The Good and the Beautiful Curriculum?

[rae.e.bates]

Have any of you ever used the curriculum line The Good and the Beautiful by Jenny Phillips for your child? It comes highly rated in my neck of the woods, but I'm curious as to how well it aligns a classical education.

 

Its amazingly cheap for sure, and well loved, but is it enough?

[nixpix5]

If you do a search you will find alot on it. There has been quite a bit of discussion. For a personal opinion so tske it for what it is, I am lukewarm with it.

 

We decided to try it this year and my 2nd grade daughter is using grade 2. At first she loved it so I was fine with it. As we proceeded I didn't like it because it felt like not enough practice of any one concept. The time between was too long. Some lessons were short, some drug on and on. Even as a Christian I felt it beat some stuff over the head. So I dropped it.

 

About a week and a half after I dropped it my daughter was upset because she loved it. So we compromised. She does ELTL and Rod and Staff grammar and we still do TG&TB. She hasn't complained. Now I feel like it makes a great supplement and refresher or introduction to a topic and I don't worry. If we don't get to it then no big deal.

 

Others may feel differently of course so that is my 2 cents.

[Insertcreativenamehere]

I was really drawn to it this summer, so I purchased language arts for grades 2, 5, and 7, the history program, handwriting and a few of the science units.

 

We didn't even start the history and I quickly resold it. The fact that it jumps from one time period to the next just didn't work for us. We'd already deviated from the 4 year cycle to do a full year of American history. The previous year, we'd done SOTW 2. About 1/3 of the year would have been review for us. 

 

We used the language arts for a few weeks. I stopped it with all 3 kids for a few reasons, the main being that it is an all-in-one and my kids are all over the place when it comes to the different areas of language arts. For example, my 2nd grade daughter was doing level 2. The reading was way too easy and the grammar about right but she needed a different approach with spelling. I really liked the integration of art but not enough to keep it.  We also had writing programs that we wanted to continue using and so I was skipping the writing anyway. And my older boys didn't need the spelling, so we were skipping that, too. I decided to separate out the language arts for each child based on their individual needs. 

 

As for the handwriting ... my boys learned D'Nealian cursive and struggled with the G&B's font. It has more loops and swirls. We dumped levels 5 and 6. My daughter (grade 2) loved the coloring sections interspersed in the lower level handwriting books, but she needed more of a Handwriting without Tears approach, so we went back to that. 

 

The science is the only thing we've kept. We are just finishing up the Space Science unit and my 2nd and 5th graders have really enjoyed it. I do add in additional reading for both of them. I plan to keep using the science since the kids love it and it's easy to teach. (They do say that you can use the science for up to grade 8 with some extensions, but I don't think it is enough for the older grades.)

 

 

Edited November 10, 2017 by insertcreativenamehere

[homemommy83]

I have found that my children LOVE it. We are using the LA and will be starting the Creative Writing soon with my middles soon.  I feel that it does cover the necessities, as well as many nice additions like art appreciation, art, and geography thoughout the levels. We have really enjoyed the writing workshops in the lower levels and the gentle introduction of essays in level 7.  What I like the most about this program is that the focus slowly changes from Phonics to Reading to Grammar to Writing as you progress through the levels, while each of those are taught in each level (with the obvious exception being Phonics phases out as Vocabulary phases in), but the heaviest focus of each level changes as you progress.

 

I feel that if your child struggles in a certain LA subject that this program is simple enough, that it is easy to add one more thing to it; we are personally adding Rod and Staff Spelling this semester and will be adding Primary Language Lessons next semester with my young middles.  Next year we will be adding Rod and Staff English as I can teach it as a group in addition to the individual lessons in TGatB. 

 

I will say that if used as intended, then it is definitely complete, my issue is that I love a lot of programs, so I like combining.  Most people consider Rod and Staff English complete for English, but a lot of people still supplement the writing or do additional English work, as with every program, mold it to fit you, not the other way around-KWIM.

