Exploring Government (Notgrass)

Exploring Government is Notgrass Company's one-semester, half-credit high-school government course covering the structure of the United States federal government, constitutional principles, and civic participation. The course integrates the Federalist Papers, the Constitution, and selected Supreme Court opinions alongside a Christian-worldview narrative, and pairs with Exploring Economics to form the standard Notgrass senior government-and-economics year.

Last updated: 2026-04-24 · Every Homeschool Editorial Team

At a glance

Method	Traditional / literature-based / primary-source-driven
Worldview	Christian-evangelical; constitutional-originalist framing
Grades	9-12 (most commonly used in grade 11 or 12)
Formats	Print hardcover text, student review pack, primary-source anthology
Cost tier	Standard
Parent intensity	3 (student-driven with parent discussion; essay grading required)
ESA-common	Yes, widely on marketplaces that permit religious curriculum
Accredited	No (curriculum publisher)
Established	Exploring Government first published 2007; Notgrass Company founded 1994
Website	notgrass.com

Our scoreboard (1-5)

Criterion	Score	One-line reason
Academic rigor	4	Substantive primary-source reading; covers federal structure thoroughly at survey level
Ease of teaching	4	Student-readable narrative textbook; parent grades assignments
Content quality	4	Clear prose, serious use of Federalist Papers and constitutional text
Flexibility	4	Half-credit stands alone or pairs with Exploring Economics; can extend to English half-credit with literature anthology
Value for money	4	Full half-credit with anthology for approximately $100-$140
Worldview scope	2	Christian-evangelical and constitutional-originalist framing throughout
Visual/design	3	Hardcover textbook; archival photographs; clean classic aesthetic
Support resources	3	Teacher guide, answer keys, sample lessons, email support

Who the publisher is

Notgrass Company is a family-owned Tennessee publisher founded in 1994 by Ray Notgrass. Ray writes or co-authors the history and social studies texts; his wife Charlene and daughter Bethany contribute editorially. The company is structurally small but broadly adopted: Notgrass titles are standard on HSLDA's high-school curriculum lists, in classical-homeschool forums, and in evangelical homeschool convention curricula.

The catalog built around narrative survey texts includes Exploring America, Exploring World History, Exploring Government, Exploring Economics, and Exploring World Geography. Each is structured to award multiple credits through the same book when the full writing, literature, and primary-source workload is completed.

Editorially, Notgrass is explicitly Christian and conservative. The publisher's own framing describes "God's providential hand in human history" as a throughline. On government specifically, the course adopts what would be called an originalist or constitutional-conservative framing of the US founding, treating the Constitution's text and the Federalist Papers as the authoritative frame for understanding American government, with critical attention to Supreme Court cases that depart from that framing. This is stated in the text rather than implied, which is useful: families can weigh fit on known information.

The core pedagogy

Exploring Government is a single-semester, half-credit course structured across thirty lessons. Each lesson pairs a reading from the hardcover text with a supplementary reading, typically from the We Hold These Truths anthology, which compiles the Declaration, Constitution, Federalist Papers selections, Supreme Court opinions, and speeches from founders and statesmen, plus comprehension questions and periodic writing assignments.

Scope covers the essential high-school US government curriculum: the philosophical roots of the American founding (English common law, Enlightenment political theory, Christian political thought), the Constitution's text, the three federal branches, federalism and state-federal relations, elections and political parties, and the development of contemporary federal power. The course is specifically US government; it does not cover comparative government or political theory beyond the founding-era canon.

Signature mechanics: (1) Narrative textbook prose. Ray Notgrass writes in connected essay style; a student reads Exploring Government as a book, not as a set of boxes and bullets. (2) Primary-source integration through We Hold These Truths. Students read original founding documents on most days of the course, the Federalist 10, 51, and 78; Marshall's Marbury v. Madison opinion; Lincoln's Second Inaugural; and similar texts, at their original length rather than in summary. (3) Scripture and biblical-framing layer. Scripture passages addressing civil authority, governance, and justice are integrated throughout, reflecting the course's framing of political authority within a biblical understanding. (4) Literature combination for English credit. Families who add the literature anthology readings can earn a half-credit in English alongside the government credit from the same course.

A day in the life

An eleventh- or twelfth-grader using Exploring Government across a fall semester spends approximately forty-five to sixty minutes per day on the course. She reads the day's lesson from the hardcover text (roughly ten pages), works the comprehension questions in the student review pack (ten to fifteen minutes), and reads the assigned primary source from We Hold These Truths, on a given day, this might be Federalist 10 at roughly 3,500 words, or a Supreme Court opinion excerpt of similar length. Once a week she writes a short essay or responds to a discussion prompt, analyzing a specific constitutional provision, comparing Federalist arguments to Anti-Federalist counterparts, or applying a founding principle to a contemporary political question.

Her parent grades written work against the teacher-guide rubric and discusses the lesson's framing with her periodically, particularly when a primary-source reading is unfamiliar or when the Notgrass narrative takes a position on a contested question. At the end of the semester, a student who has completed the full course earns a half-credit in government. Students adding the literature anthology earn a half-credit in English, and students combining Exploring Government in the fall with Exploring Economics in the spring complete the standard senior government-and-economics sequence.

