Here is part 2 of my fall semester curriculum review. For part 1, click here.

We used The Good and The Beautiful for language arts as well, despite my concerns over it not being “secular enough”. Before I committed I did a ton of research. Taking advantage of TGATB offering the first 4 weeks free due the huge influx in homeschoolers I decided to try it out. Worst case, we didn’t like it and no harm, no foul, I could keep looking. Turns out, I didn’t need to worry at all. I went back and purchased the whole level before we finished week 2.

Language Arts

There is a language arts level assessment as well. Compared to typical public school grades, the levels in TGATB are consistently one level lower than where your child would place according to their age. Brixton is 6 and is in first grade, but he tested solidly into level K. This didn’t mean that he was behind. I saw many parents question why their child placed lower than where they would be had they been in school. Included in the language arts course is the course book, mini books, leveled reader, and phonics cards. All of these can be purchased digital or pre-printed.

The beauty of the course book is evident on page 1 with an illustration from Leopold Munsch and instructions for the child to notice the beauty in the painting. However, the mention of God 3 sentences in (“God created so many beautiful things….”), gave this secular leaning homeschooler pause. I was easily able to edit it on the fly to “There are so many beautiful things….”, but it is something that I feel should be addressed early on in a review. That being said, there really aren’t that many biblical references, and everyone I have come across have been easy to edit on the fly or simply skip over.

Overview

There are 5 units in level K. Each unit has a 1 page overview at the beginning that include spelling words, principles focused on, a list of mini books, and any extra supplies you’ll need. Each lesson is typically 1-2 pages long and includes a variety of teaching strategies. Language arts is, by far, his least favorite subject, so the wide range of activities really kept him engaged!

The course instructs you to practice sight word ladders and phonics cards every few days throughout. I like that these are slightly separate because they’re easy to grab and go with them. When we go pick up groceries, I can grab our phonics cards and do review in the car quickly without needing to bring a whole book along too. Brixton really has a “get in and get it done” attitude towards school most days (and especially towards language arts). I was really unsure at how he’d react to the sight word ladders and the reward system built in. Despite me fully believing he’d want to skip right over the whole concept, he was so excited when he completed the first one and got to color in the image! Guess it goes to show you never really know what your kid will love, so let them try everything!

In the first two units, you’ll read the first 10 chapters of Bobby and the Big Road. Brixton thoroughly enjoyed the story and has asked to reread it several times. I’m on the hunt for the full version, but as it was printed in the 1920’s, it is quite difficult to track down (for a reasonable price, at least). Aside from that story, any read alouds in the actual curriculum are poetry, limericks, or short stories. We supplemented heavily with outside literature that we incorporated into our morning routine.

Lessons

There is a wide variety of how the lessons can look. Day-to-day there isn’t any consistent and repeatable action in the lessons. Compared to their math, it is a little strange, but the flow doesn’t seem as disjointed as the math does some days, either. This is also spiral vs mastery, so concepts are introduced and then touched on again several times over the duration of the course. Frequently, when a concept is introduced for the first time, the lesson is about 1 page long and directions to either practice sight words and phonics cards or read a mini book. There is spelling practice about once every 4 lessons.

Negatives

Overall, we both really enjoy The Good and The Beautiful. The biggest con, is that it isn’t secular and does require some effort on my part to edit it. Which, in the grand scheme of things, is very minor. Particular to this level, the mini books are a fight that we don’t have anymore. Brixton doesn’t enjoy them. I don’t enjoy forcing him to read them. They don’t actually connect with what we’re learning, so we usually skip them. I’ll look to see what the challenge words are, and if he knows them I’ll ask if he wants to read it. If not, I’ll read it or we just skip it all together. I also feel like there could be more directed spelling practice. I’ve heard that spelling is incorporated more in the higher levels, but until then I plan to supplement some.

Overall, we’ll continue with this curriculum

We both enjoy the open and go feel of TGATB. It is easy to grab our book and take to the park or in the car on road trips. We can easily knock out one lesson a day 5x a week and not feel bogged down. The program is based on a 4 day week, so if we scale back a couple weeks it doesn’t feel like we’re falling behind, either. I feel like we’re touching on all of the key components of grammar, phonics, and writing that he would be learning if he was in public school.