Notgrass History & english credit?

[Pammy]

I am trying to decide on something a little lighter than TOG for my dd who is trying to graduate by next summer. She has been doing TOG for 5 years, and loves it, but needs to lighten her load in history and concentrate on science/math. She will be doing dual credit courses at the CC in the fall, but I don't know if she should take History there. She needs to do US History as we have done Ancient, World, and Govt/Economics so far.

 

Is Notgrass Exploring America really high school level? How many credits could I assign in English and History?

[Lori D.]

I am trying to decide on something a little lighter than TOG ...

 

 

After TOG, you may find any other program to be "lite". ;)

 

 

 

Is Notgrass Exploring America really high school level? How many credits could I assign in English and History?

 

 

Yes, Notgrass is a high school level history program, with a 2-volume history text and a 3rd volume of source documents and speeches, essays, poems, etc. from authors of the time. There are 30 units, with each unit scheduled to take 1 week. There are 5 chapters per unit, with the first 4 chapters being the history text, and the 5th chapter being the Bible study chapter. The history text portion is from an evangelical Christian perspective, but that is pretty much kept to the Bible study chapters. It is written in an enjoyable, informal style. It can be done solo by the student. We did all of the 2 volumes of the history text, and about 75% of the source document volume. There are plenty of research/writing assignment ideas. There is also an optional quiz/test packet available.

 

 

As far as assigning credits -- I will be assigning the program 1 credit for History.

 

I would not assign credit for English. The "English" portion of Notgrass consists of a literature list (mix of about a dozen classics, biographies, historical fiction, and "lite" works), a few comprehension questions, and a few writing assignment ideas. There is no literary analysis, no discussion questions. There is no instruction in writing or grammar; and there is no grammar work or vocabulary work. I would call the English portion a "supplemental reading list" to accompany the history. Or, you could use about half of the books on the literature list (the classics on the list) as a springboard for creating your own literature by supplementing with literature guides, discussion, literary analysis, etc.

 

 

I would also not assign credit for the Bible portion. It consists of the fifth chapter of each week's unit. It is Biblical worldview topics usually based on something from the history chapters read that week. The Bible portion also includes Scripture references, suggested memory verses, and some suggested essay question ideas. It would be a fine supplement to either a Bible study or devotional, but not (just my opinion!) a credit for Bible.

 

 

We are just finishing up using Notgrass' Exploring America this year, and creating our own American lit. The previous two years, we used a secular history textbook (Spielvogel's Human Odyssey), and it was very refreshing and enjoyable to switch to Notgrass this year for the Christian perspective and very readable, informal style. We have very much enjoyed the Notgrass American History as a change of pace, style, and perspective. I especially appreciated the volume of source documents/writings of the times -- VERY nice to hear history in the words of those who made the history, and it was helpful to have all of that in one volume.

 

In a nutshell: Definitely a big thumbs up for the history portion of Notgrass. As far as the literature -- I'd suggest going with a literature program with meat to it, and enjoy some of the Notgrass books as fun or interesting supplemental reading. BEST of luck in finding what works best for your family! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited May 17, 2010 by Lori D.

[creekland]

My boys enjoyed Notgrass and did all the readings, etc, with it. I agree with the previous English assessment. We supplemented grammar, etc, with Wordly-Wise and I had my neighbor (College English Prof) go over the readings/writings from the books with them. Then I gave 1 credit.

 

We don't give credit for Bible. That's just extra for us.

[SS in MD]

We're on the fence - deciding between TOG Year 3 or Notgrass ourselves for our 9th grader.... We did TOG this year and it was good but next year I will have 1 in Rhetoric, 1 in Dialectic, and two in Lower grammer (for them I'll just do SOTW). But, since I'm not sure "I" will be able to keep up with the required discussions... I'm looking at Notgrass for oldest dd (entering 9th grade) or Omnibus III,,, but that's another story (basically I'm not sure what we're doing! lol!).

 

Anyway, I'm curious to know what additional literature was added to the Notgrass program? Did you use a literature guide? I'm not sure which ones have more "meat"... Any help would be great! ....

 

Thanks!!

Sangita

dd(14),dd(12),dd(8),ds(6)

[Lori D.]

...I'm curious to know what additional literature was added to the Notgrass program? Did you use a literature guide? I'm not sure which ones have more "meat"... Any help would be great!

