Modulo

Exploring the World Through Story

Recommended Ages

K–8th grades

Exploring the World Through Story is a literature-based language arts program that teaches grammar, reading comprehension, and writing through immersive stories instead of dry drills. Each unit centers on rich, diverse tales and pairs them with discussion prompts, copywork, and creative writing so skills grow naturally out of the reading. Designed by experienced homeschool educators who wanted a gentle but complete language arts spine, it’s become a favorite among families who value living books. Parents appreciate that lessons are clearly laid out yet flexible enough to adapt to different ages and abilities. It’s a strong fit for elementary learners who respond well to narrative learning and hands-on activities. If your child prefers very explicit, workbook-style grammar, you may want extra practice pages, but most families find the storytelling approach more motivating. For best value, reuse the same stories with younger siblings, adjusting the response activities as they grow.

Best for roughly grades 2–8 students who enjoy hearing and retelling stories, are ready for copywork and short written responses, and families who like a Charlotte Mason‑ish feel but want clearly secular content with global representation.

Pros

Secular, world‑literature curriculum that uses traditional tales and myths from many cultures as the spine for reading, narration, copywork, dictation and gentle literary analysis, so kids build writing and thinking skills while traveling the globe through story; lessons are short and adaptable, and many secular homeschoolers say it’s easy to plug into a broader history or geography spine. 

Cons

Layout feels plain compared with glossy boxed curricula, and families who expect lots of color or illustrations may be underwhelmed; there’s less hand‑holding than in some programs, so new homeschoolers occasionally wish for more explicit day‑by‑day scripting; some reviewers feel the writing expectations jump quickly between levels and that you may need to slow the pace or add your own grammar practice. 

Some public homeschool programs keep Exploring the World Through Story on internal curriculum lists or in school stores, but reimbursement rules vary widely; a few districts classify it as parent-purchased, non-reimbursable literature, so it’s important to ask your charter or ESA program directly whether this specific curriculum is covered.

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Exploring the World Through Story
$4.00 USD

Skills

What kids will learn
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ELA
ELA
Reading
Reading
Writing
Writing

Exploring the World Through Story Mission

The mission of Exploring the World Through Story is to build strong writers and thoughtful global citizens by immersing students in stories from many cultures and traditions. Through a carefully sequenced progression of oral narration, copywork, dictation, memory work, and composition assignments, the program helps students move from sentence-level skills to multi-paragraph essays while engaging deeply with wisdom tales, epics, and folk heroes from around the world. By using literature as a bridge between writing, history, and cultural understanding, Exploring the World Through Story aims to foster both academic mastery and genuine curiosity about the wider world.

Exploring the World Through Story Story

Exploring the World Through Story grew out of author and educator Drew Campbell’s decades of work in classical and secular homeschooling. After writing resources like Living Memory and I Speak Latin, Drew saw a need for a writing and literature curriculum that would honor global voices and teach composition skills step by step, without relying solely on Western canon texts. Drawing on a background in languages and years of experience as a classroom teacher, school administrator, tutor, and homeschool parent, Drew designed Exploring the World Through Story to weave together world literature, memory work, and incremental writing instruction. What began as a set of levels built around wisdom tales has expanded into a multi-level series that carries students from early narrations through fully developed essays based on epics and folk stories from across the globe.

About Modular Learning

FAQ: Additional Details about Exploring the World Through Story

On a typical day you and your child might snuggle on the couch to read a folktale from West Africa, then move to the table to copy a beautifully crafted sentence into a notebook while talking about new vocabulary. Later you pull out a simple map to locate the story’s region, listen to the rhythm of a short poem you’re memorizing that week, and end with a quick writing exercise—maybe describing a character’s choice or imagining an alternate ending.

Exploring the World Through Story is a secular, literature-based language arts curriculum for roughly grades K–8 that integrates reading, copywork, writing, vocabulary, geography, and memory work. Each level provides scripted lesson plans built around folktales and stories from around the world; over a four-day cycle you read the selection, discuss it, complete copywork or dictation, work through guided expository or creative writing, and review memorization pieces or geography. Trade books are usually borrowed from the library while the core teaching material comes as a downloadable or printed teacher guide.

Exploring the World Through Story is very parent-led: you read aloud, guide discussions, model narration and dictation, and give feedback on writing. As students move into the middle-grade levels they can take on more independent reading and draft writing, but an adult remains the primary instructor and coach.

You’ll want a child who can listen to read-alouds and narrate back in their own words; for upper levels, students should read independently at or near grade level and write short paragraphs. Non-writers can still participate fully through oral narration while you scribe.

This literature‑based resource invites slow reading and rich conversation, which can work beautifully for gifted, anxious, and autistic kids who process the world deeply through narrative. Because it’s flexible, families can adapt writing expectations, lean on oral narration, and choose gentler or more intense stories depending on sensitivity levels.

Because Exploring the World Through Story is primarily sold as downloadable PDFs, purchases are generally treated as final once the files are delivered; if you order print copies through a retailer, returns follow that store’s standard book return policy, so families should assume no automatic refunds on digital products and reach out to the publisher only if there is a technical issue.

Probably not a fit if you want a fully open‑and‑go, scripted program with daily checkboxes, or if your learner strongly dislikes oral narration, handwriting, or hearing stories read aloud; high‑schoolers needing formal literary essays and in‑depth rhetoric would need something more advanced.

Families considering similar story‑centered, secular language arts often compare it with Brave Writer’s Arrow/Partnership Writing, Build Your Library, Torchlight, or using Biblioguides book lists plus separate writing programs like Writing & Rhetoric or IEW.

The publisher continues to release new levels and companion resources, including Writing Skills for Older Beginners and upper-grade volumes, and has updated sample packs and teacher notes while emphasizing that all content is 100% human-created rather than AI-generated.

Print or bind each level, pre‑read the week’s story over the weekend, and jot a few “discussion anchors” in the margin—then keep sessions short (20–30 minutes) so narration stays fresh and kids look forward to story time rather than dreading a long language‑arts block.

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Meet Drew

Drew Campbell, Ph.D., is the creator of Exploring the World Through Story and a longtime voice in the secular classical homeschooling world. With degrees in German language and literature and teaching experience dating back to the 1980s, Drew has taught students from elementary age through adulthood in the U.S. and Europe. She is the author of Living Memory, I Speak Latin, and other widely used homeschooling resources, and co-author of How to Homeschool the Kids You Have. A veteran homeschooler herself, Drew brings a deep understanding of how children develop writing and memory skills over time, along with a passion for world literature and for keeping her curriculum 100% human-created.