The Star-Spangled State Book is a great U.S. geography resource book. It contains a wealth of information on each of the 50 states, and the pages are colorful and fun to look at. The Star-Spangled Workbook is designed to be used with The Star-Spangled State Book. When used together, these two products form a very thorough and interesting U.S. geography curriculum. These products are written specifically for homeschoolers in grades four and up.

The Star-Spangled State Book organizes the states in alphabetical order. For each state, it tells the capital, the date the state entered the union, the state's population and population ranking, land area and ranking, the state's three most populous cities, a picture of the state and its flag, two interesting stories, and a list of facts about the state. The book also contains "Geoquizzes"--fun but challenging ways to test your knowledge of the 50 states. The Geoquizzes cover state recognition (by shape), capitals, borders, and trivia.

This 36-week course is divided into two semesters. It is based on a 4-day-per-week schedule. By the end of the course, students should be able to identify all the states and capitals, locate them on a map, recall basic state facts as well as some trivia, and know which states border which. All the lessons are contained in the Workbook, which also includes the answer key and a progress report.

I am very impressed with this course! I cannot wait until my daughter is a few years older and can use these geography lessons in our homeschool. The author has thought of everything and included it in these two books. All you need to supply are some pencils and crayons and maybe a U.S. map and/or a globe.

These products are available individually (for those who need to purchase workbooks for multiple children) or as a combo package (which contains one copy of each book). If you are looking for a solid U.S. geography curriculum for your upper-elementary student, and if a Christian worldview is important to you, I encourage you to check out The Star-Spangled State Book and The Star-Spangled Workbook.

Product review by Heidi Strawser, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, October 2006

ANOTHER REVIEW...

At some point in every school career, a child must learn about the states of our country. This eye-catching, colorful book will surely be a hit!

States are covered in alphabetical order with all the necessary information, including the capital, date they entered the Union, population, land area, populous cities, a picture of the flag, two stories about the state, and a state facts box. Additional pages include information on the thirteen colonies, the Presidents, a summary of abbreviations, a blank map to label states, quizzes, and more.

Along the bottom of most pages is a Geoquiz challenging the student to recall information in other places of the book. The student is asked questions about the states, such as capitals, borders, and trivia.

I love the little special information and stories included for each state. For example, my home state of Illinois includes information about the birthplace and life of President Ronald Reagan. The delightfully illustrated page also includes a strip on Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the busiest airport in the world.

Students will learn their state facts and much more in this exciting book.

Product review by Christine Field, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, October 2006