Exploring Government
From the Constitution to current events, this student-led course shows how federal, state, and local systems work—and why that matters—helping teens think clearly and grow into informed, responsible adults.
Quantity:
2026 Eleventh-Grade Curriculum Kit
Exploring Government (4th Edition)
Government affects nearly every aspect of daily life, yet many teens reach adulthood with only a limited understanding of how it actually works. Exploring Government, Fourth Edition helps bridge that gap with a clear, Bible-based introduction to American government, political systems, civic responsibility, and current issues.
Designed as a Christian homeschool government curriculum for high school students, this one-semester course walks teens through the structure and function of federal, state, and local government while helping them understand the principles behind the U.S. Constitution and the responsibilities of informed citizenship. For students who will soon be voting, serving on juries, signing contracts, or simply trying to make sense of the world around them, these are practical life skills—not just academic requirements.
The course is organized into 75 daily lessons across 15 units, making it manageable to complete in a single semester. Written directly to the student, the lessons are easy to follow and well suited for independent learners. The reading is substantial without feeling overwhelming, allowing teens to engage with important ideas without getting buried in endless pages of government jargon.
The companion volume, We Hold These Truths, adds depth through speeches, essays, historical writings, and founding documents that allow students to engage directly with influential voices and primary-source material. Together, the two books help students move beyond memorizing facts and begin understanding how government functions in the real world.
Students seeking additional challenge can complete optional writing and discussion assignments throughout the course. These assignments provide opportunities to develop communication and analytical skills while earning an additional one-half credit in English alongside the one-half credit in U.S. Government. They also tend to spark the kinds of conversations that continue long after the assignment is finished.
The optional Student Review Pack offers lesson reviews, literary analysis, and assessments for families who want additional accountability, reinforcement, or grading support.
Whether a teen plans to attend college, enter the workforce, pursue a trade, or simply become a more informed citizen, Exploring Government, Fourth Edition provides a solid foundation for understanding American government and civic responsibility. It's the kind of course that helps students not only learn how government works, but also why that knowledge matters long after graduation.
How to Use Exploring Government
- Plan on completing five lessons each week to finish the course in a single semester. With 75 lessons divided into 15 units, the pacing is straightforward and easy to maintain.
- Prefer to spread the course across an entire school year? Simply complete two or three lessons each week. The flexible structure makes it easy to adapt to your family's schedule.
- Encourage your teen to complete the optional writing assignments and discussion prompts if he plans to earn the additional English credit. These assignments strengthen analytical thinking, written communication, and the ability to support ideas with evidence—skills that carry well beyond government class.
- Don't be surprised if some lessons spark interesting conversations at the dinner table. Government, citizenship, current events, and constitutional principles tend to feel more relevant when teens realize they'll soon be participating in many of these systems themselves.
- The course is designed for independent learning, so most teens can work through the lessons with minimal supervision. Clear instructions, manageable readings, and a logical layout make it easy for students to stay on track.
- Completing the core course earns one-half high school credit in U.S. Government. Students who also complete the literature and composition components can earn an additional one-half credit in English.
Whether your teen is college-bound, trade-bound, or simply preparing for adult life, Exploring Government provides a practical framework for understanding the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship in today's world.
In the 2026 kits this course earns high school credit under more than one heading:
0.5 credits of Government
History & Social Studies · 11th grade · Classic kits
0.5 credits of English
Language Arts · 11th grade · Classic kits
Earned by doing the longer daily work, about an hour and a half a day rather than the hour that earns the government credit on its own.
