24. Our Homeschool Curriculum and Why We Love It

We share how we chose our homeschool curriculum and the pros and cons!

• why pencil-and-paper 
• how open-and-go lessons cut prep to zero
• placement tests and mixing levels by subject
• free downloads and what to try before buying
• high standards
• family-style subjects
• using short videos for independence
• skipping repetition and replacing boring readers
• pricing, value, and when to print instead
• layering tools like journals, Time4Learning, Night Zookeeper, and reading apps

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Transcript

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Welcome & Homeschool Context

SPEAKER_02 0:00

When I started asking moms about what curriculum do you use whenever you are homeschooling, I just kept getting the same answer over and over again. Oh, we kind of pieced together our own. We piece together our own. And I can totally understand that now. At first, I was just like, that seems like so much work. Why would you do that? Now I can tell why. There are just so many good tools out there. We are two full-time working parents who just made a crazy decision.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

After four years in public school, we're homeschooling our three kids and documenting the whole thing.

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Never in a million years did I think we would be homeschool people.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Welcome to, well, this wasn't the plan podcast.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

I'm Slate. In school's in the kitchen now. I'm Scotty. We says Scott when I say so. I'm Sailor, and this whole podcast was my idea.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

This podcast is our real-time journey. Unexpectedly juggling homeschool, jobs, parenting, and everything in between.

SPEAKER_02 1:06

Follow along each week as we document how it's going and share the good, the bad, and the ugly. Because we know some days are going to be ugly, and we're not holding back.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

We're learning to expect the unexpected. So let's get into it.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Let's go.

Solo Host And Episode Purpose

SPEAKER_02 1:26

Hello, it's just me today. As you can imagine, we are super busy with tax season right now, and it's getting really hard to find a time that we both can sit down and do a podcast. So you have me today for a solo episode. And I have to tell you that having a solo podcast episode is one of the most vulnerable things you could possibly do as a human being. So I'm still here showing up for you guys. Just wanted to let you know that it is very difficult to be the only person and just talk, talk, talk away. But this one is an easy one for me to talk to you about today. We keep getting these fan mails asking,

Why Listeners Ask About Curriculum

SPEAKER_02 2:06

what's your curriculum? What's your curriculum? And though we felt like we have addressed this in other episodes, I now know that we need just a whole episode over our curriculum and kind of what I've learned about picking your curriculum, why we like ours, why we don't. And I think this would help almost anyone figure out not only do they want to use a curriculum that we're using, but what they would like in one curriculum.

Introducing The Good And The Beautiful

SPEAKER_02 2:35

So the curriculum we're using is the good and the beautiful. Let me talk to you about why we like it, the pros and the cons. Because as you will learn, every single curriculum is gonna have a con. They're not all gonna be perfectly fit for you with the good and the beautiful. There are a lot of pros, which is why I would love it.

Paper First: Fixing Handwriting Gaps

SPEAKER_02 2:53

The first one being it is done on pencil and paper. And that was super important to us because our kids started off behind and writing. Their handwriting just wasn't where it should be. They're they're reading at high levels, they can comprehend all of that, but they just cannot take a pencil and write a sentence quickly on a piece of paper. And I think that has a lot to do with them using too much technology at school. They're using technology for tests, they're using technology for their work, they're using it starting in kindergarten. So their writing is just really behind what I think it should be compared to where ours were at like a similar age. So we want them writing, riding, writing. And we're trying to build so much into our homeschool curriculum that's writing so that they can get caught up. So we love that it is pencil and paper. How the good and the beautiful works is that you get on their website, you order the curriculum, and they send you the workbooks. So it's already printed out. They are spiral bound, so easy to use. And it's just lesson by lesson. And when you get to the end of the workbook, you're done with that grade level. So you'll have a different workbook for every subject. And you just pick up the workbook, flip to the lesson that you're on, do that

