America the Beautiful
A full-year, faith-based U.S. history program that builds lasting knowledge through maps, timelines, and vivid, student-friendly lessons.
$139
Quantity:
Complete Course
Faith-Based
In a Curriculum Kit
Multiple Grades
2026 Fifth-Grade Curriculum Kit
America the Beautiful Curriculum
American history is about more than battles, presidents, and dates. America the Beautiful helps students explore the people, places, landmarks, literature, and events that have shaped the United States—all through the lens of a Biblical worldview.
Designed as a Christian homeschool American history curriculum, this comprehensive program combines history, geography, literature, and Bible-based reflection into a single year-long course. Beginning around A.D. 1000 and continuing through modern times, students build a broad understanding of America's story while discovering how geography, culture, faith, and historical events intersect.
Although the two hardcover volumes look substantial, the lessons are surprisingly approachable. Written directly to the student, the course works especially well for independent learners. Each week introduces a new unit with five manageable daily lessons that include readings, map work, timeline activities, literature connections, and optional hands-on projects.
History comes alive through vibrant photographs, illustrations, primary-source-style readings, biographies, and cultural snapshots. Students don't simply learn what happened—they begin to understand where it happened, who was involved, and why it mattered. The mapping activities and student-built timeline help connect people, places, and events into a larger historical framework.
The supporting resources add considerable depth. We the People introduces students to letters, poems, journal entries, advertisements, and other period writings that provide a glimpse into everyday life across different eras. Meanwhile, the Maps of America the Beautiful and Timeline of America the Beautiful components help students visualize and organize what they're learning as the year progresses.
One of the program’s greatest strengths is its flexibility. Some families complete every project, literature assignment, and family activity, while others focus primarily on the daily lessons. The optional Student Workbook or the Lesson Review book add practice, activities, comprehension checks, and assessments, but the core texts can also stand alone. Any of these approaches provides a rich foundation in American history while allowing families to tailor the workload to fit their schedule.
For families seeking a Christian U.S. history curriculum for middle-grade students, America the Beautiful offers a thoughtfully organized blend of history, geography, literature, and biblical perspective. It's the kind of course that helps students move beyond memorizing facts and begin seeing the larger story of America unfold.
Find answers to the most frequently asked questions about this product below:
We consider the literature component of the Notgrass history courses to be optional. You can have your student complete the Notgrass literature, with related assignments, instead of the Mosdos course if you like. We don't recommend trying to do both unless your student is highly motivated. Alternatively, if your student is an avid reader, he might enjoy simply reading any or all of the suggested books to supplement the history.
- August 15, 2026
Steph H.
America the Beautiful is just that: a beautiful curriculum. If my daughter leaves this book out, other siblings will end up paging through it. The text is full of facts without being overwhelming. The photos and artwork add so much to the text. Being able to go to the website and find the videos or music to add another dimension to learning history has been a great bonus (and something that I don't have to spend hours searching for just the right one!). I love that the supplementary "We the People" brings in primary documents that are so important to our nation's history. All in all, so happy with this curriculum!
- March 26, 2024
Beautiful
Vanessa H.
Engaging text. Beautiful artwork. A variety of music. So much fun and engagement in learning about the history of our country. This study has been a delight.
- March 19, 2024
A kind and honest look at US history
Elizabeth D.
Its hard to teach our own history without letting our personal bias get in the way. I really appreciate how the author of this series attempts to give a fair shake to the values and worldview which the people who founded her held, without glamorizing or over-spiritualizing them. For example: the author is a Christian, but she treats the beliefs and cultures of Native nations with deep respect, without putting them on a pedestal, demonizing them, or turning them into characatures.
- November 26, 2023
History taught in a FUN way
A. P.
It's been an interesting curriculum for not only my kids, but me. The pictures are beautiful and it's an easy read. We do it as a read aloud and my kids are retaining so much information. I'm slowing it down so we can talk about things and do deeper dives on some things. The accompanying optional literature selections have been great reads for my kids and myself. I would definitely recommend.
- September 14, 2023
Makes this historian mama happy!
Elizabeth D.
I have very strong opinions about history curriculum, I am more passionate about how this is taught than anything else. I find this book to be very well-written and thorough, giving more effort to recognize often overlooked people and periods than many other curriculums, while not trying to write as though it [our history] was morally or religiously void.
- August 14, 2023
Great for family-style learning!
Ryan T.
I am using America the Beautiful with 6 of my kids for history this year. They range in age from 2-13. I researched family-style history curriculums for months, and this is the one we chose. I am so happy we decided on this one. The illustrations are so beautiful and the text describes history with such richness. The text can be simplified for little learners, but it is also thorough enough for older kids. I’m having my littles play with manipulatives during lessons, and my older ones have the workbooks.
- October 11, 2022
Love!
Nova
This history package is amazing! It's so extensive. We absolutely love it.
- January 28, 2021
America the Beautiful
Melinda H.
I purchased the entire America the Beautiful package (two textbooks, workbook, timeline, We the People book, map, and answer key). I LOVE this history curriculum. My 10 year old & I complete the reading together, as I often like to read & learn the material as well. There are numerous activities to choose from upon completion of a lesson, including workbook, timeline, map, Thinking Biblically, corresponding reading from We the People, or a family activity. I appreciate how all of the materials work together to meet the needs of all types of learners! Also, see my review of the workbook. The workbook is one of my favorite parts of this package.
- September 13, 2020
America the Beautiful
Melanie
We're using parts of this on the side of another history curricula, specifically because I love all the sections covering sites around the United States and people from history. It's like a travelogue. I admit to skipping a lot of the historical content, since we've already covered it elsewhere. The parts we do cover have been interesting, with beautiful photographs, which makes the book more engaging. I have not chosen to do this book as my main curriculum because we're Catholic, and the books from this company that I checked out at a convention were definitely not Catholic-friendly (This comes in most obviously during the European history section, but still, it's their viewpoint, and is much more vehemently presented than, say, the way Sonlight or Biblioplan handle things. I've been especially impressed by Biblioplan's fair presentation of both sides of historical events.) Otherwise, I think these books are interesting, easy to follow and enjoy, and have a nice variety of topics, between the historical, biographies, and American places to see. Really a fascinating approach to a history text!
- February 12, 2020
ATB Curriculum Package
Kelly T.
Both of my children have really enjoyed this set. The lessons are short but are packed with a lot of information. With the additional materials including maps, timelines, workbooks, and activities, they get an in-depth learning experience that we all enjoy.