- Exploring Government text
- We Hold These Truths text
- Student Review book
- Quiz and Exam book
- Guide for Parents and Answer Key book
- Exploring Government text
- We Hold These Truths text
- Student Review book
- Quiz and Exam book
- Guide for Parents and Answer Key book
PUBLISHER'S INFORMATION
Publisher: Notgrass
Authors: Ray Notgrass
Age Recommendation: 14+
Grade Recommendation: 9th+
Faith-Based: Yes
Copyright: 2023
Edition: Fourth Edition
Made in: USA
(A half-year credit in government, can also optionally provide a half-year credit in English. Takes 45 minutes to an hour per day to achieve half-year government credit, or one and a half hours to achieve both government and English half-credits)
Exploring Goverment text
ISBN: 9781609991784
Consumable: No
Format: Hardcover
We Hold These Truths: Historic Documents, Essays, and Speeches in American Government
ISBN: 9781609991012
Consumable: No
Format: Hardcover
Student Review
ISBN: 9781609991760
Consumable: Yes
Format: Softcover
Quiz and Exam Book
ISBN: 9781609991753
Consumable: Yes
Format: Softcover
Guide for Parents and Answer Key
ISBN: 9781609991746
Consumable: Yes
Format: Softcover
- The Old Schoolhouse Review Blue Ribbon Award
review by Grace Christian Homeschool
”It's simplistic, organized, faith-based, and makes learning history and government not so intimidating by breaking it down for students.”
Read the ReviewFind 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 Implications of Literature course if you like. We would not 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 as a supplement to the history.
Notgrass curriculum generally quotes from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) translation. The publishers feel it provides a good balance between giving a sense of the original languages and using modern English. For the activities and assignments in Notgrass curriculum, you are welcome to use the translation of your choice, whether that is the KJV, ESV, NIV, or something else.
Exploring Government counts as half a credit of Government on a high school transcript. It can also earn half a credit of English. That credit is earned by doing the longer daily work, about an hour and a half a day rather than the hour that earns the government credit on its own. To turn its grade into a GPA, use our free homeschool GPA calculator: it works out each letter grade from your student's scores, figures the GPA by year and for all of high school, and prints a grade record for the transcript.
Customers earn Doodle Dollars for reviewing products they've purchased, and some promotions add an entry in a prize drawing. Rewards never depend on the rating given.
- February 11, 2022
Great information
Michelle J.
Great for a government textbook. It’s a little easy for kids to find the answers to the question online, so watch out for that. But other than that, great curriculum.
- October 28, 2021
Awesome Govt. Curriculum
Rachel
This is one of the best curriculums I've seen on our Government and how it works. Highly recommend!
- May 24, 2020
I like it!
Amy
I am happy with this product. I chose it for my incoming 9th grader to complete his Civics/American Govt. requirement for graduation. I like that it was recently updated and from a Christian perspective.
- January 9, 2020
A Well-Written and Thorough Introduction American Government
Kristen H.
Wanting to provide our teenage son with a firm understanding of the American Government to prepare him for his civic responsibilities as a future voter I sought out a curriculum for him. After looking through several options, I settled upon this program by Notgrass and I am so happy! The textbooks themselves are quite beautiful and laid out in a very easy to understand manner. The supplemental materials (the student review questions, quiz booklet, and answer key) are also fantastic and easy to use. The quality of the books is also great. I have enjoyed going through the lessons and reading myself to be able to discuss the information with our son. I feel confident that our son will walk about from this course with a good understanding of American Government. I look forward to using more products from Notgrass.
- November 21, 2019
Great introduction to American government
Brittany F.
This curriculum is well laid out, easy to understand, and covers all of the basic information about government that you expect from a high school class. The units are broken down into daily lessons with multiple options for reviewing information and for expanding on what is learned. I liked the optional literature aspect; however, it is quite a bit of extra reading! If you have a student that struggles with reading, I would not do the government and literature portion at the same time. The material doesn't go into the tiny details, but a student who completes the course should understand how our government was formed, why it was designed the way it is, the roles of the various parts of government, how it applies to them, and develop knowledge of the Constitution. The best part, in my opinion, was reading the primary documents (like the entire Constitution over six or eight weeks), and then the lesson breaking down and explaining each reading assignment. It made it much easier to understand and remember! Some possibly controversial subjects were brought up, and were handled in a respectful and well thought out way.
- November 21, 2019
Son: "I'm keeping it"
crissy
Before we stopped homeschooling 9th grade because of life changes, he was using this. He found the content interesting and easy to understand. He was never overwhelmed with it. I liked that the review questions served as a study tool for the tests and quizzes. We didn't use the literature component because I thought it would be too much work for him. Recently I set it aside to sell but when he saw what I was planning, he emphatically told me he wanted to keep it and removed it from the pile.
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