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, and even just a little bit of baking and cooking, connected to the literature in the course. 

The Level 5 course set comes with three items: The Level 5 course book, the Level 5 Book Set, and the geography and grammar cards. An answer key is also available as a free download or a physical answer key is available to purchase.The Level 5 Book Set comes in a sturdy box so you can keep the books and watercolor booklets stored together. 

Lessons take 25 to 50 minutes. The course also encourages the child to do personal reading for at least 20 minutes every day. A separate daily checklist is no longer needed as everything is included in the Level 5 Language Arts Course Book. The course is mainly student-directed, as the previous edition was, with each lesson starting with a short section that the parent completes with the child. This course includes a total of six units, three section reviews and a course assessment. 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.

The new Watercolor Around the World activities are a unique component that was a big favorite with our pilot families. Step-by-step instructions for 12 projects that are integrated through the course connect to what the student is studying in the course. Also included are templates for each project printed on high-quality watercolor paper. Please note that if you print the unit yourself, we highly recommend that you use high-quality watercolor paper to make the projects easier and more fun for the child. You may want to consider purchasing the Watercolor Around the World set for this reason.

You will find a lay flat perfect binding on our Level 5 Course book, rather than the coil binding previously used. The pages are perforated for easy removal or the child can write directly into the book, as usual. 

State capitals are memorized, as they were in the previous course, but we have now added Canadian Provinces and Territories.

You will still find a focus on writing with our writing workshops, but they are all combined into one course book, and now include additional projects such as hymn writing, which is incorporated through many activities and lessons throughout the course. Other writing assignments include writing essays, thank you notes, stories, articles, newsletters, book reviews, and nature poetry workshops. 

Spelling workshops are now included in every other lesson and are located right in the course book. These activities are a powerful and fun way to create strong spellers. Spelling rules, unit spelling words, suffixes and prefixes, contractions, and commonly confused words and more are all covered in our new Level 5 Language Arts Course Set.

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 5 posted on our YouTube Channel.

You should never skip a course level without having your child take the Placement Test including the reading level assessment for his or her corresponding age/grade level and passing it. If the child DOES pass the reading level assessment for his or her corresponding age/grade level, then you could choose any of these options:
1. Just keep going in order at a normal pace without skipping any course levels.
2. Do not skip any levels, but go through the courses more quickly until you reach the child’s
corresponding grade level by doing more than one lesson a day or skipping sections the child already has completely mastered.
3. Skip to the course level that matches the child’s grade/age level (as long as the reading assessment for that level is passed) if the child does not tend to get overwhelmed with language arts lessons.

You will need a set of quality pan watercolors (not tube watercolors) with at least 24 colors including basic colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, black). Although we do not have specific suggestions, this set is one that our customers have found to be a great option:

Watercolors on Amazon

All of the books in the Book Set are integrated into the course and required. The books can be purchased separately, but a discount is given when items are purchased together in the Book Set. There are four books that come in the set with the watercolor books and are required for the course. There is a fifth book that is available as an audiobook only on our website.

Unit 1: Chico of the Andes

Unit 2: Gabriel and the Hour Book (audiobook only)

Unit 3: Marjorie

Units 4 and 5: The Clockmaker’s Son

Unit 6: Captured Words

The course consists of 120 lessons divided into six units, three section reviews, and a course assessment. 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.

• Watercolor Around the World, Instruction Book and Watercolor Pad. The course book tells students when to complete assignments in the Watercolor Around the World book.

• Books: Captured Words, Chico of the Andes, Marjorie, and The Clockmaker’s Son

Assigned reading of each book is integrated with the lessons and required to complete the course.

Yes, the course tells students when to practice the Geography & Grammar Cards.

An answer key is available to purchase as a printed book under Recommended Resources or to download as a free PDF.

The child will do much of the learning on his or her own in this course. The lessons are designed to be engaging and very clear. They go in small, incremental steps so that the child is not confused or overwhelmed. The parent or teacher should check the child’s work on a daily basis, giving feedback.

Point out obvious errors, such as missing periods, and make sure the child followed instructions, such as using two or more transition words. Other than that, we suggest not having the child rewrite writing assignments. The child will be prompted to edit and revise writings.

The Watercolor Book and Template are sold as a set. The set can be purchased separately from the Book Set.

The PDFs are free for all items, so your child can read the books in the Book Set on a screen if physical books are not important to you. However, the watercolor pad is the biggest problem with at-home printing. The watercolor pad has templates printed on it, and at home printers usually cannot print on watercolor paper. We strongly recommend students use watercolor paper, which is so much more effective than painting on regular copy paper.

The challenging word and sentence climbs are not included in this course level. Reading and vocabulary are taught with many other activities and with the literature incorporated throughout the course.

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, they may be able to move through the lessons more quickly. 

You can download our Language Arts Levels K-8 as FREE PDFs on our website! (Just scroll down to where you see the numbers in orange circles and click the one you are interested in.) By downloading the free course, you will be able to see exactly how concepts are introduced and taught.     

Not necessarily. Most children can start on their 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 or not the child needs extra reading help. The language arts placement test can be found by clicking here. 

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.

If the child is an advanced reader it is recommended that the child start on the course that corresponds to his or her grade level. The child can be kept challenged with reading books on his or her level from The Good and the Beautiful Book List, and all the reading materials in the courses are valuable and of the highest literary quality, even for advanced readers. Not skipping levels ensures that no foundational learning is missed in spelling, literature, writing, grammar, geography, and art

Even advanced readers usually benefit by reviewing and cementing foundational phonics 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.

Since reading literature of high moral and literary value is one of the best uses of time for children, this course incorporates a good amount of reading. It improves reading fluency and speed, comprehension, spelling, writing, vocabulary, focus, analytical thinking skills, character, and more. If the child is a slower reader, consider reading with the child, alternating each paragraph. You could also read two paragraphs and then have the child read one paragraph.

If the child is able to understand the information and complete the assignments but completes  them slowly, consider moving through the course slowly, even if it takes more than one school year. If the child is having a hard time understanding the information, the level may be too advanced for the child.

This is up to you, but keep these things in mind, knowing what matters most to us is that you and your child have a good experience with the course:

1. If you print at home, it’s so important that it is high-quality printing. There are so many beautiful images with details and vibrancy that can be lost on home printing. Those who are on a very strict budget will sometimes print at home in lower quality and look at the images in the course on a computer screen. This is inconvenient and does break up the flow of the course, but is a solution that makes the course possible for some people.
2. If you want a physical copy of the course book, we have not found anywhere you can get it printed for less than our price. We are truly trying to make the convenient, beautiful physical course books as financially feasible as possible.
3. The PDFs are free for levels K-8 so your child can read the books incorporated with the course on a screen if physical books are not important to you. However, many children benefit from having physical books.

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.

It is anticipated to be available this summer. Stay tuned for additional information!

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 so a smart phone is not required.

You can go 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.