Our Island Story

Our Island Story is a living-book history of England, told as a connected narrative chapter by chapter rather than as a list of facts. It is also published as An Island Story and as A Child's History of England. Kindred Thicket reads it aloud, clearly and accurately, with the Charlotte Mason lesson rhythm woven around the reading.

Our Island Story was written by H. E. Marshall. It is one of the best-loved living-book histories in the Charlotte Mason world, and Kindred Thicket prepares the read-aloud and the companion guide around it.

Like most histories written long ago, the original carries some dated framing and wording. The version Kindred Thicket reads aloud is the Revised Edition, in which factual and historical errors are corrected and dated wording is put right, so what your child hears is the corrected text. Where the question is one of perspective rather than fact, we leave the passage and flag it, so you decide what to discuss. The plain accuracy notes, an errata explaining each change, come with the companion guide.

For Our Island Story, we corrected factual and historical errors and put dated wording right, while keeping the beauty of the original living book. Matters of perspective are left in place and flagged for you to weigh, and every change is explained in plain accuracy notes in the companion guide, so nothing is quietly changed.

Our Island Story suits Form 1 and Form 2, roughly the early through middle years. 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.

Map work in the companion 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. The geography grows out of the story rather than a worksheet of places to fill in, so it is ready chapter by chapter without piecing it together.

Our Island Story is an older history, and some passages reflect the framing of its time. In the Revised Edition, factual and historical errors and dated wording are corrected. Where a matter is one of perspective rather than fact, we leave the passage and flag it plainly in the accuracy notes, so you can decide what to discuss with your child. You stay the one who decides.

Yes. The read-aloud is free on YouTube, and the printable Bonus Set is free with the Kindred Thicket email list. The Lesson Guide and Complete Companion Guide are the paid part, where the rest of the lesson is prepared for you: the custom maps, copywork, key dates, composition, and accuracy notes.

No. These are open-and-go lessons. The hook, the vocabulary, and the narration support are already prepared and woven into the reading, so you press play and read along together.

Yes. One reading serves the whole gathering, and each child narrates in her own way, whether she is five or thirteen.

We keep the beauty of the original living book and correct its factual errors and dated wording, with every change explained in plain accuracy notes, so you can see exactly what we changed and decide what to share.