FAQs, Helps, and Extras

Like all of our language arts courses, the following subjects are integrated into the course: reading, writing, literature, spelling, geography, art appreciation, art instruction, grammar, usage, and punctuation. 

The Level 1 course set comes with three items: The Level 1 course book, Reading Booster B Cards, and Reading Booster B Books Set. A Level 1 Answer Key is available as a free download above and on The Good and the Beautiful Homeschool app. This answer key includes answers only to select pages (not every page).

Lessons have been streamlined to take less time but to be packed with even more learning presented in a way that is not overwhelming.. The course encourages you to work with the child on reading booster cards or books for 6 to 10 minutes. Level 1 focuses heavily on phonics and reading and requires one-on-one time with a parent or teacher each day.

This course includes a total of three units and three unit reviews. The assessment includes extra practice for any principle the child does not pass so you can check the child’s progress and assign extra practice as needed.

You are welcome to download the entire course (for free) on our website to see if it is a good fit for your family. There is also a flip-through video of our amazing new Language Arts Level 1 above.

The course consists of 120 lessons divided into three units and three unit reviews. To complete the course in one average school year, the child should complete one lesson daily, four days a week. This allows for five weeks of vacation days and/or sick days in addition to normal school breaks for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and spring break.

An answer key is available on The Good and the Beautiful Homeschool app or as a free download above.

The PDFs are free for all items that are part of the course set. You can purchase a PDF of the optional My First Nature Reader under Recommended Resources on the Level 1 product page.

All of our levels have a lot of review. We do not expect children to retain everything learned the first time concepts are introduced. Therefore, we build review into our courses in a spiral method. All concepts taught will be covered again, usually multiple times.

Each child will need their own Course Book. The Booster Cards and Booster Books Sets can be shared. The Booster Cards do have only one set of stickers the child gets to use to show completion so each child may benefit and enjoy having their own set of Booster Cards.

My First, Second, and Third Nature Readers and My First Africa Reader are available now. My Second and Third Africa Readers will be released after that. At this point, we have not decided if we will have other My First, Second, and Third Readers series after that.

The Good and the Beautiful My First, Second, and Third Nature Readers are designed to give the child extra independent reading practice at exactly the level the child is on, which boosts confidence and makes reading less overwhelming and a more enjoyable and positive experience.

These wonderful books to read are not integrated with the courses, but all they all follow the exact scope and and sequence of the Reading Booster Cards as follows:

My First Nature Reader: Reader Booster A Cards

My Second Nature Reader: Reader Booster B Cards

My Third Nature Reader: Reader Booster C Cards

To dictate a sentence or a word means you say the sentence or word out loud and the child writes it down. After each word or sentence, give any correction needed. Have the child write the sentence or word correctly if it was incorrect the first time.

This course does not focus on spelling lists or memorization of spelling words. Rather, the course teaches how to segment and decode words in order to spell them based on known phonics principles. In addition, children practice spelling a small number of high-frequency and irregular words right in the lessons; these are the “Unit Spelling Words.” Children will naturally know how to spell many words after learning the phonics principles behind the words. Teaching children to memorize a lot of decodable spelling words is time-consuming, frustrating, and ineffective. Children learn and practice spelling rules in higher-level courses.

We are so happy that you chose The Good and the Beautiful to be part of your homeschooling journey!

This is one of the most common questions parents have when they first visit our website. Our Getting Started Guide will help you navigate what products are needed and what is typically used for each age group. We also have recommendations for each grade level at the link below. 

Choose Your Grade

Once you’ve received your order, this same guide will walk you through your new courses.

As we create new editions of language arts, we are aligning the instruction methods and layouts more toward grade level. We are focusing the lower levels more on reading, writing, and spelling.

Many concepts are still considered advanced but they are introduced in lessons that are easier to follow for both the child (in the self-guided levels) and the parent (in levels 3 and under). We now save some of the more complex grammar concepts for higher levels, but grammar is still covered thoroughly. Our courses have increased, rather than decreased, in how thorough and rigorous they are for children as there is more learning woven into each and every lesson. If your child is advanced, he or she may be able to move through the lessons more quickly. 

You can download our Language Arts Levels K-8 for free. By downloading the free courses, you will be able to see exactly how concepts are introduced and taught.

If you are PARTWAY through a language arts course released before 2022 and you want to switch to the new edition of the course released in 2022 rather than finishing the original edition, we suggest starting at the beginning of the new edition of the course and skipping sections already mastered. The scope and sequence of the new editions are completely changed.

