FAQs, Helps, and Extras

By August 2nd, 2021, we will be releasing Levels K through 5 of a new math line titled Simply Good and Beautiful Math. These thorough, academically solid courses will align more closely with our mission of 1) making homeschooling more affordable (math course sets will be $49.99, including manipulatives) and 2) making homeschool less overwhelming.

On March 1st, 2021, we will release more details and extensive sample lessons for these ground-breaking new math courses. Because this product is still under development, and there are adjustments during piloting, we can’t release as much information as we’d like, but here is some information we can share:

• Our amazing math team has Simply Good and Beautiful Math K Through 5 deep into piloting with over 60 families. With the overwhelmingly positive response from our pilot families, we feel confident this new math line will be able to bless many more families.
• Simply Good and Beautiful Math courses are completely new (not just new editions)—not a single paragraph will be the same. Our current math boxes, calendars, etc. will not work with the new courses as we will have entirely new manipulatives.
• Simply Good and Beautiful Math level 6 will be released in summer of 2022 with math 7 and 8 planned to release in 2023 and 2024 respectively.
• The Math 4 Part 1 Course Book (original math line) and upcoming Math 4 Part 2 Course Book (original math line) will not be discounted at any point, but these course books will be discontinued when they go out of stock. (When Math 4 Part 2 (original math line) releases in March 2021, we will be selling printed course books at the original price until they sell out.) Musical Multiplication is not discounted and will not be discontinued.

Why the change to a new math line? We will go into more details on March 1st, but here are the main reasons:

1) We have found it is not necessary to take 5-7 pages to teach every lesson and math concept like our original math does (even though it does it so well!). Our new approach is academically thorough but much more concise. It still uses all learning styles and is packed with beauty and meaning. Games, activities, and stories are still included but in less overwhelming and lengthy ways. The new approach will make homeschooling multiple children incredibly more easy and effective in a shorter amount of required parent time.

2) The large amount of moving parts and manipulatives in our original math makes it overwhelming for some families and hard to keep children’s focus as the parent searches for manipulatives, game instructions, place value charts, certain numbered cards, calendars, etc. Simply Good and Beautiful Math has fewer manipulatives, but uses them in very effective and fun ways, and the layout streamlines all instruction into one course book.

3) Our original math is our highest priced K–8 product and our lowest profitable product. It also takes up by far the most space in our warehouse and the most time from warehouse, purchasing, and inventory employees. It is not sustainable, and we determined we needed to discontinue the math in favor of a new, improved product or raise the price (which we know is already outside many family budgets) to $159 per math course set. This cost is not in line with our mission to make homeschooling affordable, but with Simply Good and Beautiful Math, we can offer an affordable, amazing math program for just $49.99 for each course! 

The scope of the courses will remain largely the same as our current math, but the sequence and lessons will vary. Not a single paragraph will remain the same in the new math courses. As the scope is largely the same, students can transition between the current math to Simply Good and Beautiful Math with ease. Our development process also incorporates numerous math experts to ensure the highest academic standards.

Yes! The scope for our math courses will remain largely the same. If your child completes a current math level, he or she can move into the next level of our Simply Good and Beautiful Math program. For example, when your child completes The Good and the Beautiful Math 1, he or she can begin Simply Good and Beautiful Math Level 2.

A huge focus of our new courses is increasing the simplicity and ease for children and parents. Simply Good and Beautiful Math will have fewer items in the math manipulative boxes and fewer moving parts. The lessons are also concise while maintaining the highest academic standards.

Physical math course sets will be $49.99, including manipulatives.

It’s up to you! You will be able to seamlessly transition to the new Simply Good and Beautiful Math courses from the current math.

No. Only physical items are discounted. PDFs of all math items can be purchased at their regular price.

The Math 4 Part 1 course book was released on December 14, 2020. As a new release, it is not part of our clearance sale. The course was printed in limited quantities and is only available while supplies last. It will not be discounted at any point or reprinted when it goes out of stock. The Math 4 Part 2 course book is completed and is in edits. It will be released in spring 2021. It will not be discounted and will only be available in limited quantities. Be sure to follow our emails for release updates.

The discount and clearance prices only apply to Math Levels K–3 items purchased on December 21, 2020, or later. We apologize that we can’t extend the discount to previous purchases.

No. All clearance items, including Math, are final sale. Clearance items may not be returned for any reason.

No.

No, the current Math Activity Boxes, calendars, etc., will not be used with the new courses as we will have entirely new manipulatives.

Yes! Simple, short stories about children like yours and everyday life are woven throughout the course books, but not as often.

Yes! Our new Simply Good and Beautiful Math Courses feature more diversity than our original math courses.

Yes! We want to make learning fun for you and your child. Games, puzzles, and more are included right in the course book, but not as often or as extensive. No need to search for game mats or instructions as they are now part of the lessons.

Yes! Simply Good and Beautiful Math level 6 will be released in summer of 2022 with math 7 and 8 planned to release in 2023 and 2024 respectively.