What they do exceptionally well

Primary sources at full length. Most high-school government courses, homeschool and classroom, summarize the Federalist Papers or present short edited excerpts. Notgrass assigns primary documents at or near their original length, with comprehension questions that require the student to actually read them. A student finishing Exploring Government has read Federalist 10, 51, and 78, the Declaration, the Constitution in full, and several Supreme Court opinions, a body of primary-source work that meaningfully exceeds what most public-school government courses require.

Narrative prose over textbook scan. Ray Notgrass's writing style, connected paragraphs in essay form, produces a book students engage rather than skim. A capable high-school student reading Exploring Government cover to cover has read perhaps 400-500 pages of coherent historical and political narrative rather than a reference book.

Constitutional-originalist framing made explicit. The course does not hide its framing. A family choosing Notgrass is choosing a specific reading of the American founding and of constitutional interpretation, and the text is clear about what that reading is. This editorial transparency is helpful for fit assessment.

What they do poorly

Narrow framing on contemporary government. The course's constitutional-originalist framing means that twentieth-century developments in federal power, administrative agencies, expansive Commerce Clause readings, substantive due process jurisprudence, are presented primarily as departures from original constitutional structure. Families wanting a multi-school treatment of contemporary American government (progressive, originalist, living-constitutionalist, critical legal studies) presented on each tradition's own terms will find the course's framing consistent with the publisher's position. This is stated plainly, not buried.

Limited comparative or international content. Exploring Government is specifically US government; the course does not substantively cover comparative political systems, international organizations, or political theory beyond the American founding canon. Students wanting broader coverage will need a supplementary course or reading.

Not AP Government equivalent. A student completing Exploring Government should not expect to sit for the AP US Government and Politics exam without substantial additional preparation in case law, data analysis, and the AP-specific argumentative-essay format. The course is a high-school survey, not AP preparation. Families aiming for AP credit should layer the Notgrass reading over a dedicated AP prep program or substitute a course designed for the exam.

Case-law coverage is selective. The Supreme Court opinions that appear in We Hold These Truths are drawn primarily from the founding-era and nineteenth-century canon. Marbury, McCulloch, Gibbons, Dred Scott, with meaningfully less depth on twentieth-century jurisprudence. Students wanting a case-law-heavy government course covering, say, Brown v. Board, the Warren Court criminal-procedure revolution, or the late-twentieth-century administrative-state cases will need supplementary reading.

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• Pick Exploring Government if: you are a Christian-evangelical or constitutional-conservative family wanting a high-school government half-credit aligned with originalist constitutional framing; you value primary-source reading at full length over summarized textbook presentations; you are pairing with Exploring Economics for a full senior government-and-economics year; you want a course whose worldview is stated plainly rather than implied; your student is a reader who engages with Federalist-level prose.

• Skip Exploring Government if: you want a balanced multi-school treatment of contemporary constitutional interpretation on each tradition's own terms; you are targeting AP US Government preparation and need case-law depth and AP essay practice; you are a secular or theologically broad family who does not want Scripture integrated as political framing; you want significant comparative or international government content; your student does not yet read fluently at the level of founding-era prose.

Cost honest assessment

Per the Exploring Government product page as of April 2026, the full course package, hardcover text, student review pack, answer key, and We Hold These Truths anthology, retails at approximately $100-$140. Adding the literature anthology for the English half-credit option adds approximately $25-$40. Non-consumable core materials are reusable across siblings with only the student review pack needing replacement.

Compared to BJU Press American Government (roughly $100-$170 for the textbook and teacher materials, year-long), Abeka American Government (roughly $80-$130 for a one-semester package within the Abeka high-school sequence), or secular options like Thinkwell American Government (roughly $125-$250 for video-based), Notgrass is priced competitively within its tier and meaningfully less expensive than packaged AP-prep alternatives.

A realistic all-in family budget for Exploring Government as a standalone half-credit is $100-$140 for one student, with additional review packs at approximately $15-$25 for each additional sibling.

ESA eligibility notes

Notgrass Company is widely approved across state ESA marketplaces where Christian curriculum is permitted. Notgrass is listed on Arizona's ClassWallet, Florida's Step Up For Students and MyScholarShop, West Virginia's Hope Scholarship, Iowa's Education Savings Account, and Utah Fits All. The publisher provides order workflows compatible with several ESA marketplaces. States that restrict religious materials will apply those restrictions to Exploring Government's Scripture-integrated content; ESA-funded families should verify within their specific state marketplace before ordering.

Alternatives

• Hillsdale College Constitution 101 / American Heritage (free online), a family would choose Hillsdale's free online courses over Notgrass for lecture-based instruction from university faculty with similar originalist framing and no purchase cost, though without a printed textbook structure.
• BJU Press American Government, a family would choose BJU over Notgrass for a more conventionally structured textbook-and-teacher-edition format with video instruction available through the BJU Press Online platform.
• [iCivics (free) or Thinkwell American Government, a family would choose iCivics or Thinkwell over Notgrass for secular government instruction without religious integration, suitable for families wanting a tradition-neutral civic education.

How we verified this

Our editorial team reviewed the Exploring Government product page, sample lessons, scope-and-sequence document, We Hold These Truths anthology contents, and company About page at notgrass.com. We cross-referenced against Cathy Duffy Reviews' Notgrass Government entry and the HSLDA high-school curriculum directory. Prices and program details verified April 2026.