I honestly would buy this curricula again, however, I really wish that all of the books were included.

When it gets to all of the library connections pages in each continent and country, there is a page titled library connection and there are a list of at least 3 books that are suggested readings to accompany the curricula to give the kids a really good understanding of culture, norms, values, traditions...etc. of the place you are studying.
This curricula is one of the more expensive curriculas that I have bought for my children and I sincerely thought upon purchasing it that all of the books would be included, I am a bit disappointed that all of the books for this curricula are not included.

It provides the basic framework, library connections, biography/history suggestions, etc. But let's you lead! Plan on expanding on what you learn by using the MAP book and letting your kids pick things to learn more about. We use YouTube to see the scenery, learn more about "The Great Wall of China" etc., etc., and then to save money, we google the connection books for read-alouds over YouTube and purchase our favorites. It will require a little extra planning. Not quite open and go, but it is so fun! Currently a mom to 4, and also a sophomore in a K-6 elementary education degree program as my background. - The only thing so far I will mention is in the maps book there is one inappropriate (and small) image from the "love sauna". Honestly, this is something you could just white out, and it is cartoon, but I plan to cover it up. Plenty of people may not have noticed it. Still worth buying, but felt it necessary to mention it as a content caution. There are TONS of tiny images throughout the MAPS book, so again, this is very minute. But just in case you also feel the need to cover that image up. Enjoy the adventure!

This course is not complete and does not teach enough culture geography or much of anything about the different locations they are very surface level if that some of the books have no obvious connection to culture at least not for a young child to understand with out a deep explanation from an adult…. You would need to check out or buy every extra book for this curriculum to be even considered comprehensive….. for nearly $300 it’s not worth the cost and I will be going else where for history and geography

I loved this guide over the American History which is very CRT based. Access to a good library is a must to really flesh out this curriculum. Although many are available to listen to on YT. The lessons are memorable enough that my 3/4 grader was able to retain high level history info like the Salt protest by Ghandi. There are a few books I had to edit because it lumps all "white" people together vs just one country. So there are tiny race references but properly done unlike the American History. I'd recommend this guide to others.

I was disappointed in this curriculum set compared to the last set I bought-Early American History. I thought this curriculum set was not as literature rich as I had hoped. Many of the lessons require watching videos or documentaries. That is not really the type of lesson I am looking for when purchasing an expensive Charlotte Mason inspired curriculum. There were also many books that were listed in the lesson plans that were not included in the pack I purchased. When I paid for an expensive curriculum, I did not think I would have to supplement it by purchasing the books to go along with the lessons or by making trips to the public library to see if the book is available there. Overall the curriculum has helped me expose my children to cultures and countries I otherwise may not have have exposed them to but I’ll pass on buying Around the World set 2.

We loved using this curriculum. We didn’t follow unit exactly as written, but took full advantage of all the rabbit holes it opened for my kids. It was the highlight of our year as we visited places through books, art, documentaries, and food! Highly recommend this as a gentle and family friendly curriculum for your kids!

I have two boys, 3 and 8, and we love this curriculum. When we decided to pause school for our summer break, my older one asked if we could still continue our around the world studies. I love the recommended library book suggestions in the guide, the journal pictures and map work, and the recommended videos. This curriculum is so engaging and we will definitely be using other curriculum by BF in the future.

This curriculum was recommended by a YouTube homeschooling blogger I follow. I am not a homeschooler but my intent was to supplement what my son learns in preK on weekends and in evenings . He is four and loves picture books. I loved the structure and thought- provoking reading comprehension questions provided about each book, in the teachers guidebut I found the cultural coverage and depth a little disappointing. It is very surface level, narrow and one dimensional. I ended up supplementing quite a bit of this curriculum with additional books outside of the recommended library connection. So far, we breezed through the lessons in Japan when I realized there’s a lot missing here—there wasn’t a mention of karate, sumo, samurai, mount Fuji and other geologicalAspects of the country. So, I added my own cultural and art lessons like origami and haiku into the mix. You can search on Amazon and find a ton of additional materials to incorporate. I like it as a guide, but I hope they will dig deeper on future curriculum.

