Our homeschool year started this week, so I thought it was the perfect time to share what we will be using this year for our curriculum choices. This post is specifically going to be about our homeschool math curriculum picks but if you want to see all of my choices to be sure to check out THIS POST.
There are a lot of factors that I think about when looking at a curriculum. What teaching philosophy we follow, what my child’s learning style is, and the amount of prep work it requires. I also think of the specific subject and how my child performs in that subject. Are they advanced and pick up concepts early or do they need a little more explanation and review? I factor in all these things when deciding what I will teach and this year we are continuing where we found success last year.
The Good and The Beautiful Math
Last year, after some trouble with math at the beginning of the year, we decided to ditch out curriculum and try The Good and The Beautiful. We were already using, and loving it, for Language Arts so it seemed like a natural transition. Before the switch, my oldest was not thriving when it came to math, and to be honest she fought me almost every time we had to pull out our math book.
We made the switch and I knew within the week that it was what was the best curriculum for her. The Good and The Beautiful made math less overwhelming for my daughter and I could see in her eyes she really started to love math again. It had the structure and consistency in the “daily dose” section where she could work independently and at her own pace. The lessons included movement and music, games, and activities. The pages were bright and colorful and full of engaging stories. It changed her and her love of math in those first few weeks with The Good and The Beautiful. I was so happy that we made the switch.
A Math Curriculum That Matches Her Learning Style
Like I mentioned above, my daughter is a very kinesthetic learner. She loves manipulatives and touching and learning with her hands. The Good and The Beautiful has a lot of manipulative work as part of its course. That made learning not only easier for her but fun. I saw this small change in the way she was completing her course work result in a huge change in her demeanor towards math. Now she says she loves doing math.
We are not only using The Good and The Beautiful Math for my second grader, but we will also use it for my 1st grader as well. My 1st grader does love the games and manipulatives but she is more of an auditory learner and this curriculum has a way of catering to her as well. Most lessons include little stories. They aren’t long but they do continue from lesson to lesson to make the concepts my daughter is learning relatable to her. When she hears me read to her, or explain the lessons, she learns best and The Good and The Beautiful has some gorgeous literature-based lessons included right in the course. If you are a Charlotte Mason lover like I am, you will love this about The Good and The Beautiful.
Not only will my two older daughters be using The Good and The Beautiful for math, but my littlest will also be too! We decided to start my 4 year old (more on that decision soon) with a kindergarten curriculum this year. Since we used The Good and The Beautiful pre-k and primer, and loved it, we decided to start her on the Math curriculum this year. I find The Good and The Beautiful to be really gentle for Kindergarten. I love that! It slowly builds on concepts and builds a mastery understanding. It is also so colorful and filled with games and activities. I love that, especially for younger ones, because I do believe at that age a lot is learned through play.
An Open And Go Curriculum For Busy Moms
This year I will have 3 children I am homeschooling; 2nd grade, 1st grade, and Kindergarten. I also run a full-time business. I am busy so the fact that The Good and The Beautiful is open and go is a huge benefit for me. I don’t have to stress about planning lessons or worry about where we left off. I just open and teach. Everything I need is built right into the lesson for me. I don’t need a teacher’s manual, I just work through the lesson with my girls and they get everything they need.
If you want to see this first hand be sure to watch my Instagram stories where I share how I go through these lessons with my kids. It gives you a first-hand look at what a math lesson with The Good and The Beautiful looks like.
It’s Good And It’s Beautiful
One of my favorite things about The Good and The Beautiful is that it is just that, Good and Beautiful! I love that the curriculum includes character-building concepts from a Christian basis. I also love how the curriculum has beautiful artwork built-in. This curriculum is so well put together and includes not only math but history and science and geography as well.
Scope and Sequence
With the success we had last year there was no question we were going to continue with The Good and The beautiful again this year.
One thing that is important to me is that I keep my girls on level with our state standards. I have heard from many parents on Instagram that they have been thrust into homeschooling this year and they want to be sure they keep their kids on level as well. I find this math curriculum to be gentle while also challenging them to learn concepts on level with their grade.
Take a Look Inside The Good and The Beautiful Math
Watch this youtube video where I give an in-depth review, including some tips on how I use this math curriculum.
Math Games
The Good and The beautiful really is all you need when it comes to a math curriculum, and there are games as part of the curriculum, but we do like to incorporate some more games and unit studies as well to bring in a little extra fun.
We love Let’s Play School for this. She has a monthly subscription with themes and each theme has activities for reading and math! She even has activities geared to different ages!
We also like to have math games available for when we have downtime. This isn’t part of our traditional curriculum but ways we just reinforce the concepts we have learned. Here are some of our favs:
I hope this post was helpful!
If you want to find more of our curriculum picks and reviews be sure to visit our HOMESCHOOL PAGE.