[rjand6more]

I have LA 4, Pre K, K, and 1.

I have handwriting 1,2,5.

I have insects and Space for science.

 

I will say that I love the Pre K and K LA.  The handwriting is good, too.  

 

I am about to drop LA 4.  It is not working.  There is not enough actual practice of anything.  So very little writing.  And in all my years of hs, I have never dropped a program.

 

The science looks great, but I haven't used it yet.

[Soror]

I am using the pre-k and 2nd grade LA.

 

The cons:

 

(1) it is VERY RELIGIOUS, beat you over your head, uber conservative, insert religion anywhere possible

(2)the lessons very greatly in length, some are way too long

(3) I find the writing scattered and the grammar over the top 

(4) I find the literature not the highest quality, when she means "good" she means fitting her conservative ideals, not necessarily well-written classics

 

We have modified it. I've taken out the geography it is erroneous and over the top religious. We mostly skip the writing, we use WWE2. We do parts of the grammar, I think doing it all at this level is overkill. Dd is beyond the level of reading but I consider it good practice for fluency, it would have been too hard for my last 2 second-graders. Dd enjoys the poems and the pictures.  I plan to finish this year but we'll not be using it next year as the main reason I wanted it was for the spelling and reading and I plan to just do separate spelling and independent reading. 

 

Dd3 is doing the pre-K

I like it pretty well, it is a good mix of activities and dd3 seems to enjoy it. She's put out another pre-k level that I'm considering or I may just go ahead and move her onto LoE which is what we'll be doing for K, we'll see. She's about 2/3rds through the pre-k. 

[nixpix5]

I am using the pre-k and 2nd grade LA.

 

The cons:

 

(1) it is VERY RELIGIOUS, beat you over your head, uber conservative, insert religion anywhere possible

(2)the lessons very greatly in length, some are way too long

(3) I find the writing scattered and the grammar over the top

(4) I find the literature not the highest quality, when she means "good" she means fitting her conservative ideals, not necessarily well-written classics

 

We have modified it. I've taken out the geography it is erroneous and over the top religious. We mostly skip the writing, we use WWE2. We do parts of the grammar, I think doing it all at this level is overkill. Dd is beyond the level of reading but I consider it good practice for fluency, it would have been too hard for my last 2 second-graders. Dd enjoys the poems and the pictures. I plan to finish this year but we'll not be using it next year as the main reason I wanted it was for the spelling and reading and I plan to just do separate spelling and independent reading.

 

Dd3 is doing the pre-K

I like it pretty well, it is a good mix of activities and dd3 seems to enjoy it. She's put out another pre-k level that I'm considering or I may just go ahead and move her onto LoE which is what we'll be doing for K, we'll see. She's about 2/3rds through the pre-k.

You and I seem to be having alot of the same issues with it. I wonder if it has something to do with grade 2. Even though my daughter loves it, there was a point when she came across that story somewhere around lesson 20ish I believe about the drought and then they got rain...her eyes just glazed over and you could tell she died a little inside (being sarcastic of course) but the script to read to the child was all about the importance of reading beautiful literature and then the story was boring, repetitive and a whole lot of "what is the point". The funniest part was when I asked her to narrate it as instructed she said "there was no water and then their was" it was hilarious because she is usually a detailed narrator.

[HomeAgain]

We considered it.  I downloaded grades 2 and 3 of the language arts, but after reading through them both I just couldn't do it.  It had a lot of sticking points that I didn't want to deal with.  I ordered ELTL instead.

 

 

[SkateLeft]

It gets a lot of discussion lately because it's new and shiny, and homeschoolers are always looking for the next new, shiny thing. I downloaded the grade 5 stuff, and wasn't impressed at all. I noticed a lot of the same issues that Soror mentioned above.

[mamakelly]

Not a fan. We used it for 3 weeks. It was choppy and moved too slow for my liking. I moved him to CLE 4, and we are both happier, lol.

