Our Island Story

Our Island Story by H. E. Marshall, also published as An Island Story and as A Child’s History of England, is one of the best-loved living-book histories in the Charlotte Mason world. Kindred Thicket reads it aloud for you, clearly and accurately. We prepare everything around the reading, so you can gather your children and stay present.

There are three ways to use it. Two are free: the read-aloud videos on YouTube, and the printable bonus set from our email list. The third is the paid companion guide, for families who want every part of the lesson prepared in one place.

What it is

A clear, text-on-screen read-aloud of each chapter, with the Charlotte Mason rhythm woven around the reading: a short opening to draw your child in, a moment of telling back what she remembers from last time, the vocabulary made clear, the key places to find in an atlas, the reading itself, and narration with the chapter’s key people and places on screen to support her. The words rest on the screen so every child can follow along, even with a baby on a lap. The reading is free on YouTube.

Who it is for

Kindred Thicket seeks to help every Charlotte Mason homeschool family reading Our Island Story, no matter what Charlotte Mason curriculum you follow. Many families read it with children in the early years, and many AmblesideOnline families read it across their first few years, often with several ages gathered together. One reading serves the whole group, each child narrating in her own way.

What’s free, and what’s in the paid guide

Three ways to use Our Island Story, two of them free.

At a glance

What comes in each format	Read-aloud (free)	Bonus set (free)	Companion guide (paid)
Kindling interest — a short opening that draws your child in	✓
Telling back — your child narrates what she remembers from last time	✓
Vocabulary — older or unfamiliar words made clear before you read	✓		✓
Key places — the chapter’s geography to find in your atlas	✓		✓
Read-aloud — the whole chapter read aloud, with the words on screen	✓
Updated text — factual and historical errors corrected, dated wording put right; the notes are in the guide	✓
Narration — your child tells the reading back	✓
Narration support — the chapter’s key people and places on screen to help her narrate	✓		✓
Closing — the reading comes to a close	✓
Map work — custom chapter maps, used with a basic atlas			✓
Copywork — passages from the reading, three levels, print and cursive			✓
Key dates — ready for the Book of Centuries			✓
Composition — writing prompts for the older children			✓
Pronunciation — how to say the names and places			✓
Accuracy notes — an errata of what we corrected, and what we left for you to weigh			✓
Character cards — who’s who in the chapter		✓	✓
Scene cards — key scenes, kept in order		✓	✓
Coloring pages — beautiful pages that match the reading		✓	✓

Read-aloud marks appear on screen in the free video; bonus and companion marks are printable pages.

Free: the read-aloud video on YouTube

In the free read-aloud lesson	What it gives you
Kindling interest	A short opening that draws your child into the chapter and wakes her interest
Telling back	Time for your child to narrate what she remembers from last time, gathering up the thread before you go on
Vocabulary	Words that may be unfamiliar to a child today, made clear before you read so nothing blocks the story
Key places	The places your child needs to find in an atlas to understand the chapter
Read-aloud	The whole chapter, read aloud in a clear voice, with the words on screen to follow
Updated text	What your child hears is the Our Island Story Kindred Thicket Revised Edition, which corrects the factual mistakes, historical errors and dated wording of the original. The notes explaining each change are in the guide
Narration	An invitation to narrate, your child telling the reading back in her own words
Narration support	The chapter’s key people and places on screen, so the names are right there as she narrates
Closing	The reading comes to a close

Free: the bonus materials, with the email list

In the free bonus materials	What it gives you
Character cards	The people of the chapter, to use during and after the reading so your child can tell who is who and follow the story more easily
Scene cards	Key scenes from the chapter, to help your child keep events in the right order as she narrates
Coloring pages	Beautiful pages that match the reading, to keep little hands busy while you read

Paid: the companion guide on Gumroad

Everything prepared in one place.

In the companion guide	What it gives you
Map work	Custom maps drawn and keyed to each chapter’s own events, used alongside a basic atlas, with discussion questions laddered from kindergarten through the upper years, so geography grows out of the story rather than a worksheet
Copywork	Verbatim passages from the reading at three graduated levels, in both print and cursive
Key dates	The chapter’s dates and events, ready to add to a Book of Centuries or timeline
Composition	Writing prompts drawn from the chapter, for the older children
Pronunciation	How to say the names and places in the chapter, so reading aloud is easy
Narration support	A printed list of the chapter’s key people and places to support your child as she narrates, so the names are right there
Vocabulary	The same vocabulary from the video, in print, defined plainly, to look over before you read
Key places	The same key places from the video, in print, with the geographic and historical context to understand them
Accuracy notes	A plain, parent-facing errata of what we corrected and what we left, so you decide what to share

Why families choose the guide: the custom maps. Every chapter comes with its own maps, drawn and keyed to that chapter’s own events and made to use alongside a basic atlas. Instead of guessing which places matter, your child follows the story across a map made for it, the geography growing out of the reading rather than a worksheet. You will not find these maps anywhere else, because we draw them for each chapter.

Is the history accurate?

Our Island Story is a beautiful book, written long ago, and like most older histories it carries some dated framing and wording. The version we read aloud is the Kindred Thicket Revised Edition: factual and historical errors are corrected and dated wording is put right, so what your child hears is the corrected text. The free read-aloud carries these corrections. The plain accuracy notes, an errata that explains each change, what the original said and why we adjusted it, are part of the companion guide, so you can see our work and decide what to share. Where the concern is perspective rather than fact, we leave the passage and note it, so you decide what to discuss with your child. You stay the one who decides.

What it costs and where to get it

The companion guides come in eleven-chapter bundles, read straight through in order the way most families work through Our Island Story. The first chapter of each bundle is available on its own, so you can try the companion guide for one chapter before committing. The rest comes together as one bundle, far less to keep track of than buying chapter by chapter. Four parts, map work, copywork, key dates, and composition, are also sold on their own for each bundle’s eleven chapters, so you can take just the piece your family wants. A whole-book bundle is on the way. The read-alouds stay free; the guides are there for families who want the prep done.

Questions families ask about Our Island Story

Does this cover the chapters AmblesideOnline leaves unscheduled? Our guides follow the book chapter by chapter, so you can keep reading past the scheduled chapters if your family wants to finish the whole story. Many families add a chapter a week and finish it together; the guides support that all the way through as new chapters are released.

Is the history accuracy-checked? We took care of it. We wrote the Our Island Story Kindred Thicket Revised Edition, which corrects the factual mistakes, historical errors and dated wording of the original. The companion includes plain accuracy notes, an errata, telling you exactly what we changed and why. Where the matter is one of perspective rather than fact, we leave the passage and flag it, so you decide what to discuss. Nothing is quietly changed.

Can I use this with several ages at once? Yes. Everyone watches the same reading, and the narration prompts invite each child to narrate in her own way, so one reading serves the whole gathering.

What map work do I do for Our Island Story, chapter by chapter? Map work in the guide pairs custom maps, drawn and keyed to each chapter’s own events, with a basic atlas, and adds discussion questions laddered from kindergarten through the upper years. It is geography drawn out of the story and the atlas, the Charlotte Mason way, not a worksheet of places to fill in. You have the custom maps and questions ready, chapter by chapter, without piecing them together.

Do I have to prepare anything before the video? No. The hook, the moment to tell back, the vocabulary, the geography she needs, and narration prompts with support are already prepared and woven into the reading. You press play and read along together.

We do the planning. The books come alive. Your child does the learning.