As I teach my children, I find I am learning right alongside them. This is most true with history. The little bit of history I learned in my school days is boring names and dates. It hasn’t been until I became a homeschool mom that I learned history is so much more. I know a few highlights from American history, but my knowledge is woefully inadequate. I was thrilled to find that America the Beautiful from Notgrass Company fits my tall order.
A supermom could just whip up her own curriculum, but I’m far from a supermom. I like a literature approach, but don’t feel I know enough to use only historical literature and original sources. I don’t want to use a dry textbook – it needs to engage my learners and encourage thinking. I need something to guide me and be the complete lesson while also allowing for extra literature readings. And to add even more to this wish list, I wanted something that incorporated more than just history. American history is an area I have struggled to find something to use – until now.
America the Beautiful is all I asked for and some that I hadn’t even thought of. The curriculum package ($99.95) contains the six books you need to use this curriculum. The main text is divided into two parts – Part One: 1000 to 1877 and Part Two: late 1800s to the present. Each volume is hardcover and quite sizable (452 and 572 pages each). The package includes more than just these two textbooks written by Charlene Notgrass. It also has another hard-bound volume, We the People by Bethany Poore (daughter of Ray and Charlene Notgrass). The soft-cover book, Maps of America the Beautiful, is also written by Bethany Poore. Timeline of America the Beautiful is also softcover and written by Ray and Charlene Notgrass. Rounding out the curriculum package is the Answer Key with answers for the Timeline, Student Workbook, Lesson Review and Vocabulary Assignments. Intended for grades 5-8 (or ages 10-14) we have enjoyed using it for Family Learning time. I read aloud the lessons for all my learners.
In addition to the books of the package are two optional (but highly recommended) spiral-bound books, Student Workbook ($11.95) and Lesson Review ($9.95). Which of these you use is dependent upon the age/abilities of your child. The Student Workbook (for 5th & 6th graders) has crossword puzzles, word searches and more. The Lesson Review (7th & 8th graders) uses writing and thinking to review each lesson. There are also Unit Quizzes found in the Lesson Review book. We have a copy of each that we have been utilizing. I have found we enjoy most doing the questions from the Lesson Review discussion style. The lessons from the text often have a writing assignment and that is enough for my children. I let the girls (7th, 5th and 4th) work together or take turns using the Student Workbook. Ideally, they would each have their own book. Copying for additional students is against the copyright, but the affordable price ($11.95) makes it easy to add to your order.
Each day we read the lesson from the main text. There are five lessons to each unit, setting the pace to complete a unit a week to cover this in full during a typical school year (30 weeks or so). At the beginning of each unit is an overview. I like this page to see what we will need for the week. It lets us know what books will be used and what topics will be covered. Each lesson falls into one of five categories. Our American Story looks at the major events in history. God’s Wonders is all about animals or geographical features. An American Landmark and An American Biography are obviously about landmarks and people from history. Daily Life gives a good look at how the people lived in that place at that time. Not every week will have a lesson from each category.
Additional readings for the week are found in the text We The People. We have really enjoyed the songs and poems the most. There are also letters, speeches and other articles from throughout American history. This is a really neat addition to our studies. The book does not reference the America the Beautiful lessons, so it is a timeless book to keep on your shelves. The America the Beautiful text refers you to when to read what.
After reading the day’s pages from the text, there are activities to choose from. Some days we did it all, others we only chose a few. This is very flexible to work for your needs. Some of these things, my younger children joined in as well. The activity section is where you are told what timeline and map work to do. The additional readings from We The People and extra literature are listed here. Sometimes there is a creative writing exercise or vocabulary work. Each of my children kept their own spiral notebook for these assignments. The Thinking Biblically assignments are other entries for their notebooks. The Family Activities were a favorite for all — even the younger ones joined in for these. These are fun, hands-on activities that illustrate what is learned throughout the unit. They typically use things you have on hand or can easily obtain (or make do with a substitute). We built a longhouse to go along with the unit on Native Americans. I didn’t pick up the gumdrops listed because we had a few bags of miniature marshmallows in the freezer. See? Easily adaptable. Don’t skip these – these are the memory makers that will long be remembered.
Two of the included book in the package are consumable. These books are for the timeline and map work. We are using one timeline book for the lessons. My children also keep their own timeline binder, so they are adding to that as part of our lessons. The timeline assignments are not always chronological. Our recent lesson about Martha’s Vineyard, etc. had a timeline entry for 1835. The other recent lessons were noted in the mid-1600s. Up until now, I have worked hard to keep our work strictly chronological. As my children get older, I can see the need for them mix this up and make connections across time.
As I may have shared a time or two, I love maps. Geography is my favorite subject to incorporate whenever and wherever I can. History is a natural pairing for geography. The accompanying Maps of America the Beautiful book has 30 maps and numerous lessons. Sometimes, multiple maps are used in a lesson. Other times, only one map is used with several entries for a lesson. Still other maps are used for many entries over several lessons (29 lessons use map 3 for example). We really like the recommendation to have the map with you as you read the lesson. This worked especially well for my visual learners. You will want to have a mapping book for each of your learners. As the pages are marked and colored, they are creating something that will be looked through and referenced for years to come.
Our most enjoyed extra is the literature. We love our stories! We are currently reading The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare. I already had this on our shelves to read, so I was happy it was part of our history lessons. Other selections throughout the year include Bound for Oregon, Across Five Aprils, Little Town on the Prairie and Homer Price. There is an option to purchase the literature with the curriculum. You may be like my family and already own many of the titles or borrow them from the library. The last book covered, Katy by Mary Evelyn Notgrass is one not in my library system. It looks like one we’ll be wanting for our shelves anyway, so we’ll be purchasing when we are ready.
I cannot recommend America the Beautiful highly enough. It has truly been everything I have been looking for in an American history curriculum. Other Schoolhouse Review Crew members also reviewed the Draw to Learn series. This looks like an outstanding way to incorporate art and Scripture. Be sure to read all of our reviews by clicking the graphic below.
