Our family once traveled from Canada to Mexico in one summer—with a nine-month old! I'm not complaining though because we had an incredible vehicle, a Sprinter van with enough seats for the whole family plus a queen size bed in the back. It certainly was an upgrade from the minivan without the fuel costs of an RV. That was a summer to remember filled with plenty of memories! Although we did not make it to all of our planned stops, I figure that we still have eleven more years of homeschooling. That sounds overwhelming considering I've already graduated one and will graduate two more in a few years but I'd rather look at the years ahead as an opportunity—an opportunity for adventure! Though I wish we could visit all fifty states during the next eleven years (with the graduates tagging along, of course!) it simply isn't practical. I know plenty of families do it, but as homesteaders with milk cows and a running greenhouse, we can hardly sneak away for a weekend trip much less pack up and leave for several months at a time!
For those of us unable to visit all of the sites and see all of the things, Notgrass History has an incredible homeschool course called Our 50 States. Created for elementary homeschoolers, Our 50 States combines the flexibility of the unit study approach with the simplicity of the textbook approach. The lessons take your child on a journey across the fifty US states learning about key landmarks and reading stories about real people.
The Our 50 States curriculum package includes:
- Our 50 States lesson book with all of the instructions, lessons, and assignments
- Atlas Workbook with geography exercises for each state
- Lesson Review with review questions about each lesson and a test about each region
- Answer Key and Literature Guide