Non-western history/culture

[naturalmom]

Does anyone have any books they could recommend for this? I would like some history spines along the lines of Our Island Story, that tell a country's history in a series of stories. I am thinking of China, Japan, India, Russia, Africa, other Asian countries....

I would like to go through these as readalouds, and then in later high school do a more serious study of non-Western history.

[dragons in the flower bed]

Does anyone have any books they could recommend for this? I would like some history spines along the lines of Our Island Story, that tell a country's history in a series of stories. I am thinking of China, Japan, India, Russia, Africa, other Asian countries....'

I'm trying three different sources because they're all I can find.

First, using SOTW, because it's the only narrative by-and-for-homeschoolers history program that acknowledges the existence of non-western history. To emphasize Asia or Africa (or South America) you can re-arrange your reading of the stories by geographical area, as per this helpful chart (http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/sotwgeo.htm).

Suzanne Strauss Art wrote what I believe to be narrative histories on Islam, pre-Columbian American civilizations, and China. Search her name on your favorite bookselling site to find The Story of Islam, and similar titles.

There are also some selections at mainlesson.com which are better for reading aloud so that you can edit out the occasional bigoted phrase. On the left hand of their site it says, "Unit Studies," and under that, "Civilizations." Click there to sort out their African and Asian stuff quickly.

Laura in China has made a helpful Amazon Listmania with books on Chinese history (http://www.amazon.com/Ideas-for-Studying-Chinese-history-ages-6-14/lm/1XHCU8PVLXH9K/ref=cm_lm_byauthor_title_full), as well as posted on her blog (http://homeschoolblogger.com/laurainchina) a spreadsheet on using these resources.

Let me know if you find anything good! I've been searching, too and have a few books on the Islamic and West African empires on their way in the mail.

[Tami]

is a wonderful series. We are using these as spine books with a highly modified Sonlight 5. Enchantment books are highly engaging and include history, culture, geography, animals/fauna, with profuse photos.

Sonlight 5 has some good book ideas as go-alongs. You can check our our year with non-Western cultures at our blog.

[naturalmom]

I printed out the Story of the World chart - that is really helpful! Also Laura in China's booklist and plan (thank you, Laura, if you ever see this thread!). I will check for Suzanne Strauss Art books at the library next time I am there.

I also liked the Africa unit study - and the Russian one looks good too, Tami! But what struck me the most was your school name - that was almost our name. We couldn't decide on Ambleside Classical Academy or Ambleside Christian Academy. One child voted for each name, child number 3 was too young to vote at that time. So I took the path of least resistance - we still don't have a school name!!! But I love yours:)

I was hoping amazon would offer a Look Inside for the Enchantment of the World series. I'll check the library and local B&N to have a better look. They may be a bit pricey for the number of countries I hope to do!

I am also looking into some of the SL-5 material. But I am just not able to purchase a core. I need cheap, and preferably in increments!

Thanks for everything so far - looking forward to other replies, too!