We used the Notgrass History Our 50 States curriculum when our youngest children were in kindergarten and third grade. This was their favorite subject. If someone asked what they liked most about school, they responded with “state study!” What a blessing to have schoolwork that our kids enjoy!
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Notgrass History promotes the Our 50 States curriculum as “a one-year American geography and literature course designed for students in first, second, third, or fourth grade. It combines the flexibility and richness of a unit study with the simplicity of a textbook-based approach. Lessons guide your child on a journey across the United States, highlighting key landmarks and the stories of real people.”
The curriculum package includes the textbook, an atlas workbook, a lesson review booklet, and the teacher’s answer key/literature guide. Seven works of literature are also recommended to go along with the state study. Everything can be purchased directly from the Notgrass History website. In this review, I share how we used the curriculum and what we loved about it.
How We Used Our 50 States, and What We Loved About It
There’s a lot to love! All the pieces of this curriculum are a valuable contribution to the package.
The textbook is full of beautiful pictures that enhance the study of each state. My girls enjoyed looking at these as I read the lesson. We then went over the review questions. The lesson review booklet has space for writing answers, but we completed them orally.
The Notgrass History curriculum is “open-and-go,” which I love! A checklist of suggested activities is provided at the end of each lesson. These enhance the study, but they don’t bog it down. I used another history curriculum while homeschooling my older kids. It overwhelmed me with too many options! I would get stuck on a lesson and all that we could (or should?) be doing. The checklists provided by Notgrass History are doable and helpful.
The activities add significance (and a lot of fun) to what’s being studied. There is quite a variety. The curriculum does a fantastic job of catering to different learning styles. For example, the publisher has included a song for each state! These audio recordings are easy to access online from the Notgrass History website. The words are provided in the textbook too. My girls loved to sing along.
Each unit has instructions provided for a family project as well. After studying Yellowstone National Park, we created Grand Prismatic Springs on paper. We used food coloring and a spray bottle to make pools of bright colors. They were beautiful and made our study of Wyoming more memorable. There is so much included in this curriculum! (You could skip the extra projects but still have plenty to discuss and work on.) At suppertime, my girls often enthusiastically shared what they had learned in their state study.
The atlas workbook was a favorite part of our school day. My third grader often took the lead when it was time to complete the activities. She enjoyed reading the instructions for each step to her little sister. They diligently worked on completing a page of mapping activities for each of the states. Our kindergartner made sure she completed every. single. page. of her workbook! However, I think it is most suitable for first through fourth-grade students (as noted by the publisher). But with some flexibility, you can accommodate ages outside this range.
Works of literature are also assigned at appropriate times throughout the textbook. We enjoyed reading (or listening to) all of the literature. We found a few of the books at our local library. The Trumpet of the Swan was available as an audio book. This was a convenient option during a busy season of life. (I couldn’t keep myself from crying while reading Soft Rain by Cornelia Cornelissen. It prompted conversations with my kids long after we had finished reading it.)
More to Love . . . A Biblical Worldview
The literature guide includes notes about words or topics you may want to evaluate ahead of time. (There are not that many.) You might want to skip over some parts of a book. Or, you may decide it’s best to read and then discuss these concerns with your children. I found these to be minor issues for our family, but it was nice to have the heads-up. I used to spend a lot of time previewing history resources to make sure they were appropriate. It is so nice to have this publisher assisting with that. I trust the content that is published, and the resources that are recommended, by Notgrass History.
With my older kids (many years ago), we used The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer for our elementary history study. We worked our way through all four history texts. I was discouraged by the lack of Biblical perspective. I think that is particularly important with a subject such as history. The recommended supplemental resources also seemed to be questionable. They would sometimes state non-Biblical views as if they were facts. Our family can’t afford to make curriculum changes very often. So I try to do my best with what we have. But I regret not switching to a different curriculum sooner.
When I (finally) found Notgrass History, it checked all the boxes. My son enjoyed the Notgrass History high school curriculum. We worked our way through Exploring America, Exploring Economics, Exploring Government, and Exploring World History. Then, after we adopted two young children, we started our second season of homeschooling. I was excited to try the Notgrass History elementary series, and it did not disappoint!
What I love most about this curriculum is the Biblical worldview. The content appropriately reflects God as Creator and Sustainer. There is Scripture tied into every lesson. For us, that is what makes this curriculum so awesome. The lessons teach about our fifty states through a Biblical lens. The Notgrass History curriculum is a wonderful tool for pointing our children to Christ.
What We Didn’t Love About This Curriculum
Try as I might, I can’t think of anything we didn’t love about this curriculum. It was a great fit for our family!
Related Resources Offered by Notgrass History
Is this curriculum a good fit for your family? The company offers some additional resources to help you understand the big picture. A video overview of Our 50 States explains the different components of the curriculum. Are you wondering how this might fit into your history study during the elementary years? The Notgrass History Scope and Sequence is helpful.
You can also download three free units from a Notgrass History course at no charge.
Additionally, they offer a database of supplemental videos, books, games, printables, virtual field trips, and interactive websites. You can access these resources with a (very affordable) subscription to HomeschoolHistory.com. (Or you can sign up for a free 14-day trial.) The curriculum on its own is more than enough. But I appreciated having these resources at my fingertips when we wanted to dig deeper. You can find all of these supplements conveniently sorted by textbook and lesson. They’ve done all of the work for you! (And I have to say again – I love that these resources are vetted!)
The Our 50 States Curriculum Is a Gem!
In summary, it was a pleasure to study America’s geography using this curriculum! The pictures are beautiful. The activities and projects enhance the study and make it memorable. A Biblical focus is woven into the lessons. The songs and literature add another layer of depth. All of this gave us a greater appreciation for our fifty states.
History is the last subject of our day – but we rarely skip it – because the Notgrass History curriculum is a favorite for us. It’s a gem! I hope it can be a blessing for your family too! Find all the details here: Notgrass History – Our 50 States curriculum.
Looking for more reviews? Find them on my Elementary Curriculum Reviews page.
