All American History (Bright Ideas Press)

All American History is a two-volume United States history course from Bright Ideas Press. The publisher describes it as a complete two-year U.S. history curriculum for students in grades 5 to high school, adaptable for younger students, with 32 weekly lessons in each volume. Volume I runs from Leif Eriksson to early 19th-century culture, and Volume II runs from the Civil War to the 21st century.

Last updated: 2026-10-09 · Every Homeschool Editorial Team

At a glance

Method	Subject-specialist U.S. history course (Every Homeschool classification); the publisher says each volume's lessons unfold the events in vivid narrative style, and each volume is sold with a Companion Guide
Worldview	Christian; the publisher describes Volume II as looking at the past through a distinctly Christian lens and says it does not write from a particular denominational standpoint. Every Homeschool classifies it as Christian · Evangelical, a term the publisher does not use
Grades	The US History page says grades 5 to high school (adaptable for younger students); the Volume II page says grades 6-12; the Volume I page states no grade range, and the cover of its sample reads Grades 5 to High School
Formats	Softcover 6x9 Student Reader (Volume I, 448 pages; Volume II, 574 pages) sold with a Companion Guide in PDF
Cost tier	Budget (Every Homeschool classification; the publisher lists each volume at $74.95 on its Volume I and Volume II pages, retrieved October 2026, and describes each volume as a full year's curriculum)
Parent intensity	3 (Every Homeschool rating)
ESA-common	Not stated on the publisher's pages
Accredited	Not stated on the publisher's pages
Website	brightideaspress.com

Our scoreboard (1-5)

Criterion	Score	One-line reason
Academic rigor	4	Each volume has four units of eight lessons, an appendix of the charter documents of the United States, and a Companion Guide with tests and answer keys
Ease of teaching	4	One lesson a week for 32 weeks per volume, with note-taking pages, lesson reviews, unit wrap-ups, and answer keys in the Companion Guide
Content quality	4	Each chapter examines the atmosphere, the event, and its impact, and the tables of contents give lessons to family life and culture in several units
Flexibility	4	Each volume is a full year's curriculum in 32 weekly lessons, and the publisher offers co-op and classroom discounts and licenses
Value for money	4	Each volume is listed at $74.95 (Volume I, Volume II) with the Companion Guide included (retrieved October 2026)
Worldview scope	2	The publisher describes Volume II as looking at the past through a distinctly Christian lens
Visual/design	3	The Student Reader has hundreds of images and dozens of maps in a softcover 6x9 format
Support resources	3	The publisher's Product Updates page links a public correction list for All American History, and the Companion Guide includes tests and answer keys

Who the publisher is

The Meet the Team page of Bright Ideas Press lists Tyler Hogan as president and Susan Barton as CEO, and the publisher's Copyright FAQ describes the company as a small, family-run business. The home page says the publisher passed retail sales to its retail partners in early 2020, and its product pages send shoppers from a Where to Buy button to the Distributors page. Our Bright Ideas Press review covers the publisher as a whole.

The publisher credits All American History to Celeste Rakes. The US History page carries a passage attributed to Celeste Rakes, Author, and the title page of the Volume II sample reads Celeste W. Rakes.

On faith, the home page says the team are Christians, that the Bible informs every subject they study, and that the publisher weaves biblical, secular, and church history together. It also says the publisher does not write from a particular denominational standpoint and leaves that to parents. The publisher's Statement of Faith lists beliefs including the Holy Scriptures as the supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct, and closes by saying that Christians differ on teachings and practices such as baptism, ordination, sacraments, church government, spiritual gifts, and end times. It names no denomination.

The core pedagogy

Each volume has 32 lessons in four units of eight lessons. The tables of contents list the units: Volume I has the Age of European Exploration, the Period of Colonization, the Period of Revolution, and the Period of Establishment and Expansion; Volume II has the Period of Civil War and Reconstruction, the Gilded Age, Two World Wars and a Great Depression, and the Cold War and Beyond. The publisher's Volume I product page says each chapter examines the atmosphere in which the event occurred, the event itself, and the impact the event had on the future of America, and that illustrations, maps, and impact bullet points serve as visual reminders.

The publisher lists hundreds of images and dozens of maps for the Student Reader (Volume I and Volume II product pages). The Companion Guide (PDF) includes note-taking pages, lesson reviews, tests, unit wrap-ups, and answer keys; For Further Study questions and answers; games, hands-on activities, timeline and mapping exercises; and reading lists and project ideas (Volume I and Volume II product pages). The publisher lists each volume as one product, the Student Reader with Companion Guide, on its Volume I and Volume II product pages.

Signature mechanics, as the publisher's pages describe them: (1) Atmosphere, event, and impact, the three parts the publisher says each chapter examines, with section headings for them in the Volume II sample. (2) Four units of eight lessons, which the author's introduction in the same sample says she arranged chronologically and thematically as eight units across two volumes. (3) Social and cultural history, which the introduction says she made a special effort to emphasize; the tables of contents list lessons on family life and culture in several units. (4) The Companion Guide, with the contents listed above. (5) Reading and projects, which the introduction lists as biographies and historical fiction for each unit, writing projects, and artistic and hands-on work.

