Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 42

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Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 42 (titled “The End of the Twentieth Century”) is the last chapter in volume 4 and, as such, the end of our journey through Story of the World volumes 1-4. It has been a long and pleasant journey. Every year, we covered this curriculum in a different way.

Andrew Johnson Bust

Bust of one of three US presidents from TN, Andrew Johnson – at the Tennessee Capitol in Nashville.

One year, we faithfully followed every suggestion in the book, did all the reading comprehension questions and narration exercises, read most of the books recommended, did the mapwork, and at least one craft. Another year, I just could not seem to find time for history. So we crammed it all in during the second semester. Actually, it was more like from the middle of March until June. Continue reading »


Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 41

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Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 41 deals with communism again, namely how it crumbled in Europe but survived in China. Arguably the most impactful event of my life – or one of them, for sure – was the fall of the Berlin Wall. Romania left communism behind two months later. We knew our lives would take on a different trajectory than what we had thought previously.

Timeline book

Each child has one of these binders in which they place stickers with important people and events in history.

Did we do a craft? Nope. We did not connect with anything. We are just so close to finishing this book, we did the mapwork and called it a day. Continue reading »


Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 40

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Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 40 covers the 1980s in the USSR. I remember when Chernobyl happened and my dad warning us to really wash our apples well. As if radiation can be washed away from an apple.

Nuclear Warning Sign

Nuclear Warning Sign

Meanwhile, over in the US,  my husband says they used to do bomb drills when he was in school. The lesson was, you go under the table. As if being under the table will save you from a nuclear blast. Living so close to Oak Ridge, my husband and his friends actively engaged in speculation that a Russian attack would hit Gatlinburg as well as other parts of East Tennessee.  Continue reading »


Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 37

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Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 37 has a funny title: Two Short Wars and One Long One. The Vietnam war represents the long war. Two wars in the Middle East appear as the short ones in the titles. After all, they only lasted days.

Apricot coconut rice cake for the Vietnamese Festival of Tet

Apricot coconut rice cake for the Vietnamese Festival of Tet

The Six-Day War lasted exactly six days, miraculously enough. The Yom Kippur War went on for 20 days or so. Of course, the Vietnam War went on for twenty years, with American involvement shifting from economic pressures to actually sending troops. Continue reading »


Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 33

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Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 33 covers Communism in Asia. My children are very curious about Communism, because I have told them stories about what life was like in Romania before 1989.

Finding Korea on the map

Finding Korea on the map

We had fun with the story about Vietnam because it got to be so confusing, I could not keep up with what I was reading myself. So we laughed about it. Continue reading »


Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 32

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Chapter 32 covers Africa and China after World War II. The author manages to explain the convoluted way China became a Communist country in simple terms, though the actual process was nothing but.

As to Africa, the story focuses more on South Africa and the difficult relations between the British, the Dutch, and the native Africans.

Taiwanese Flag Craft

Taiwanese Flag Craft

We chose to build a Taiwanese flag. Continue reading »


Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 31

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“Western Bullies and American Money” is the title of this chapter. To be more precise, the first story covers the Suez Crisis while the second describes the Marshall Plan.

Gatlinburg
Gatlinburg from the 12th floor of the Park Vista Hotel

Last year, I watched “The Crown” and they have an episode about the Suez Crisis and how the Queen had no idea of what the British Prime Minister plotted. So I felt like I knew something about this story as I read it to the children.  Continue reading »


Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 30

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Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 30 talks about partitioned countries: Palestine and India. We worked on this chapter the week of Thanksgiving, so the recommended cooking project fit. I decided to make a gluten free cake about partitioning Palestine.

Two sides of cake with peanut butter M&Ms

Two cake layers with peanut butter M&Ms

For the first time in my life, I bought candied cherries. I did not even know they existed. My husband warned me they did not taste good, but I was determined to try them. After all, the recommendations discussed using M&Ms instead and how that would be an inferior option. Continue reading »


Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 29

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Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 29 covers the end of World War II with two stories: the war that stretched across the world and the atom bomb. Sobering events to be sure, albeit fascinating.

Boy carrying luggage

My son acting out “leaving London” like English children during WWII.

I made sure to point out that we live one hour away from Oak Ridge National Laboratories, where THE bomb was manufactured. My husband has cousins who work there. His uncle worked there all his life. We have yet to visit the place. We plan to do that in the near future. Maybe next spring, when we can afford a field trip day without wondering about book work. Continue reading »


Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 26

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Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 26 covers the Great Depression and Hitler’s rise to power. The two may seem unrelated, but Susan Wise Bauer makes the case for how America’s woes kept Americans too focused on themselves to really care about European politics.

Boy and girl studying history homeschooling

Map work for history

FDR and the New Deal also feature in the first story about the Great Crash and came of it. It was an eye-opening experience for the kids, who do not know the meaning of lack, of course. I told them I had a friend whose grandmother lived through the Great Depression. To this day, that grandma still buys two of everything she gets at the store.  Continue reading »