Yes! However, our new manipulative items are mainly made from wood and are no longer made from chipboard, paper, or cardstock and will not be offered in PDF format.

By design, The Good and the Beautiful curriculum does not follow Common Core or the educational standards of any state. The academic spine of this curriculum was developed by compiling all the principles and information deemed important by The Good and the Beautiful creators. This was a very thorough process that took months to complete for each subject and had input and review by educators, historians, scientists, reading specialists, math specialists, and grammarians. The Good and the Beautiful curriculum is extremely thorough and has high academic standards, many of which go above and beyond those adopted by Common Core. We believe that children who work on The Good and the Beautiful curriculum consistently each day will find that they are far above public-school standards.

Welcome! We encourage you to start with our Math Level Assessment found here:

Math Level Assessment

You can also find helpful tips in our brand-new video, How to Start Homeschooling Mid-Year! 

We also encourage you to review the extensive sample pages on our website. The sample pages for each course include the tables of contents for the Part 1 and Part 2 course books. This will help you decide if you want to start at the beginning of the course or with the Part 2 course book.

Level K has its own Math Activity Box. Levels 1 and 2 both use the Levels 1–2 Math Activity Box. Levels 3 and 4 use the Levels 3–4 Math Activity Box.

Our new courses are still in development and deep into piloting. We don’t have more information to share at this time either on our website or via email. Please watch our website and social media channels and sign up for our email newsletter for the latest information.

In addition to releasing extensive samples and answering additional questions about the new Simply Good and Beautiful Math courses on March 1st, we will also be making a huge, astonishing announcement about this new math line. So stay tuned!

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Each child will need his or her own set of consumable Course Books.

If the children are being taught as a group, ideally each child should have their own Math Activity Box. Sharing the manipulatives in the Math Activity Box would render the lessons less effective and cause them to take a much longer amount of time.

If the children are being taught individually, the Math Activity Box may be shared; however, each child will need their own “My Calendar.”

Due to several changes that have been made to both Activity Boxes and a reduction in printing prices we are now able to offer the Math K–3 at reduced prices. In order to reduce the prices, the following changes have been made to the boxes:

Math K Activity Box:

• The rekenrek has been removed from the box. In its place, we have provided beads and instructions on making your own rekenrek. For those that prefer to buy a rekenrek, we have provided information to guide you in buying one.
• The handwriting card is no longer laminated. Instead, we suggest the handwriting card be placed in a dry-erase sleeve for continual use.
  The flashcards are no longer perforated but can easily be cut out by following the lines dividing each card.
• The toothpicks are no longer provided. The parent should add a set of toothpicks to the box before beginning the course.

Math 1–2 Activity Box:

• The Numbered Game Cards, Tangram Work Mats, and the Jr. Explorer cards are no longer perforated but can easily be cut out by following the lines dividing each card.
  Note: The Math 3–4 Activity Box was designed and created in a way that we could offer a reduced price of $45.99 from the start!

The Good and the Beautiful Math supports traditional methods by teaching basic math facts and universally recognized traditional algorithms. Children memorize math facts, but our math program is not based solely on rote memorization but also on gaining a deep understanding of numbers and relationships among numbers. Our strong emphasis on developing a solid number sense leads naturally into helping children understand the reasoning and application of standard algorithms. Children quickly learn and memorize mathematical algorithms when they first understand what the numbers and operations represent.

Our math program avoids the following items:

• confusing and ambiguous methods that require complex explanations to solve basic operations
• an emphasis on the process with lack of regard to the answer (We believe both the process and the answer are equally important.)
• story problems and examples that do not support traditional values and/or strong family relations

The Good and the Beautiful math curriculum offers a balanced approach to teaching mathematics. The curriculum includes components of multiple styles and begins with concrete, hands-on learning then moves gradually to a conceptual understanding of math. The curriculum is written with a real-life, “living-math” approach. It is also written to meet the needs of many different learning styles—including visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners.

The Good and the Beautiful math curriculum offers a balanced approach of both mastery and spiral learning.

Though our math curriculum is extremely thorough and academically strong, it is not considered advanced (Math K is kindergarten level, Math 1 is first grade level, and so on).

Our Math Curricula Comparison chart is a helpful document with a comparison of concepts covered in The Good and the Beautiful Math and six other popular programs plus a review of price and all standards covered.

For the quality and thoroughness received and the fact that all materials are beautiful, full-color (which is much more expensive to print), The Good and the Beautiful pricing is amazing! The math course sets may seem more expensive than other The Good and the Beautiful products, but they are not priced at a higher profit margin than our other products. You will notice that the math course books are priced the same as similar length language arts books, but then you also have to add in our math activity boxes which contain a large number of resources that help add variety and effectiveness to the program. Because of the amount of expertise and illustration required for the math courses, our profit margin on the math products is actually less than most of our other products, while the math products take up the largest amount of space in our warehouse. We truly have gone to great efforts to make this math program as affordable as possible!