Zero-Prep, Open-And-Go Lessons

SPEAKER_02 4:18

lesson, and you're done. So it's very easy and straightforward. Another thing that we love about at easy, it's very easy. You do not have to prep. You don't have to think the night before, like, what do I need to do to get homeschooling set up for the next day? Nothing. You just flip to that page and start. It actually tells you on the page, say this to your child. So it could not be easier than it is with the good and the beautiful to sit down and homeschool your kids. What I love about how they set it up was that let's say, for example, you're gonna have a grandparent help you homeschool. They could easily do it. Maybe they're not doing it every single day, but if you said, hey, they need to get their math and their language arts done today, they could easily

Easy For Any Caregiver To Teach

SPEAKER_02 5:05

just turn to the page and do the lesson with them. It is very easy for anyone to do. You do not have to be a teacher to do it. So, so easy. I love it too because I don't always homeschool the same kid every single day. So sometimes Carson's working with Scotty, and then the next day I might be working with Scotty. So it takes no work for us just to pick up where the other person left off. So that is another reason we love the good and the beautiful is no prep work, no getting anything ready the night before. Just jump in whenever you're ready to homeschool, and it will do all of the work for you. The other reason that we like it is like I said, you don't have to be a teacher. So it will tell you what to say. It kind of seems weird at first because it's like say this to the kid. Oh, all of these shapes have this many sides, and today we're gonna learn about this. Sounds a little weird, but it's super easy to implement. So love that. The other thing that we love about the good and the beautiful that we did not find with other curriculums is that they have placement tests. So our problem was when we started homeschooling, we know one

Placement Tests And Mixed Levels

SPEAKER_02 6:22

of our kids is gifted. He tested top in the country on an IQ test. So, and he was super bored in school. So we knew we didn't want to start him in his actual grade, which was second grade. But where do you start? Like, how am I going to decide where to put this kid? And then with our daughter, I felt like, you know, she was super ahead in like language art and maybe right on track with math, but not sure. So they actually have really easy placement tests, and you can find those online. It's a one-page thing, one or two pages, super easy to do. You're not sitting down giving them this long test. And so when we tested them, my son actually did. He was, I feel like he was like kind of between a fourth and a fifth grade level. So I was like, let's do fourth. Let's not make it too difficult on him and get let him get frustrated. But then I was like second guessing myself thinking, what if he misses something and he has this big gap? He didn't learn something that he actually needed to know. Well, it literally tells you, hey, if the child can pass this placement test and it says they're supposed to be in fourth grade, do not worry about them missing any concepts because they we will go back through all those. They will pick up everything they need to know. So absolutely awesome. It was so nice that they made it so easy for you to place your child in the correct grade level, and you can have a different grade level per subject. He did fourth grade for language arts, and then on math, you could do a completely different one. So I love that. There is no reason that a child needs to be on just one grade level, like second grade, everything. They can do a different grade for whatever. So absolutely love their placement test.

Free Downloads And High Standards

SPEAKER_02 8:15

Another thing that's really good is you can download and print off of their website for free all of the K through eight language, arts, and math courses. You can download all of it. They give it to you for free. So you could download a few lessons and you're like, okay, Taron told me that these are really good. I want to try it out. Before you spend a dollar, you can go through some of them with your kids. You could go through the whole curriculum with your kids if you wanted to. So I love that they do that. I when companies give away things for free, that really says a lot about them, that they're not tricking you into a subscription or a purchase that they're not backing. They put it out there for free and they're like, you're gonna love it. And we know that after you see it and use it, you're gonna spend your money here because it's a good curriculum. Another thing we love about the good and the beautiful is that their standards were really high. Our kids were getting straight A's in school. And then when we tested them on certain things, they had these big gaps. They obviously were doing great in school. But then when we go to test them, let's let's say for fourth grade math for Sailor, they had not started on times tables yet. And then in the good and the beautiful, you were already supposed to know times tables before you started fourth grade. That, and then their reading with our kindergartner, she wasn't where she should have been to start first grade. Good and the beautiful, she was a bit behind. Instead of keeping them behind, we just caught them up. We got her times tables down, and then with Scotty, we got her reading level up to where she needed to be because when she took that placement test to get into first grade and make sure that's where she needed to start, she really wasn't up to par. Like she wasn't reading quick enough. And so they have them reading and want them reading pretty well by the end of kindergarten when they're going into first grade. And with public school, that is just not the case. Actually, in my

