FAQs, Helps, and Extras

Spelling and grammar rules are reviewed in our upper-level lessons as well. The Levels 5-7 grammar and geography cards also cover grammar rules.

Each child will need their own Course Book. The Reader and the I Sat by the Sea Poetry Collection are non-consumable and can be shared.

Our grade comparison chart for Language Arts is as follows:

Level K: Advanced Kindergarten/Regular 1st Grade

Level 1: Advanced 1st Grade/Regular 2nd Grade

Level 2: Advanced 2nd Grade/Regular 3rd Grade

Level 3: 3rd Grade/4th Grade

Level 4: 4th Grade/5th Grade

Level 5: 5th Grade/6th Grade

Level 6: 7th Grade/8th Grade

Level 7: Advanced 8th Grade/9th Grade

The homeschool experience usually allows children to progress at a faster rate. The Good and the Beautiful curriculum is carefully designed to pack a lot of learning into a short period of time while keeping difficult subjects understandable. Thus, our curriculum tends to progress at a faster rate than public school curriculum. Children going from public school to The Good and the Beautiful tend to start at a lower level than they would expect, but they also tend to progress very quickly.

The placement test is highly recommended in order to determine the appropriate level for your child. You may also download Levels K-8 for free, and the other levels have samples which include all the benchmarks and many sample pages. You can look through these samples and use your own judgment to decide the course level with which to start your child, but the placement test is very helpful in determining the appropriate place to start.

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

This is extremely common for children just starting The Good and the Beautiful curriculum. Our curriculum fills gaps and holes that either your child didn’t retain or were not taught in their prior curriculum.

Do not worry about starting an older child in a lower level. He or she will likely go through the courses quickly and catch up to his or her corresponding grade level without missing any important foundational principles. Also, when the child reaches high school age, he or she can jump right to the high school course, which reviews all grammar principles, regardless of what levels he or she has completed.

Levels 1, 2, and 3 review all the grammar and spelling principles taught in the previous courses. Thus, advanced readers can usually start one or two levels higher than they place if they only place in a lower level because of grammar and spelling. Levels 4 and above are mainly self-directed. If the child does not have a good foundation in spelling and grammar, consider starting with Level 3. Advanced readers will naturally go through the courses quickly. Also, your child can continue to improve reading skills by reading higher-level books on our book list.

Even advanced readers usually benefit by reviewing and cementing foundational phonic principles, which will help them know how to sound out challenging words when they encounter them. Advanced readers usually take less time to go through the courses and quickly reach higher levels. In the meantime, you can help your child continue to gain reading progress by completing the following:

1. Supplement with books from The Good and the Beautiful Book List that are on the child’s reading level. The book list has a separate placement test to determine his or her reading level.
2. Read aloud with your child books that are 2–3 levels higher than the child’s personal reading level, switching off every paragraph or page. When reading on their own, children often skip through challenging words. Reading out loud with the parent or teacher encourages the child to sound out challenging words.
3. Have the child listen to audio books (from The Good and the Beautiful Book List ) that are 2–3 levels higher than his or her reading level

You will have to use your best judgment, especially taking into consideration the child’s handwriting and writing abilities. The biggest struggle for younger children in higher levels is usually the writing assignments. In addition to this, our placement tests are limited and cannot test all grammar principles; consequently, there may be gaps in learning if younger children start at a high level. It is recommended that you do not start any child more than one level above his or her corresponding grade level (allowing the child to move through the levels as quickly as he or she is able).

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

This is not common. However, if this is the case after you followed instructions, completed the entire course book, and feel that the child made progress, move to the course for the next level. If you feel that the child did not make good progress, or if the child does not pass the placement test after finishing the NEXT course (two course books in a row), it is suggested you have the child tested for a reading or learning disability.

Note: Usually you do not need to have your child take the placement test after finishing each course. Simply move to the next course level.

Start your child on the level for which he or she tested and be consistent each day with doing the recommended time for the course (see the “About this Course” section at the beginning of each course book). Then, do not stress! If a child does not have reading disabilities, he or she can start with the first high school course as soon as they reach fourteen years old. It is not necessary to complete Level 7 beforehand. For example, if a child completed Level 5 and just turned 14, he or she can jump to the High School 1 course. This is because our standard high school courses review the principles and rules learned in the lower levels.

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.

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.

The Language Arts courses are not based on one specific educational philosophy or method. Rather, the creators of this 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.

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.

Language Arts New Edition Schedule (Schedule Last Updated June 2022):

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 will be released in July 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.

Yes! Beginning June 1, 2022, levels K-8 of our Language Arts and Simply Good and Beautiful Math will be free to download.

Yes, the scope and sequence for the entire scope and sequence of Kindergarten Prep through Level 2 have changed. 

These new courses have been aligned to be on average grade levels. We had a huge piloting group, and that was an immense help in making sure the pacing, interest level, and academic level were just right for each age group.

Our current editions will only be available until they are sold out. PDFs will likely be removed at that time as well so we suggest downloading any free courses you would like to access now.

The lessons have shortened and the pacing has become more gentle, but the effectiveness with which children learn to read, write, and spell has improved and increased. The sequence is much more streamlined, focusing on principles in a very sequential way and building upon prior knowledge. The lesson formats have been improved. Many more geography principles are integrated. The new courses use a new optional Letter Tiles app to assist with spelling practice.

No. All items in our new courses will be completely new. Phonics cards and our current mini books and readers will not be a part of the new program.

We are introducing a more robust and engaging phonics approach with reading booster cards and reading booster books, which we are excited to show you in the near future. These brand-new resources, which are used in correlation with the course book, perfectly align with the child’s progress and greatly increase reading confidence and fluency in a sequential, ordered way.

We do not yet have a scope and sequence available but will have more details at the time of release.

Yes, they will be offered in PDF format. Language Arts Levels K-8 are free to download.

Because there is a new scope and sequence for levels preschool to Level 2, you will notice these changes when transitioning from the old curriculum to the new curriculum:

Original Level K Primer to New Level K: The new Level K moves much more slowly at the beginning of the course. Your child should have no problem moving from the original Level K Primer to the new Level K course, although some children may find the first 20 lessons or so easy and will be able to move through them quickly.

Original Level K to New Level 1: If your child completed the original Level K, there will be no problem moving to the New Level 1, although much of the first unit of the new Level 1 will be review for the child, and the child may be able to move through the lessons more quickly.

Original Level 1 to New Level 2: If your child completed the original Level 1, there will be no problem moving to the New Level 2, although much of the first unit of the new Level 2 will be review for the child, and the child may be able to move through the lessons more quickly.

New Level 2 to Original Level 3: We are currently working on creating a new edition of Level 3 that will be released in early summer 2023, and it will be the perfect bridge between the new Level 2 and our current Level 4. If you take a full school year to complete the new Level 2, the new Level 3 will be ready for you when you need it for the next school year. If you finish the new Level 2 before the new Level 3 comes out, it is no problem to start on the old Level 3. Reading, phonics, grammar, and punctuation are all on about the same level with the old and new Level 3. The writing in the original Level 3 is more difficult, so you just might need to take that more slowly. We will not be redoing Level 4 as it is already aligned to an average Grade 4 level.

The shift in scope and sequence to be more on grade level allows for children to easily transition from current editions to our new editions.