You’ve probably driven past one. Maybe on a long stretch of highway through Arizona, down a back road in Nevada, or somewhere in the desert outside Cedar City. A faded wooden sign. A leaning fence. The bones of a town that used to be.

Most of us never stop. We just keep driving.

We think that’s a missed opportunity, and we think your kids will agree.

That’s why we built Exploring America’s Ghost Towns Curriculum, our newest comprehensive homeschool resource. It went live on atozformoms.com today, and we cannot wait for you to dig into it.

A homeschool curriculum that doesn’t feel like one

Here’s the thing about ghost towns: kids are already obsessed with them. There’s something about the mystery, the abandonment, the “what happened here?” of it all, that pulls them in faster than any textbook ever could.

We wanted to bottle that. So we built a curriculum around it.

Every ghost town profile follows the same structure: how it started, what daily life looked like, why people left, and what’s still standing today. Reflection questions woven throughout get your kids thinking about real things, like why communities thrive, how people adapt, and what it means when something disappears.

It covers all 50 states. Every region, every story, every reason a town went quiet.

What’s actually inside

Here’s what you get in one digital download:

• 305 pages of curriculum
• 1,500+ ghost towns listed across all 50 states
• Detailed historic profiles with built-in reflection questions
• State-by-state reference tables with town name, nearest city, county, and status
• A full workbook section for grades K through 12, with hands-on writing, creative activities, and discussion prompts
• Designed for grades K through 12, with content that scales across every grade level

Eight subjects in one resource: Social Studies, History, Geography, Civics, Language Arts, Science, Critical Thinking, and Character Education.

It’s the kind of resource that would normally require a stack of textbooks, an atlas, and a pile of supplemental materials. We put it all in one place.

The part we’re most excited about

If you’ve ever wanted to turn a regular family road trip into something your kids will remember forever, this curriculum doubles as the best family adventure planner you didn’t know you needed.

Every ghost town profile tells you where it is, what’s still standing, and whether visitors can walk the site today. Want to plan a summer road trip through old mining towns in Colorado? It’s in here. Curious what’s left of those abandoned logging settlements in the Pacific Northwest? In here too. Driving through Arizona on the way to visit family and want a stop that beats another rest area? Pick from the list.

This summer especially, when gas prices are up and “what should we do today?” gets old by Tuesday, having a ready-made stack of “we should go see this” ideas in your back pocket changes the whole feel of a road trip. Your kids learn real history standing in the actual place it happened. You don’t have to plan from scratch. And the memories last way longer than another fast food stop on I-15.

Who this is for

This curriculum was built with homeschool families in mind, but it works just as well for:

• Families using ESA, ClassWallet, Odyssey, or scholarship funds
• Parents who want to cover multiple subjects through one engaging topic
• Students in grades K through 12, with content and workbook activities that fit every grade level
• Anyone planning a summer of road trips, camping, or cross-country travel
• Reluctant readers who light up the moment they hear the word “mystery”

We made this for you

We are a homeschool family ourselves, and we built this curriculum the same way we build everything at A to Z for Moms Like Me: by asking what our own kids would actually want to learn, then making it easier for other moms to teach it.

If summer is when the curriculum-shopping fatigue usually hits hardest, this is the one to bookmark. It’s brand new, it’s deep, and it’ll make your fall semester (or your June road trip) so much richer.

305 pages of curriculum. A reference guide to 1,500+ ghost towns across all 50 states. A K-12 workbook packed with hands-on activities.

That’s over 414 pages of Ghost Town Curriculum!

Explore America’s Ghost Towns Curriculum →

One curriculum that just might become your family’s favorite adventure of the year.