 

 

Well, we ended up not using the Notgrass Lit. list, and we created our own. We did the following:

 

4 novels:

- The Scarlet Letter (Progeny Press; Sparknotes; Glencoe)

- Huckleberry Finn -- along with teen fiction: The Day They Arrested the Book (Progeny Press; Sparknotes; Glencoe)

- Call of the Wild (Glencoe; Sparknotes; Worldviews in Literature: Naturalism)

- The Great Gatsby (Progeny Press; Sparknotes)

 

4 novellas:

- Billy Budd (The Great Books; Sparknotes)

- The Pearl (LLATL; Sparknotes)

- The Old Man and the Sea (Progeny Press; LLATL; Sparknotes)

- I Heard the Owl Call My Name (online resources)

 

2 plays (we watched these -- didn't read):

- Our Town (Sparknotes)

- A Raisin in the Sun (Sparknotes)

 

- 20 short stories (Sparknotes; Cliff's Notes; Wikipedia; online resources; some we just read for fun and didn't analyze)

- 2-3 weeks of poetry (used LLATL as a springboard into poets/poems/discussion; Norton Anthology of American Literature; Sparknotes; online resources)

1 week of excerpts of essays by Emerson and Thoreau (The Great Books guide; Norton Anthology of American Literature)

 

 

We used individual literature guides, free online guides, Wikipedia articles on specific authors/works, the Norton Anthology of American Literature, and other resources to help us, and we read/discussed/analyzed the literature together. However, I had the luxury of 2 students 1 year apart so we could work together -- that doesn't work for most families. So below are two solid Literature programs with "meat" that can be done mostly solo by the student. BEST of luck in finding what works best for your history and literature! Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

 

Excellence in Literature: American Literature

1 year course. Works covered:

- Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin

- Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

- Selected Works by Longfellow

- The Last of the Mohicans

- The House of the Seven Gables

- Moby Dick

- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

- House of Mirth

- The Great Gatsby

- The Old Man and the Sea

 

program description

review of program -- also includes a link to download a sample chapter table of contents and sample pages

 

 

Lightning Literature: American Lit: Early to Mid 19th Century

1 semester course; covers:

- Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

- Life of Frederick Douglass

- The Scarlet Letter

- Moby-Dick

- an essay by Washington

- a short story by Edgar Allan Poe

- poetry by William Cullen Bryant and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

program overview

sample lesson

 

 

Lightning Literature: American Lit: Mid to Late 19th Century

1 semester course; covers:

- Uncle Tom's Cabin

- Huckleberry Finn

- The Red Badge of Courage

- Call of the Wild

- short story by Bret Harte

- poetry byWalt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and Paul Laurence Dubar

 

course overview

sample lesson

 

And if you can afford it, you might even consider an online course with The Potter's School (http://www.pottersschool.org):

 

American Literature and Composition (Year 1)

This course focuses on the study of classic literature as it relates to the development of a new nation and the worldviews held by authors from those periods. Students will examine, discuss, and reflect upon a variety of novels, short stories, poetry, and essays. Along with the study of literature, students will write essays and several creative pieces. A research paper in the fourth quarter will incorporate what students have learned in their writing up to that point. This course integrates with Classical American History and Starting Points, to "connect the dots" for students.

Edited May 17, 2010 by Lori D.
added info

[SS in MD]

Lori,

Thanks SO much for your post - they're always so helpful! I'll look over the titles as well as LL. The potters school is another option - I hadn't seen the lit course before - thanks!!

 

Sangita

[SS in MD]

And if you can afford it, you might even consider an online course with The Potter's School (www.pottersschool.org):

 

American Literature and Composition (Year 1)

This course focuses on the study of classic literature as it relates to the development of a new nation and the worldviews held by authors from those periods. Students will examine, discuss, and reflect upon a variety of novels, short stories, poetry, and essays. Along with the study of literature, students will write essays and several creative pieces. A research paper in the fourth quarter will incorporate what students have learned in their writing up to that point. This course integrates with Classical American History and Starting Points, to "connect the dots" for students.

 

Lori -

Sorry, but I didn't see this course "American Lit & Comp (year 1)" under TPS high school grammar, composition & literature offerings. Can you tell me where I can find it?

 

Thanks!

[Lori D.]

Lori -

Sorry, but I didn't see this course "American Lit & Comp (year 1)" under TPS high school grammar, composition & literature offerings. Can you tell me where I can find it?

 

Thanks!

 

I found it here

in the list of all the courses, so you have to scroll down a little -- alas it is a huge list, but the courses are listed alphabetically. Hope that helps! Lori

[Pammy]

I think we will give it a try and maybe pull in some Lit. from TOG 3/4

[Lori D.]

I think we will give it a try and maybe pull in some Lit. from TOG 3/4

 

 

That's a great idea to use Lit. from TOG since you already have it! :)

 

And, before you buy anything, you can view the table of contents and samples of several chapters of Notgrass online to help you get a feel for the scope and the writing style of Exploring America to see if it's a match for your family or not:

 

table of contents

sample: chapter 4

sample: chapter 19

table of contents to the source document volume