Homeschool History Reading List for Our Star-Spangled Story

I am so excited to share with you this homeschool history reading list of Who Was/What Was readers you can use to supplement the Notgrass curriculum, Our Star-Spangled Story. It took me a long time to put together, but it’s worth it as I feel it’s an invaluable resource if you’re using OSSS.

In this handy printable, I have included the list of Notgrass recommended readers as well as the additional literature they recommend. In addition to these Notgrass recommended books, I have compiled a list of Who Was/What Was readers that supplement the curriculum perfectly.

Organized by Lesson

Our Star-Spangled Story by Notgrass has a total of 90 lessons divided into two parts. Both Part 1 and Part 2 books are beautiful and full of wonderful history. I have divided the printable into two parts as well, to make it easier to read. I’ve included a total of 89 books for you to choose from. This includes 58 Who Was/What Was readers. Our goal, though lofty, is to read them all!

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I have placed the Who Was/What Was books next to the lesson where they would work best. If you have an avid reader, these books make a great addition to the OSSS curriculum. The books are easy to read so your child could certainly read them on their own. But if you’re using the curriculum with younger kiddos, then they make great read-aloud books as well.

Dive Deeper Into Each History Lesson

My son, who is in 4th grade (the upper range of the curriculum), can usually read the Who Was/What Was readers in a couple of hours, at most. He really enjoys them and has been able to dive deeper into a lot of the historical figures and events covered in Our Star-Spangled Story.

One of my son’s favorite lessons so far was the one on Paul Revere. He was very happy to be able to read more about him in “Who Was Paul Revere?” He is really loving the history curriculum and I love that we can add in relevant reading that is on his level and he enjoys.

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And if you’d like to see our other curriculum for this year, check out my post for our 4th Grade Curriculum Picks.

I’ve even had my 15-year-old daughter read a couple of them when she’s particularly interested in a topic she’s studying in history. She is using Notgrass as well. We’re using one of the high school curriculums they offer, Exploring America. It’s nice because a lot of times both kids are studying the same things but at different levels.

She recently studied the Salem Witch Trials so I had her read the “What Were the Salem Witch Trials” book which we happen to have in our collection. (The Salem Witch Trials are not covered in OSSS) She also read “Who Was Leif Erikson” when she was starting the curriculum. It’s a nice break for her to read something easy.

To see what curriculum we’ve chosen for our daughter this year, check out my post for our 9th Grade Curriculum Picks.

Pick and Choose at Your Own Pace

The reading list is only a suggestion to supplement Our Star-Spangled Story. You don’t have to read every single book on the list. But if you do have a large collection of Who Was/What Was books like we do, then it will be very helpful in knowing when to read which ones.

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Get the Printable

I hope you find this printable helpful and it’ll help you and your children dive deeper into certain historical figures and events. We are enjoying history so much this year thanks to Notgrass and the Who Was/What Was series. Click here to get your homeschool history reading list.

Leave Your Feedback

If there are other Who Was/What Was books you feel should be on the list, let me know in the comments below!