The Notgrass history courses, Exploring World History and Exploring America, might better be labeled unit studies rather than history, since each course actually covers history, English (literature and composition), and Bible/Religion, equivalent to one full credit for each subject area. These courses incorporate several fiction and non-fiction books, as in most unit studies.
These are challenging high school courses, written for homeschooling families. They should appeal to those who prefer to integrate subjects and wish to teach a biblical Christian (Protestant) worldview and a conservative, limited-government philosophy. The writing style is more interesting than in most histories since it is colored by commentary and opinion.
Three full-color, hardcover core textbooks are essential for each course. (The three core textbooks are sold as a curriculum package.) There is also an optional Student Review Pack for each course. The required literature is available through Notgrass or can be obtained elsewhere.
Two of the core books, Part 1 and Part 2, contain the textbook material presented in daily lessons, while the third book contains primary source readings and literary works to accompany the lessons. The courses have 150 lessons for the year, split into 75 lessons per semester. Lessons are divided into weekly units with five lessons per unit. Some lessons might require more time, so you might spend more than five days on a unit. There are only 30 units (or weeks) per course, so students should have time to complete each course, even if they take extra time for some lessons.
Both courses have a Guide for Parents and Answer Key (in the Student Review Pack) with instructions for the course. In addition, the Part 1 volume for each course also has a "How to Use This Curriculum" section near the beginning. Information here differs from that in the Guide for Parents, so be sure to read both. Students working independently should also read the informational pages in their textbook.
What’s in the Textbooks?
All coursebooks are illustrated with full-color photos and graphics. An index is included at the end of World History Part 2, but the latest (5th edition) of Exploring America Part 2 does not have an index. These are all large books, but the fonts used are also large, and the amount of reading is manageable.
While there are no questions within the textbooks, the projects and lesson assignments are included in each lesson. Units begin with a brief introduction, titles of the five lessons for the week, a Bible passage to be memorized, the book or books required, and project choices for the unit. Students choose one project to work on for the unit.
At the end of each day's lesson is a box with assignments that might include Bible reading, a reminder about scripture memorization, reading assignments in either a required book or the third book for the course, project reminders, and work in the Student Review book. Students can keep track of their work using the free, downloadable Assignment Guide for each course that includes checkboxes.
Students choose one project to work on for each unit from suggestions that always include a writing option, along with other possibilities, such as creating an artistic presentation, conducting an interview, building a model, creating an educational game, writing a poem, researching recipes and cooking period dishes, memorizing a scripture passage, and writing a play or hymn.
Writing projects are generally between 300 and 500 words and include a wide range of writing styles since the courses are intended to develop broad composition skills. Students should choose a minimum of six writing projects for each course over the year. The writing projects are thought-provoking and often require further research. For example, two choices for Unit 10 in Exploring America Part 1 are:
- "Summarize the historical arguments in support of slavery and the arguments opposing slavery. Give your opinion on the issue and on how Americans could have settled the issue without war."
- "Write about how being an immigrant in this time period might have affected your fears, beliefs, connections with family, and dreams."
Both courses include an option for the student to write a 2,000- to 2,500-word research paper following a four-week plan.
There is a section near the beginning of the Part 1 volume of each course titled "Advice on Writing" with both general and specific tips, but this is very limited help for actually teaching students how to write if they need structured guidance. However, it does have some specific guidelines for the research paper. The Guide for Parents suggests some composition programs you might use if students need more help.
I mentioned previously that fiction and non-fiction books are used with each course. These are listed below under the course descriptions. The books might be borrowed from the library, purchased as a literature package from Notgrass Company, or purchased elsewhere.
For literary analysis, the Student Review book for each course has several pages of instruction near the beginning, and pages interspersed with literary analysis assistance for the assigned books. However, this isn't the same as an extensive course on literary analysis that walks students through the various aspects with specific assignments. Nevertheless, the models and general instructions might be sufficient for many students.
Students can work through each course independently for the most part, although parents will need to evaluate written assignments and might prefer to discuss some topics or readings with students. Students should spend an average of 2.5 to 3 hours per day for all three subject areas, although reading the assigned literature might require more time than this.
Student Review Packs
Some parents might find the assignments within the textbooks sufficient for assessing student knowledge, but others will want to use the optional Student Review Pack for each course. The Student Review Packs each have three components: Student Review book, Quiz and Exam Book, and Guide for Parents and Answer Key.
The Student Review books have questions for each lesson that require responses ranging from simple recall to short essay. There are normally ten history questions plus questions on the literature and readings from the third book for each course. As I mentioned before, literary analysis notes are included for the separate fiction and non-fiction works, and a few questions follow each analysis. All these questions help parents assess whether or not students are actually reading and learning the material, so they are useful. However, you might assign some of these for compositions and use others for discussion if you think the writing load is too heavy.
The Exploring World History Student Review book also has Scripture commentary.
The Quiz and Exam Books have weekly quizzes plus separate exams for history, English, and Bible after every five units. There are no cumulative exams that cover the entire course.
Remember that the Student Review Packs are optional. Author Ray Notgrass says that his goal is to encourage students to enjoy history and great literature, while also becoming good writers. He believes that the projects and assignments within each lesson and each unit are sufficient to encourage this. Nevertheless, I suspect most parents will want the Student Review Pack to keep students accountable.
