The Homeschool Geography Curriculum Built by People Who’ve Actually Lived It
What if the best homeschool geography curriculum wasn’t made by a publishing company, but by a family who spent 25 years living it? That’s exactly the story behind Around the World Stories, and once you know it, the program becomes that much more special.
Whether you’re looking for engaging country studies for kids, a meaningful homeschool social studies curriculum, or simply fun world schooling ideas at home, Around the World Stories is the kind of find that makes you want to call every homeschool parent you know.
Meet the Creators: Matt and Tania
Around the World Stories was created by Matt and Tania, a couple whose own adventure began right after they got married, packing up and heading to Europe for three years, with Matt writing freelance and Tania teaching at an international school.
That trip turned into a life. More than 25 years later, they’ve spent over half their adult years abroad, traveling, studying, working, and raising three daughters across the globe. In 2016, Matt decided to step away from his career as a US diplomat, and together they launched Around the World Stories.
Their mission? To help families bring authentic multicultural education into their homes in a fun, memorable way. Because they discovered firsthand, exposure to other cultures at a young age is one of the most powerful gifts you can give a child.
As Matt and Tania put it: “Traditional lessons may come and go, but a good story sticks. It becomes a part of you like your own personal memories.”
What is Around the World Stories?
Around the World Stories is a subscription-based educational program designed for kids ages 5 through 11. The program currently covers 25 countries, and each one is a fully immersive experience, not just a fact sheet, but a genuine window into what life is like for a child who lives there.
Every country includes four audio stories about a child from that country. The stories are fun, engaging, and sometimes delightfully outrageous, with teaching points woven naturally into the plot. Kids learn how children around the world live, eat, learn, celebrate, play, and connect with nature.
But the stories are just the beginning. Let’s take a look at Italy as an example of just how rich each country experience really is:
Inside the Italy Section:
- Stories: Four audio adventures featuring Gianna and Lorenzo, from a chaotic gelato shop in Florence to a Venetian gondola mix-up. Funny, warm, and full of Italian culture.
- Ancient Rome: Deep dives into the Roman Empire, Roman numerals, and the famous Trevi Fountain, complete with a downloadable Roman numerals challenge.
- Italy Today: Explore Rome, Florence, and Venice, their history, architecture, and what makes each city unique, plus a coloring page to go along with it.
- Art: The Renaissance, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and even a “Story Art with Susan” video lesson, where kids learn to draw and paint a gelato cone.
- Food: The history of pizza, the truth about gelato, downloadable recipes for Graffiti Pizza and Chocolate Chip Surprise Gelato, and a “design your own pizza” printable.
- Printables: Coloring pages, recipe cards, Italian learning flashcards, a Roman numerals challenge sheet, and more, all downloadable and ready to use.
And that’s just one country. Every single country in the library is built with this same level of depth and care.
Which Countries Can You Explore?
With 25 countries currently available, and more on the way, there is truly something for every family’s interests, heritage, and curiosity. Here’s the current lineup:
- Austria, China, the Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Greece, India
- Ireland, Italy, Japan, Nepal, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia
- South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam
You and your child choose where to go. Start with your family’s heritage, follow a curiosity sparked by a library book, or simply let your kids pick their adventure. There’s no wrong answer.
Why Storytelling Is the Secret to Great Geography Education for Kids
One of the most powerful tools we have as homeschooling parents is storytelling. Stories create emotional connections. They build empathy. They make information stick in a way that a worksheet simply cannot.
Around the World Stories is built entirely on this principle. The characters in each story are kids, real, relatable kids who are figuring things out, helping their families, making mistakes, and finding their way. Your child doesn’t just learn about Nepal; they go on an adventure with Santosh, who lives in the shadow of the Himalayan mountains and is about to encounter something that will change him forever.
That emotional connection is exactly what turns a geography lesson into a memory. And the global values woven throughout, kindness, generosity, honesty, compassion, respect, make this program as good for character development as it is for homeschool social studies curriculum goals.
How the Around the World Stories Subscription Works
Getting started is simple and flexible:
Explorer Monthly Subscription: Receive one ticket per month. Each ticket unlocks one country in full, all four audio stories, plus all the cultural content, activities, recipes, and printables.
World Traveler Annual Subscription: Get 12 tickets all at once, perfect for families who like to plan or want to dive in right away.
You can explore everything and sign up at aroundtheworldstories.com.
Homeschool Activities to Extend Each Country Study
One of the best things about homeschooling is that we get to run with a great resource and make it our own. Around the World Stories already comes packed with activities and printables, but here are a few extra homeschool activities you can add to go even deeper:
- Geography mapping: After each country, have your child mark it on a blank world map printable, add the capital city, and label neighboring countries.
- Homeschool passport craft: Create a DIY passport and add a stamp or sticker for every country you complete. Kids love watching their passport fill up!
- Cooking the recipes: Make it a full kitchen lesson! Talk about local ingredients, what the dish means culturally, and the history behind it.
- Library haul: Pull picture books, chapter books, and non-fiction titles about each country you study. Pair the stories with real-world reading.
- Language exploration: Look up a few words or a greeting in the country’s language. Italian, Japanese, Vietnamese, even a simple “hello” makes the experience feel real.
- Story response writing: Ask older kids to write a letter to the main character in the audio story, or create their own continuation of the adventure.
- Country comparison chart: After several countries, create a simple chart comparing holidays, foods, languages, and geography. Great for visual learners!
Raising Tomorrow’s Global Citizens, One Country at a Time
As homeschooling parents, we have an extraordinary opportunity to shape not just what our children know, but how they see the world. Around the World Stories is one of the most beautifully designed tools I’ve found for doing exactly that.
It was created by parents who lived this life, who raised their daughters to be global citizens, not by accident, but by intention. And now they’ve poured all of that experience, passion, and expertise into something you can bring into your own home.
With 25 countries and over 100 stories already available, with more on the way, there has never been a better time to start exploring the world together.