It is typically not recommended to start a new course before completing the previous course, especially when the child is learning foundational phonics and reading principles. However, if you would like to assess if your child is ready for the next level prior to finishing the level you are on, administer the reading level assessment included in our Course Placement Test. If your child passes the reading assessment that corresponds to the child’s age/grade level, it can work to move to the next course level without finishing the current course level the child is on.

Most children can start on the corresponding grade level for their age if they do not need extra reading help. We suggest taking the Placement Test if you are unsure whether the child needs extra reading help. Extensive placement FAQs can be found on the Placement Test document.

No, you can continue straight into the next level when your child finishes.

We have introduced a free Letter Tiles app that can be used in correlation with the lessons and which has been a favorite with pilot families.

We have also released a Homeschool app, which will be a tremendous resource and make it easy and quick for you to access resources.

The app resources are highly recommended to enhance learning, and pilot families, even those who do not use screens in their homes, were raving about the videos, video books, and spelling resources. Most parts of the courses can be completed without the use of our apps, but some parts, especially geography, and some highly effective spelling rule videos require the use of the app, but those parts can be skipped if desired. The apps can be accessed and used on the computer if desired.

Yes, there are answer keys for Levels K-8. There is not an Answer Key for Kindergarten Prep since the answers are very basic. Answer keys are available as a free download and include answers only to select pages (not every page).

To access the free download of the Answer Keys for Language Arts Levels K-5 and Level 8 Book Studies go to goodandbeautiful.com, navigate to the Level Language Arts product page, and click on the “FAQs, Helps, and Extras” button below the product image.

The Language Arts  Level 6 Answer Key is included in the free PDF download of Language Arts Level 6. You can download the full course including the Answer Key here: https://www.goodandbeautiful.com/free-downloads/language-arts-level-6/

The Language Arts Level 7 Answer Key is included in the Level 7 Course Companion beginning on page 119. You can download Language Arts Level 7 including the Level 7 Course Companion here: https://www.goodandbeautiful.com/free-downloads/language-arts-level-7/

The previous edition Answer Keys for Language Arts Levels 1-2 are still available in PDF format and can be found here. 

You can move straight into the new edition. The new edition courses are adjusted to be more on grade level, but we still teach almost all the same concepts and topics just as thoroughly, and in many cases more thoroughly. The difference is that we teach the concepts in a more gentle way that is age appropriate for the child, so that the child does not get overwhelmed.

My First, Second, and Third Nature Readers and My First Africa Reader are available now. My Second and Third Africa Readers will be released after that. At this point, we have not decided if we will have other My First, Second, and Third Readers series after that.

Please email our customer support team ([email protected]) if you find a typo in the curriculum. If you are using an edition that is older than two years, the typo has most likely been fixed and will not need to be reported.

Our curriculum does not follow Common Core standards, but it does match or exceed most national public school standards. The academic spine of our curriculum was developed by compiling national state standards and then determining which ones match Good and Beautiful moral standards and the abilities of our pilot families. 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.

The Language Arts courses are not based on one specific educational philosophy or method. Rather, the creators of the curriculum intensely studied many different philosophies over a period of years and compiled what they felt were the best elements from several different philosophies, pulling mainly from Charlotte Mason. Find more about our philosophy in the video below

No. The goal of The Good and the Beautiful curriculum is not to teach doctrines specific to a particular Christian sect, but to teach general principles of moral character such as honesty and kindness. The King James Version of the Bible is used when quoting Bible verses.

Language Arts New Edition Schedule (Schedule Last Updated July 2022). 

Any courses that do not have a future date will not be replaced in the next 5-10 years.

Preschool: A new edition of our Preschool Course (which replaced our Pre-K Language Arts course) released on August 30, 2021.
Kindergarten Prep: Kindergarten Prep (which replaced our Level K Primer course) was released on April 19, 2022.
Level K: A new edition was released on June 7, 2022.
Level 1: A new edition was released on June 14, 2022.
Level 2: A new edition was released on July 12, 2022.
Level 3: We are currently working on creating a new edition of Level 3 that will be released in early summer 2023.
Level 4: A new edition of Level 4 was released on October 12, 2020.
Level 5: A new edition of Level 5 Language Arts was released on March 8, 2022.
Levels 6 and 7: We plan to release new editions of these levels in 2024.
High School LA Courses: We do not have plans to revise these courses. We will not be releasing any more high school classes in 2022 or 2023.