Free Bonus Downloads
The publisher's website has useful PDFs for each course under Bonus Downloads. Be sure to check this out for whichever course you are using. Among the website resources are the assignment checklist I mentioned, a grading chart, a comprehensive list of all project ideas for the course, and a digital version of the parent guide.
Following are more details for each course.
Exploring America, 5th edition
As I mentioned before, there are two volumes for the textbook, with a total of 1,090 pages. Part 1 covers Columbus through Reconstruction, while Part 2 continues with the late 1800s through the present. The 5th edition, published in 2026, covers up through the beginning of Donald Trump’s second administration. American Voices, the third core book, is a 435-page compilation of documents, speeches, essays, hymns, poems, and short stories to be read in conjunction with the lessons.
The 12 additional books required for this course are The Scarlet Letter, A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Co. Aytch, In His Steps, Up from Slavery, Mama's Bank Account, Miracle in the Hills, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Giver, and Thunder Dog. Some alternatives for literary works are suggested in the parent guide.
In the main textbooks, each day's lesson includes a presentation of the historical information as you find in other history books. However, it also presents more information on religious events and issues than do most texts. In addition, it clearly has a limited-government, conservative viewpoint. What might be controversial political opinions (e.g., problems resulting from the New Deal's expansion of social planning and government intervention) are explained at length, with recognition often granted to the positive effects. Topics such as the Scopes Trial receive more attention than usual, with an explanation of their importance. Bible lessons (the fifth lesson in each unit) often touch on historical and cultural topics beyond U.S. History.
The 70-page Guide for Parents and Answer Key has a few pages of instructions for administering the course, the Assigned and Alternate Literature lists with annotations, and answer keys for unit questions, quizzes, and exams. Students might want to use the free, downloadable 60-page Assignment Guide to keep track of work completed and in progress.
Exploring World History, 3rd edition
Exploring World History Part 1 covers Creation through the Middle Ages. Part 2 covers the Renaissance to the present. Even though Exploring World History is a two-volume study, coverage is necessarily limited. The choice to present the course from a biblical Christian worldview dictates a heavier emphasis on biblical history. The text also discusses topics such as a Christian perspective on history, the role of religious motivations in history, Creation (no cavemen and no evolution), the Fall, arguments for the existence of God, stories of Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, Cyrus, and other key figures from biblical history, as well as a brief study of Israel, Babylon, Assyria, Persia, and some of the other ancient civilizations in relation to the Bible. Egypt and Sumer receive a bit more attention than the other ancient civilizations that interacted with the Israelites.
With that much attention given to biblical foundations and early civilizations, a limited amount of time is available for other topics. Thus, topics such as the Greek civilization, the Roman Empire, the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Age of Exploration are allotted only one week each. Because understanding worldviews is an important goal of this course, Unit 23, titled "A Revolution in Thought," covers Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, John Dewey, and Higher Criticism (in biblical studies). These men and their ideas caused significant changes in both thought and belief that remain with us today. While students might not cover as much factual historical information, they will learn to think more deeply about what they learn.
The third book for the course, titled In Their Words, includes original documents, poems, short stories, excerpts from novels, hymns, and speeches that relate to historical topics in the lessons.
The 12 books required for this course are The Cat of Bubastes; The Art of War; Julius Caesar; The Imitation of Christ; Here I Stand; A Tale of Two Cities; North and South; The Hiding Place; Animal Farm; Bridge to the Sun; Cry, the Beloved Country; and The Abolition of Man. Alternatives for some of these works are suggested on the last page of the Guide for Parents.
Students might want to use the Assignment Checklist for this course.
Homeschool History Supplements
Notgrass Homeschool History continually adds to their database of history-related resources that support their courses. Supplemental content for each course is available free for almost every lesson. But you can also subscribe to Homeschool History to access all their search and filtering features. There are three primary search tools: Resource, Map, and Topic. A Resource search lets you search by keyword, age range, and type of resource: audio/music, book, curriculum supplement, destination, game, hands-on, interview, printable, unit study, video, and website (with parental warnings if there is potentially problematic content). The Map search tool helps you find places around the world for both physical and virtual field trips. Topic searches let you search by regions of the world, eleven categories (e.g., culture, military, government), by alphabetical or chronological order, and by time period. As you identify resources to use from these searches, you can create your own bookmarked group of items.
Summary
The Notgrass Company sells three packages for each course: a set of the three core volumes, the Student Review Pack, and the literature package. Only the first package is a required purchase, but I highly recommend using all course components.
I mentioned earlier that these are challenging courses. While the textbook reading is not overly challenging, the amount of reading in the other books, coupled with the numerous writing assignments, requires a significant amount of personal diligence and effort. Self-motivated students who enjoy reading and writing will do best in these courses and are likely to appreciate the format. Also, keep in mind that each course is worth three credits (for history, Bible, and English). Students who struggle with the reading or writing might use the courses in an abbreviated manner rather than trying to acquire three full subject credits. The easiest way to lighten the load is to cut back on the required reading and writing assignments, perhaps using more traditional resources to work toward part of the English credit. However, the integrated learning that happens by using the recommended resources is likely to provide a much better and more interesting education.
