Anyone use Notgrass History?

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  • May 15, 2016 at 9:48 pm
    Tjbowman34
    Participant

    We just had our big home school convention this past weekend!  I came across Notgrass’s “From Adam to Us” and “America the Beautiful.”  The reps told me that they have a CM flavor to them, however, I know they are sale people trying to make a sell so I thought I would ask my true CMers what they think 🙂

    May 16, 2016 at 1:13 am
    Melanie32
    Participant

    They seem to be pretty decent for textbooks but they are still textbooks. 🙂 You can download a sample for each at their website. They are a bit dry but more interesting than any textbooks I had in school.

    I really don’t think that I would describe them as having a CM flavor. They add in living books to complement their textbooks but that is something any CM mama can do on her own if she wants to use a textbook.

    We’ve tried a few things like this over the years and the quality of my children’s narrations greatly decreased. Living books will always deliver the best retention. Textbooks may be necessary in some seasons of life but they are not optimal most of the time.

    They look sweet but not CM.

    May 16, 2016 at 5:19 am
    meganrussell
    Participant

    My 7th grade daughter used part one of America the Beautiful last year. She will use part two this coming school year, and my going to be 6th grade son will use part one.

    I wouldn’t call it CM, bit it is a fun curriculum. There is a lesson to read each day, and some of them can be rather long. Beautiful, full color pictures on each page help break up the text. There are several activities fo r each lesson – mapping, timeline, thinking Biblically, copywork, creative writing, and vocabulary. You don’t have to complete each activity, just the ones your child wants to.

    There are literature selections to read each day from chapter books or from the We the People book, a selection of famous poems, stories and speeches.

    Here is a review I wrote on my blog:

    http://myfullhandsandheart.blogspot.com/2015/09/a-review-america-beautiful.html?m=1

    May 16, 2016 at 8:03 am
    Aimee
    Participant

    I’ve never used the American History but my High Schoolers used the world history. They said it was boring. I really think it’s going to be personal preference. Some only have a taste for living books. Others are happy with a narrative textbook.  Maybe you could try the samples with your kids and see what they think.

    May 16, 2016 at 8:39 am
    alphabetika
    Participant

    Hmmmm. I haven’t seen the middle school curriculum. My oldest daughter used Notgrass American history for high school, and my middle daughter used their government and economics for high school. They get the job done and they have their place, but they are the opposite of CM, in my opinion.

    May 16, 2016 at 9:17 am
    Tjbowman34
    Participant

    Thanks for the input!  I was thinking that it didn’t have a CM flavor!

    @ meganrussell – thanks for sharing your review!

    May 16, 2016 at 1:21 pm
    Monica
    Participant

    We use America the Beautiful as a spine and fill in with living books.  It’s been enjoyable for us this year.  We’ve developed a real appreciation for the people, geography, and history of America over the course of the school year.  It is a bit textbook-y, but we take it slowly (only a few pages a few days a week), discuss, fill in with videos when appropriate, and supplement with lots of living books.

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