Overview of Our Star-Spangled Story American History Curriculum From Notgrass

Our Star-Spangled Story is a one year American History Curriculum and Literature course for elementary grades 1-4.

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Our Star-Spangled Story Elementary History Curriculum

Our Star-Spangled Story
The two-part curriculum includes 45 narrative lessons that can be purchased with or without supplemental literature. The Elementary Grade American History curriculum offers suggested hands-on activities and projects. These bring history to life for your child. They also take into account the varying learning styles, abilities, and levels of each individual child. Parents can tailor the curriculum to their child’s ability. There are suggestions and ideas to assist in this at the beginning of the main textbook. 

What is Included in Our Star-Spangled Story American History

• Our Star-Spangled Story Textbook(s)  Part 1 includes 45 lessons beginning with life in America before Europeans came and continuing through the late 1800s. Part 2 includes 45 lessons that go from the late 1800s through modern times.
• Star-Spangled Rhythms and Rhymes – This is a collection of 60 songs, poems, and dances that comes with an MP3 CD. Each selection goes along with a particular lesson in the curriculum.
• A Star-Spangled Timeline  – This engaging reference is the perfect way to reinforce and review key people and events from the lessons.
• My Star-Spangled Student Workbook – This book contains two handwork sheets and one review page for each unit. (This is the only consumable book in this curriculum.)
• Our Star-Spangled Story Answer Key and Literature Guide – This book for parents contains answers for the lesson review questions in the text and the Student Workbook activities. It also includes a guide and discussion questions for the literature titles incorporated in Our Star-Spangled Story.

How to use Our Star-Spangled Story US History Curriculum

Our Star-Spangled story includes 90 lessons to spread over one full school year. There are thirty units with 3 lessons in each. Easy daily instructions for using the materials are included in Part 1 and Part 2 textbooks.

Students can either read the lessons on their own or be read to. Each lesson includes full-color photos, illustrations, and art and should take about 10-15 minutes to read through. At the end of each lesson is a list of suggested activities, sometimes a song or dance from Rhythms and Rhymes and reference to the Timeline book.

Students are expected to complete a page in the Student Workbook for each lesson and/or read additional supplemental resources or answer questions or complete a hands-on activity.  Additional Student Workbooks can be purchased for $9. Parents are encouraged to choose which activities work best for their family’s needs, abilities, and resources.

Books Used in Our Star-Spangled Story – Literature Supplement

Eight works of literature are recommended as read-alongs 

• Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin by Marguerite Henry (Units 1-4)
• Toliver’s Secret by Esther Wood Brady (Units 5-9)
• Freedom Crossing by Margaret Goff Clark (Units 10-12)
• Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Units 13-15)
• Mountain Born by Elizabeth Yates (Units 16-18)
• Emily’s Runaway Imagination by Beverly Cleary (Units 19-22)
• The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill (Units 23-26)
• Katy’s Box by Mary Evelyn Notgrass (Units 27-30)

Purchase Options For This Notgrass American History Curriculum

The Our Star-Spangled Story Curriculum Package

• Includes the four full-color hardcover books as noted above and one consumable Student Workbook   $85

American History Literature Package

• Includes eight literature titles highlighting different time periods in American history  $50

Our Star-Spangled Story Bundle

• Includes both the Curriculum Package and one Student Workbook (additional workbooks can be ordered for $9) and the Literature Package.  $135

Notgrass History combines easy to read narrative lessons, real letters, songs with stories about actual people, historical novels and hands-activities and projects for a variety of learning styles with a Christian worldview that upholds the Bible. If you’d like to incorporate some geography into your homeschool, be sure to check out the Notgrass History Our 50 States Curriculum.