A week with the course

The publisher describes the course as one lesson per week: each volume has 32 weekly lessons. Within a lesson, the Volume II sample shows the Atmosphere, Event, and Impact sections the publisher describes, and the Companion Guide then supplies note-taking pages, lesson reviews, For Further Study questions, games, hands-on activities, and timeline and mapping exercises. The Companion Guide also includes tests and unit wrap-ups.

The Companion Guide introduction in the Volume I sample describes how a week can run. It says each lesson is designed to provide a week's worth of instruction, and that an additional four weeks, one at the end of each unit, can go to unit reviews, field trips, or special projects. For a family, it says the first day or two of each lesson go to the week's topic in the Student Reader, with older students probably able to read and complete the matching Companion Guide forms on their own. Once the required forms are done, the student can check mastery with the lesson's For Review questions, and the guide says a family will probably also want to add the Timeline Dates to its family timeline. The rest of the week goes to projects chosen by the student or parent from the four For Further Study questions in each lesson, which it says a high school student should usually all do. For classes, the same introduction gives two sample schedules. For a class that meets five days a week, it lists Monday for student reading or teacher-led discussion with the matching forms and maps, Tuesday for Timeline Dates and For Review questions, Wednesday as a reading day, Thursday for For Further Study questions and Review Games, and Friday as a testing day if required or more reading. For a class that meets three days a week, it lists Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

What they do exceptionally well

Social and cultural history. In our assessment, the tables of contents give this material real space. Volume I includes lessons on Colonial Family Life, Colonial Culture, Early Nineteenth Century Family Life, and Early Nineteenth Century Culture, and Volume II includes lessons on family life, society, and culture in the Gilded Age, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, and the decades from the Cold War through the nineties (Volume II table of contents). The author's introduction in the Volume II sample says she made a special effort to emphasize the social and cultural aspects of American history.

A regular weekly rhythm. The publisher states 32 weekly lessons per volume and a full year's curriculum in each (Volume I sample, Volume II sample), so a volume maps to a school year. In our assessment, that regular pattern suits a group that meets weekly, and the publisher offers co-op and classroom discounts and licenses for its titles.

Review and assessment materials in the price. The Companion Guide includes lesson reviews, tests, unit wrap-ups, and answer keys, so a family does not buy them separately.

What they do poorly

Grade range differs between pages. The publisher's US History page says grades 5 to high school, its Volume II page says grades 6-12, its Volume I product page states none, and the cover of its Volume I sample reads Grades 5 to High School. The Companion Guide introduction in that sample says the curriculum was created for fifth through eighth graders and is also a high school level course, and it lists how to assign the work for a high school American History credit. Families should read the publisher's samples before deciding which volume fits a given student.

No Junior edition is currently described. The Companion Guide introduction in the Volume I sample refers to a package for younger students called All American History Jr., and the home page menu lists AAH I Junior and AAH II Junior, but those menu links return no page as of October 2026. This review therefore describes no Junior edition.

The Cold War and later years are one unit. In our assessment, this is a limited share of the course: the Volume II table of contents covers the period from the beginning of the Cold War onward in Lessons 25 through 32, eight of the course's 64 lessons. Families who want more depth on that period may want to add other resources.

A stated Christian framework. The publisher describes Volume II as looking at the past through a distinctly Christian lens. Families who want a United States history course without a Christian framework should look elsewhere.

The Companion Guide is a PDF. The publisher lists the Companion Guide as a PDF, so a family that prefers to work from paper should expect to print the pages it wants.

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• Pick All American History if: you want a two-year United States history course with 32 weekly lessons per volume; you want tests, lesson reviews, and answer keys included in the price; you want social and cultural history alongside political and military events; you are comfortable with a course the publisher describes as looking at the past through a distinctly Christian lens; or you lead a co-op or classroom and want the publisher's group discounts and licenses.

• Skip All American History if: you want a course written without a Christian framework; you want a printed Companion Guide in the box, since the publisher lists it as a PDF; you want a video-based or online course, since the publisher's pages describe a printed Student Reader with a PDF Companion Guide; or you want the most detailed treatment of the years from the Cold War onward, which the Volume II table of contents covers in eight lessons.

Cost honest assessment

The publisher's site lists the Volume I Student Reader with Companion Guide and the Volume II Student Reader with Companion Guide at $74.95 each (retrieved October 2026), which is $149.90 for both volumes. The home page says the publisher passed retail sales to its retail partners in early 2020, and its Distributors page lists the partners, including Christianbook, Rainbow Resource, and Timberdoodle. This review does not quote retailer prices, which may differ. Co-ops and classrooms can order a 30% discount on six or more copies of a title, or a license for ten students at three times the retail price.

ESA eligibility notes

The publisher's pages do not mention ESA programs or state marketplaces. Its Distributors page lists the retail partners it sells through, and its Co-ops and Classrooms page says co-op and classroom discount orders are placed with the publisher by email. Whether a title or vendor is approved is decided by each state program, so families should confirm the specific title and vendor with their program administrator before ordering.

Alternatives

• Notgrass America the Beautiful, a family would choose Notgrass over Bright Ideas for a one-year U.S. history course for grades 5 to 8 that the publisher describes as open-and-go and taught from a Christian worldview, with Thinking Biblically assignments, the primary source collection We the People in the curriculum package, and a separate ten-title literature package.
• Sonlight, a family would choose Sonlight over All American History if they want one curriculum that Sonlight describes as complete and literature-based, rather than a single-subject history course.