I really like the teacher book and the curriculum for this. We did not purchase all the books but the ones that we did purchase we have enjoyed a lot and have also added from the "Library Connection" suggestions to our books at home. I also broke the books up into history, character building and science as the curriculum covers so much. I suggest buying the teacher book at least early and then organizing it yourself from there based on age level and subject.

I really wanted to love this. Who doesn't live the idea of learning through literature? However, I found the teacher guidebook to be disjointed and confusing. There is no one place that tells you how to use the course, it's spread across multiple pages and doesn't present a clear idea of what a lesson will look like. There is a list of books "used" in the course but then lessons suggest reading many other books that are not included in the expensive pack I bought. Everytime I open the book I'm not exactly sure what I should be doing, or if I'm even going to have what I need for the lesson. We did enjoy many of the books and loved the video suggestions. I just wish the lessons were presented in a more logical, daily, format. If you are willing to do a lot of organizing work, research, and preparation yourself then this is a great curriculum for you. But if you're looking for something that's more all laid out this probably isn't the best option. I think we will stop using the guidebook, just read the rest of the books, and then move onto a different program next year.

I have been homeschooling for 22 years. I thought I was done with elementary studies until we had our granddaughter during the day over the summer and after school (once school started.) Her mom and I split the cost for the books, and we began our study. I will say, after using so many programs over the years, Around the World (Part 1) is the most AMAZING curriculum I have ever used. The books are wonderful, but the guide is the key. I love the video suggestions, art, library books, and recipes. You are not just reading about these places. You are seeing, feeling, smelling and tasting the world. My 7th and 9th grader have loved the program too. I even counted it as my "diversity" requirement at work. LOL For me, this program tied together many of the interests I have had over the years and gave me a way to see them all in a new light. BTY, my 26 year old wants to borrow the program after we are done. Maybe we never grow too old to learn new things. Thank you, Rea. You have really created an excellent study! We are going to order Part 2 next, because we just have to.

Around The World has been our favorite part of our homeschool year! From wonderful, beautiful and unique picture books to creating a keepsake notebook of our studies to show off to the grandparents, it has been delightful. The books that come with the curriculum are great, but my 2nd grader has especially loved the optional History books from the library: Kubla Khan, Manjiro, Elephants of the Tsunami, etc. They have added such depth to our learning and fascinated my adventure-loving kiddo. I highly recommend this curriculum!

I am so thankful for BFB! I appreciate the way you mix the best of the old with the new and it's not about having the "latest and greatest," just the best! Thank you also for recognizing our kids are capable of reading a book objectively.. there's a place for celebrating America and recognizing our flaws too.

I just wanted to say how pleased I am with your curriculum. I loved what I saw on your website, but when I actually received our guide and saw the quality, I told my husband it was even better than I thought it would be! We’re using Around the World with Picture books, and we love everything you incorporate into the lessons. My kids are especially enjoying painting for the nature studies and cooking new foods. Thank you for creating such a beautiful curriculum that engages my kids and helps them to love learning!

This curriculum is fantastic. The lessons can be followed like a script, or you can improvise. I like that there’s so much room for creativity, but I also like a script when I'm short on time. I have been recommending it to other homeschool families and plan to do the other units with my children. The one problem I’m finding is, like others have noted, many of the books that are “recommended” are either out of print, hard to find, or cost a lot. If these were truly just recommendations, I would be ok with that, but when a lesson is based on a recommended book that is not included in the curriculum package, that’s problematic. I would like to see this unit updated so that the recommended books are easier to obtain, or so that BFB offers those extra books as an add-on option when ordering.

Thoughts on the publishing industry and authors: I wish more of these books were by people of color and people who were actually from the countries these books cover. Why is the Chinese book, “Ping” by a white person? We are trying to teach our kids about diversity but how will this happen if all they see are books by people not of color? I know some of the selections are by non-white people but I’d like more diversity in the selection of the authors. BIPOC: write more books! Publishers: publish more books by people of color.

