these are printed on is great quality. We have the World’s story in digital format, but have the American History ones physically and that is how I know about the paper. I wish I had had these books as a child. History would have been far more interesting!

These books are beautiful and engaging! The information presented is from a Biblical worldview and I like that it is just enough information without the kids’ eyes glazing over. The layouts of the pages are beautiful and the paper these are printed on is great quality. We have the World’s story in digital format, but have the American History ones physically and that is how I know about the paper. I wish I had had these books as a child. History would have been far more interesting!

Like World's Story 1 and 2, World's Story 3 is a beautiful text. The lessons are fun, engaging and not overly drawn out. Narration breaks are present throughout the lessons - which is wonderful for those that enjoy the Charlotte Mason approach. The illustrations, artwork, and photographs are simply stunning and bring the history you are reading to life right before your eyes.

As always, the Biblical worldview is prevalent throughout the text.

Although the Teacher's Guide is not necessary, I would highly recommend it as it includes material lists, daily schedule, lesson outlines, activities and projects.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this history curriculum.

History curriculum has sure come a long way since I was in middle school. How I wish I would have had The World's Story in place of the dry, boring history lessons that I had to endure. This text is amazing! The lessons are fun and engaging as they teach about notable historical events all the way up through the 21st century. It picks up from where The World's Story 2 leaves off. This time students will be first introduced to the Renaissance, an age of exploration and discovery. This is an exciting period to start off with, and Angela O'Dell does a wonderful job at helping students envision that point in time. There's also beautiful imagery and photography to go along with the lessons. When the text and illustrations are coupled together, it really helps bring history to life right before our eyes. I enjoy the narration breaks, which actually help students reflect on what they've just read, allowing them to dive deeper into a particular topic of discussion.

After the Age of Exploration, the lesson timeline then moves on to important moments in history such as (but not limited to) the French Revolution, Spanish Empire, Victorian Era, World War I, World War II, Cold War, and even the Law of Return. The final lesson ends with modern day events. I was especially excited to see the Law of Return included in this text, which is not something you always find in traditional history books. Being a Christian family, this is a very significant historical event that holds special meaning to us. That brings me to my favorite aspect of this text, which is the fact that everything is written from a Christian worldview. We are not only learning important details from events throughout history, but are doing so in a way that perfectly aligns with our own personal belief system, which is fantastic!

I highly recommend getting the teaching guide that goes along with this student text. It really is a tremendous resource to compliment the student text and definitely cuts down on planning time. The World's Story 3 Teacher Guide includes material lists, outlines of lesson objectives, and even a suggested daily schedule for each semester. There are also tons of student activities and projects that are both fun and engaging. One other factor that I definitely want to mention when choosing the World's Story over other history curriculum is the fact that it is so inexpensive. Even purchasing the teaching guide together with this student text is still less than some of the history curriculum that I've personally come across. It is definitely advantageous for homeschoolers who are looking for a top-notch, quality history program on a budget.

Volume 3 is laid out just like volumes 1 and 2, making it very easy for kids to pick up the history they left behind on the previous grade, and move on through a natural timeline of events. For my 12 yr old, this is very much preferred, as she has always hated jumping around the timeline of events. We will be using this course this upcoming school year for her 7th grade history, so she only dipped into the first chapter for her part of the review.

Also like the previous books, the text is broken up with vignettes that allow your student to learn more about different aspects of what time periods they are learning, and allow them to stretch their learning skills, as the info crosses into art history, social studies, geography and culture.

My 6th grader really likes these breaks, as most of the time for her, they really help to give her the 'big picture' of what she is studying, which is what her 'dyslexic' brain needs, For example on this picture history of the Stuart line of rulers, it helped her to be able to visualize them, while reading about their rules and reigns, when we were discussing British history with friends.

As a parent, wanting my child to learn history without the influence of modern political correctness trying to alter it, I'm thrilled that Angela has continued to give this age of history a view thru Christian eyes, with her Church History section, for both the good AND bad, For example, while the Spanish explorers did bring death and destruction, they also brought priests who DID care for the natives and did what they could do to help with the explorers. For our area of the US, without these Christian men and women, our area would not have been built as it was, nor have the strong religious roots, that still influence our culture today.

She has a new section added in this volume, of New to Known, that helps students understand how different life was in the new colonies for different nations, and how distance could lead to different thoughts and attitudes, and why. This is really helpful for students to understand why colonial rule was not as simple as the nation thought it would be, and how human nature was the key factor for both making and breaking the colonies!

The book is meant to be finished in one school year, and it is easy to add in field trips to bolster the knowledge being learned, for example when we get to WWII, a visit to our nationally reknown WWII museum will help to allow her to visualize everything being covered. The book also has Dig Deeper notes, to allow kids to think beyond the pages of the book, and add to the big picture they have of the history they are covering, via hands on/research topics.

Over all this is a pretty thorough middle school history book, that is VERY easy to teach, if you include the items from the available Teacher Guide, for a complete year of quizzes and tests, as well as extra credit. And one that will give your child a very good grasp of modern history. For us, I will be adding in additional reading, like novels and non-fiction, about Hiroshima, Nagasaki and the Holocaust, as Miss Grace has interest in those areas, and they will help to expand how she sees the people and cultures in those areas. Plus, being able to tie in reading, makes it more fluid for your student, and less of a 'chore'!

We cannot say enough wonderful things about this curriculum. We loved that the Bible is the ultimate guide in using this curriculum, leading students back to God continually. We're incredibly excited that we are given a full, accurate account of the world's history and a better understanding of God's plan for His people. 


We're quite pleased with the amount, and diversity, of activities included in the curriculum. The World's Story far exceeds anything we could have anticipated. Families can expect to explore art studies, artifacts study, map work, copy work, narration, sketching, hands-on activities, timelines, "Dig Deeper" selections which include additional research prompts, and so much more! 


And the best part? Everything is included in the set. No more buying of additional quiz/test books or answer keys. This set is all we needed to start our adventure in history.

This is an amazing addition to the World’s Story series. The artwork is amazing, plus all the maps and side notes. It is written in an easy to read narrative. It starts off with the exploration age and colonization. It covers the heartbreaking nature of the slave trade and its effect on the world. It covers various events and many wars like the French Revolution, the World Wars and war in the Middle East. This is a pretty hefty history course. Also, the dark parts of history are not sugar coated. I am having my 8th grade son do this course but I probably would not have my (young)6th grader jump in. My kids are on the path of finishing this series by the end of 8th grade. I watched a video by the author and she suggested that this course would be best suited for 8th grade and up.