[Tenaj]

I'm using Levels 1, 2, 5 and 7 this year with youngest four kids.  We really like it.  The first two levels have been a perfect pace for my youngest two,  especially my 9 yods who needs additional phonics practice and is way behind on grammar skills.   My older two are able to work independently which they like.  I'm having some trouble with my eighth grader actually following the directions but that's his issue, not the curriculum.  My 12 yo was skeptical of the shared reader at first, as was I, but we've really enjoyed the stories even though they are a different style than we usually read.  We like the variety of the assignments through each week and so far, the slow rotation of topics seems to be working here.  The kids love the art lessons thrown in also.  My son in the fifth grade book has created some beautiful water colors.  It's been an easy way to sneak art in without it being an additional subject that gets shoved to the side when we are busy.

 

Yes, the lessons in Levels 1 and 2 are uneven in length, but we just set aside a certain amount of time each day and then pick up where we left off.  The longer lessons weren't meant to be completed in one day.

 

The only issue I'm having is with the spelling and I am thinking about changing that part up.  The list of unrelated sight words/common words for the youngers just seems random.  They are finally catching on to how to study them and are enjoying completing the lists, but I'm not sure it's really effective for at least one of my kids.  The sentences for the older kids seem very random and not so "beautiful" - LOL!  We were doing Dictation Day by Day last year and my boys just mentioned that they would rather go back to doing that so we will probably leave the spelling and go back to what we were doing before.

 

The handwriting books have been a huge hit with my 8 yodd and my 9 yods. 

 

[Rebecca in KY]

We are doing level 3 LA and are loving it. Some of the drawbacks mentioned by others are actually benefits here. My son is NOT an LA type of kid. He excels in math but really hates LA - it taxes his brain terribly. That said, he doesn't complain nearly as much about English this year and is making great strides. We're somewhere near lesson 45. I plan on sticking with their LA for the foreseeable future, something I've NEVER said about ANY LA program.

 

Pros:

Variety of topics mixed throughout prevents boredom & burnout (mastery didn't work here)

Art included!

Geography included!

Spelling lists that I can use as I see fit

Continual review of spelling rules

 

Cons:

All in one doesn't work for kids who are all over the place.

Lesson length is uneven; we just work for a set time. We also work on several lessons at once since my son can't handle extended focus on one area of LA, even in a single sitting.

Lit is "morally good" but not high quality IMHO (we read our own).

No answer key through level 3. Not a problem for me, but many have expressed frustration with that.

[AdventuresinHomeschooling]

There wasn't water and then there was in both the city AND the country, though. Forming the hearts and minds of children, we are.

LOL!  I think my son had a very similar narration.  He gets so bored with those types of stories.

[AdventuresinHomeschooling]

We are using GAB LA2 and a science unit this year because I need something affordable to use this fall for a bit.  

 

Things I like:

I like the art, literature and geography sprinkled in.  

I like that it mixes things up.

I like the reinforcement of reading and phonics that is aligning well with the AAS we are doing.

It is open and go.

It is attractive and well laid out.

 

Things I am not so crazy about:

some of the literature selections are just boring.

The grammar is ok, but it's spread out too much.  A lesson on prepositions, and 10 lessons later, a lesson on adverbs type of thing.  Not enough grammar practice for retention.  I don't always agree with her editing symbols.

The All in One isn't the right fit for us long term, but it's free so I might supplement some lessons.

There's a few ultra conservative things in it that make me cringe a little.

 

I already like my writing program and spelling program.  I am using to supplement with some reading and grammar, but there are way better grammar programs out there.  We probably won't use it again except maybe some supplemental lessons like memorizing state capitals, etc.

 

On the science, I like that it is well laid out and easy to implement so far.  I am stuck on a lesson until I go get a plant for a terrarium.  Some lessons are a little more arts and crafts than science-oriented.  I much prefer RS4K, but I decided to try an inexpensive unit on the water cycle.