My children and I absolutely loved studying countries of the world with Around the World with Pictures Books 1 and 2. There are so many wonderful book and video suggestions, and my children especially loved learning about animals from different places in the world. We are a little sad to be moving on from these studies, but are looking forward to learning about Early American History next year.I recommend Beautiful Feet to all my homeschooling friends! Thank you for a great, affordable product.

I was going to order this as is for our homeschool until my Husband who is an experienced educator informed me that “The Story of Ping” is racist. I was not sure what he meant until I looked the book up on Amazon and see The people colored yellow. Unfortunately he was right, so if we go with this pack we will definitely exclude that book from our purchase.

LOVE! We used their Around the World with Picture books part 1 with our children aged 2, 6, and 8. All the kids had a great time learning at their levels. This study guide goes way beyond picture books and kids learn a lot about the world around them. Books like Ming Lo Moves the Mountain and Me Jane were so inspirational and character building. I could not have come up with the list or insights alone. Thanks to Rea Berg the kids world view really expanded. It helps to teach such wonderful principles. There are Christian elements but it is not hammered in. Everything is gentle but leads to wonderful discussions, enhances reasoning and relating skills, and can be adapted for multiple ages. For example, my third grade son wrote a pretty lengthy letter to his Grandfather all about Thailand. There are almost no cons. The only con would be the DVD recommendation in the Australia unit. That movie, in my opinion, was not kid appropriate-- there was profanity, romance, and some violence. I would actually not choose to watch this movie myself and thought that it took away from, rather than added to, the poetry. Other than that very minor detail, I thought that all the poetry, historical and modern histories, and the folklore and countries studied was very very interesting. The kids really did learn values like empathy, compassion, and inclusiveness. For example, after watching Emmanuel's Gift, we had a wonderful discussion about reframing disability. We also talked a lot about the amenities we are privileged to enjoy and how life is different for people living without things like running water and electricity. It was so eye-opening but in a gentle way. All the documentaries suggested were very interesting and well done. From a geographical and scientific standpoint, the kids really learned a lot. We added in some things like the national geographic "are we there yet" clips. But even just the teacher guide is enough. One thing that the kids were amazed to find out was that Egypt, a place they've read about in their bibles, is in Africa and that people are STILL living there today. That really shocked them. I guess they thought it was all just pyramids and mummies. The Day of Ahmed's secret was a brilliant picture book that the kids really connected with. I could go on and on. To sum it up, we highly recommend this study!! It is well worth the money!! If you can only afford the teacher's guide that's fine, you should be able to find most of the titles at the library. :)

I purchased book 1 and 2 from RR without knowing that I have to purchase additional books to go with the curriculum. I dont mind purchasing or adding books to go with our textbooks but the fact that we cannot find most of these books to use without paying an arm and a leg on BF site. It is quite upsetting.

My kids love these books. Read aloud have been more fun than ever!

I am working through this with my 7 and 9 year olds. We love it. I have purchased used copies of the additional books, (my local library hasn't had many of them.) The program is well done and easy to use!

We really love this program for our kids. It's our favorite part of our homeschool right now. We love how each country gives us books to enjoy, art, nature study and geography. The guide includes additional books to expand on your study which we've taken advantage of as we were able. This has been a fun and gentle way to introduce our kids to other countries and cultures. My one complaint is how some lessons rely on books that were not included in the pack. In a few of these instances, our library didn't carry the book either and we had to search online for the title. These titles should have been included or listed in the supplemental reads. Also, a good number of the supplemental reads are out of print and most were not available at our library and could not be obtained online for a reasonable price. The books we were able to locate were lovely additions to our library and studies.

I cannot say enough about this program! Every book they suggest is a winner, and almost all have been available at our library. My kids are learning so much about these countries and enjoy every minute. This is definitely their favorite part of our homeschool week! Thank you for putting this together!