Family-Style History And Science

SPEAKER_02 10:17

son's first grade class, there was only a few kids. I'm talking three kids that could read well at the end of first grade. So the good and the beautiful wants them reading well at the end of kindergarten. So I love that their standards are high. And I like that because I want I have high standards for my kids. We both do. And I just don't ever want anyone to accuse my kids of not knowing something that they shouldn't because they are homeschooled. I still want them to have a really good education. So I want to pick a curriculum that pushes them in the best way, and I feel like the good and the beautiful does. Another good thing that we love about them is that they have family-style learning for history and science. And while we are not focusing on history and science just yet, we do plan to use the good and the beautiful family curriculum for that. I think it's so nice that you can come together

Integrated Subjects And Math Box

SPEAKER_02 11:16

and teach subjects like that. When we were just talking about it, that was something that we said was that we want to do family-style learning for history and science. And then I got on their website and they have family-style learning. So absolutely love that. Another thing is that they do combine certain subjects, which makes it pretty efficient. So, what I mean what I mean by that is that Sailor, her language arts has her learning like states, countries, oceans. So it has geography in it, which is kind of crazy, but she has been learning a lot about geography during this year, and that's been in her language arts. And it also brings art into it, a really good and well-rounded language arts that includes some other things that I really want them to learn. I also love that the program, if you buy the math program, let's say for kindergartners, it's gonna come with your math book and it's gonna come with a math box. Now, the math box is gonna have everything you need in it, like fake coins and a clock that you can use, and it's gonna have little dice and measuring tapes, those types of things that you would need on hand to do the curriculum. So you don't have to go looking for any of those things. Whenever it's a lesson and they are like, okay, we're gonna play a little game with a dice, you have it. Or they're gonna say, Oh, we're gonna learn about the clock today. Get out your clock. Everything's included. And I feel like the price is really good for what you're getting. Another thing to note about our curriculum is when they hit the fourth grade, they do start using some

Video Support Starting In Fourth Grade

SPEAKER_02 12:57

video. So until then, like I said, it's all pencil and paper, and they do everything in their work button. When they hit fourth grade, is when it changes. At fourth grade is when they introduce a couple of videos. And at first I was like, oh, I don't want videos, I just want pencil and paper. But then I realized quickly that it helped tremendously. So what they're trying to do is as the kid gets older, they take more responsibility off of the parent and put more of it on the child so that they're taking more control of their learning. They are taking things off of your plate so that homeschooling doesn't take as long, even though they probably spend more time. And I have been told by many moms that as they get older, obviously they have more things to do, and homeschooling takes longer, but not for the parent, just for the child. So she so in fourth grade, she's starting with a video and math, and it's just a teacher explaining the concept in a really great way, a way that I couldn't explain it if I wanted to. And then she does everything else in the workbook. It's really just doing like a small video lecture, and she finds those videos very helpful. And then we go through anything that she just didn't understand or she needs clarification on, but the videos are actually really good. So that's been great for us because we have a fourth grader and a second grader and a first grader. And so we can help her less because she can do more on her own while we're homeschooling the other two. So I like that they start putting more responsibility on their plate. Now, this could be a pro for you or it could be a con.

Christian Framing And How We Adapt

SPEAKER_02 14:36

It just depends. The good and the beautiful is a Christian-based program. But what I love about it is that it focuses on people having good qualities. So whether you're a Christian or not, I would hope that your goal is to raise kind humans, humans that care about other people, care about the environment, things like that. So they have little lessons in there about, you know, being kind, being helpful, being a good brother, being a good sister, being a good friend, things like that. And I think every child can benefit from those. Now, there are a few religious things tied in there. And even though we are Christian, some of those we didn't, some of those we didn't necessarily agree with completely. So when I was reading through that, we just skipped over it. So I think it's great. I think they do a good job at making a wholesome curriculum.

