Story of the World History CDs

I consider myself to be quite frugal on the spending spectrum, so I'm always excited when I find a resource that's well worth its money.

For history, we use Story of the World written by Susan Wise Bauer and recommended in The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise. There are CDs available to complement the series--unabridged versions of the textbook. These are read by Jim Weiss, award-winning storyteller.

My children, especially the 7 year-old, listen to the CDs by choice during afternoon free time, at meals, in the van, etc. Thus, by the time we actually get to a certain chapter in the textbook, they may have already heard the section 2, 3, 10 times already. This greatly adds to their comprehension, makes their summarizing simpler, and their activities that much more enjoyable.

We also used it at the end of last year to review (and to cover the chapters we hadn't gotten done). 

This expenditure may not pay off as well for other families. I would strongly suggest checking to see if your library system has a copy of one volume. If your kids seem to enjoy listening, it may be worth the money for to purchase as well.