America the Beautiful

I really like this curriculum. We love the read aloud and wealth of information. Everything is easy to follow. Sometimes I feel rushed because every day is something new. I would like the opportunity to dig deeper on certain areas of history. I could stop and do my own thing but then you are behind.

I love the format and the concept, especially with the biographies and landmarks mixed in. However, my kids did not enjoy the reading. Also, it covers events/material in a very short time frame, so if you want to go deeper, you'll need to add additional time to really explore the events. (For instance, the American Revolution is covered in 2 days, while we spent probably over 6 weeks learning about each battle and about many of the Founding Fathers)

My kids sometimes were overwhelmed with the amount of info, but overall it has been enjoyable.

Notgrass is an exceptional textbook style curriculum, superior to Abeka in its depth and knowledge. The literature packages give some Charlotte Mason flavor while having student workbooks for those children who enjoy them. An excellent first year or new to homeschooling curriculum to transition your children from a public school feel to homeschooling freedom to enjoy learning again! Or to blend multiple learning styles in your family!

We have loved America the Beautiful this year! My 8th grade daughter (we've homeschooled for 3 years, she loves textbooks!) uses it, mostly independently, and she completes all of the assigned activities on a daily basis. She enjoys it and has never complained - not even the writing (which has been a major point of contention in the past)! It usually takes her close to an hour to read the daily lesson/We The People and complete the Mapwork, Timeline, Student Workbook, Lesson Review questions, Thinking Biblically and Creative Writing. We haven't used every recommended literature book this year, but the ones we have were excellent! The only issue we're having is disappointment in not being able to finish the entire study in one year! We are year-round schoolers and we will still not make it all the way through. (That being said, if you don't have high school looming, taking more than a year to complete this curriculum would be a wonderful decision - worthwhile and fulfilling!) But what she has studied will stay with her and she's learned a lot and strengthened skills that she was less-than-confident in before - and that's what really matters!

We absolutely LOVE Notgrass History!!!!! I love that it covers history, literature and incorporates Bible. One thing we did this year was use the Notgrass History with our co-op. It was AMAZING!!!! One thing we changed was that the writing came from the literature so that it was learning more literature analysis and literature elements, as well. LOVED that change. It would be nice it that could be incorporated too so that everyone could experience it!!!! A checklist/lesson planner would also be nice. We will continue to use the Notgrass resources with all of our children!!!!

Great curriculum. Love the interesting, engaging text, but really, really love the addition of period literature and source documents.

We loved Notgrass America the Beautiful, beautiful pictures, not boring, even though a textbook, no boring facts, but conversational talk. The projects were a lot of fun. The literature was great. You felt as if you were on field trips across our great country. I would recommend this to all homeschoolers. It is the BEST history curriculum we have used.

For the first time ever I enjoyed history. It kept both of our interest so much we decided to take two years to complete.

I used this curriculum for 3 of my 5 children grades 3rd, 5th, and 7th. I did the reading out loud with all of them and then together we did the maps (which my kids LOVE) and the timeline. My 7th grader then would complete the literature and review work alone. It was a perfect fit for our family and my husband and I would "fight" over whose turn it was to teach history because we both enjoyed it so much!!!
Warning: this curriculum did cause my children to want to visit every spot that was talked about and now have a goal to go to all 50 states! We did take a big family trip up through several states and visited several of the locations that were talked about in the books. These are also great books to take with you on road trips we've found! We stopped in at Mammoth Caves because of a lesson and otherwise would have missed it completely, so glad we were able to go!
Great curriculum, can't say enough wonderful things about it! History is fun and my kids are begging to do 2 lessons every day (that has NEVER happened with history curriculum before!)

My 5th grade daughter used this largely independently. I really like the writing style and the varied activities at the end of each chapter. She did all mapwork (which she enjoyed), timeline, most of the vocabulary work and sometimes the bible and extra activities. She is not a history buff as I am, but she overall liked the curriculum. I plan to keep this and re-use it with her in a few years when she is more mature and add in the student review workbook. There is a lot of material to cover in one year and sometimes I wish more time was spent on a topic, but that is something I could easily remedy.

We really enjoyed this curriculum. I could do this with both my boys at the same time which made it very nice. I even learned some things along the way! The books are easy to use. It doesn't feel like you are reading a textbook.

We tried Notgrass America The Beautiful with my 8th Grade son. It was wonderful! He knew exactly what the expectations were each week and I sometimes actually caught him reading ahead because he enjoyed the history lessons so much! We used the workbook and quiz book along with the actual texts. I was able to ensure that he understood and more importantly retained the lessons as they were presented in such an interesting way. Notgrass was responsible for MANY dinnertime discussions about American History led by my son wanting to share what he had learned. I highly recommend this curriculum!!

Beautiful and fascinating coverage of history, American landmarks and lifestyles. Bright, quality photos. The workbooks and supplemental textbooks (We the People) are fantastic. The lesson activities incorporate vocab, creative writing and Bible. Love it!

Notgrass is a very good and complete history curriculum. With maps and timelines and readings from historical figures and documents, there is much information here. I also really like the literature suggestions that tie in with the historical time periods. And I love that it's from a Christian worldview.

I thought there is everything for someone to learn. Interesting to learn from this product.
Marilyn

We used it for three children and it was great. The older children did the lessons and the first grader listened to the chapter and colored. The family projects were fun to do together.

Oh, how I wish I had found this when I first started home schooling!

We used America the Beautiful in 6th grade. My daughter, who was burnt out on other history curricula, absolutely loved it. I think she really liked the writing style and the explanations of things that were actually interesting to her. It's very well put-together and the supplemental material goes more in-depth.

Love this history. Each day you discuss a different aspect from people to nature to geography. Written very well and very easy to use.