Cons: Length, Repetition, Skipping Work

SPEAKER_02 15:40

Okay, I'm winded talking about all of the good things. So let's talk about the cons and the things that we have that we don't necessarily just love about the good and the beautiful. One of the things is some of the lessons with the older kids, not with Scotty, our youngest, who's in first grade, but Sailor's lesson. She's doing fifth grade language art, they get long and repetitive. And so for us, this is not a big deal because we are skipping over things. If it's repetitive, if they're having her do like a total of 20 different things and it's like the same thing, we will half it. We'll be like, okay, Sailor, only do 10. Now she has ADHD and I don't want her to hate school. If if I see that she understands the topic, then we're just gonna move on. There's really no reason for us to make her do it. So we skip chunks of it just to save time because that was one thing we hated about school, is they had so much repetition. If my kid gets it, we skip. And the good thing is every single lesson kind of goes back to a previous lesson. Meaning, if they learned about coins in lesson two, they're not gonna not talk about coins again for the rest of the thing. They're gonna

Cons: Readers Are Boring

SPEAKER_02 16:57

talk about coins and then talk about coins again and again and again. So you don't need as much repetition on a lot of the things. So we cut them out. Another thing is that the reading that they provide. So if you get the language arts, you can get the readers that go with it. And then they're supposed to like read a chapter out of this good and the beautiful book, and then you write a summary over chapter one, which sounds great, right? My kids hate those books. And I am not the first person that said that. I've talked to many moms who say the same thing. And the books are good quality, good lessons, good life skills, but they're boring. And my kids were hating them. So we just decided you guys do not have to do the good and the beautiful reading, but they are reading. So if it says you're gonna read out of your book one chapter and then write a summary, they can read a chapter out of any book or the book that they're currently reading, they can write about it. So we don't care if they're reading the readers or not. So we won't buy the readers again, likely. The readers that came with the first grade curriculum are really good. They're just little books. And

Cost Perspective And Value

SPEAKER_02 18:03

I think they're good because they are books based on the phonics and the rules that they know up until that point. They're not going to get to something and get super frustrated because they haven't learned it yet. The older you get, the more I feel like people have a problem with their curriculum because it gets long. So my suggestion is just to skip over part of it if you want to. If it's repetition and you're like, okay, they wrote they wrote enough paragraphs for today, like, don't do the last one and move forward. I do think it's a really good curriculum. I just think that sometimes doing more doesn't always mean that they learn more. And the last thing we'll talk about is the price. Some think that the good and the beautiful pricing is really expensive. Obviously, this just depends on your budget. I didn't find it to be very expensive for what we actually got. Like, I think I spent $600 to $700 for the box that I needed for the year when I finally ordered all the kids' curriculums. And when it came in, I just was amazed at all the stuff that we got. I felt like we got a lot for our money. So

Piecing Together Tools That Fit

SPEAKER_02 19:10

to me, that wasn't a con, but it definitely is more expensive than other options you could choose when you're homeschooling. So just gonna say that out there because maybe that you want something less expensive than that. Now, that is for three kids. Obviously, for one, it would be less, and you can always print the stuff off for free for those linguals or math. So that is a very long episode over the good and beautiful in our curriculum. But what I want to say is that when I started asking moms about what curriculum do you use whenever you are homeschooling, I just kept getting the same answer over and over again. Oh, we kind of piece together our own. We piece together our own. And I can totally understand that now. At first, I was just like, that seems like so much work. Why would you do that? Now I can tell why. There are just so many good tools out there that you might like the good and the beautiful math, but you may not be a fan, like I said, of the language arts. Maybe that's not everything and it doesn't work for your kid. Or some people have told me that the good and the beautiful is a little bit distracting for their child if they have ADHD and they needed something like straight to the point for math to help them get through it. And I excel is a really good thing. So I think that you just learn as you go. And I didn't know if I would, but we have to, we have learned and we have picked up other things along the way. Right now, we're using a lot of other tools too to make it work. Our kids start writing in the mornings with a journal that I found on Amazon. And we have Time for Learning, which has science videos that they watch. We're not doing the strict curriculum on it. They just get some science in, whatever I need to get some work. We're also using Night Zookeeper, which is like a typing and creative writing that's just a tool. It's not a curriculum.

Switching From Online To Paper

SPEAKER_02 21:01

And our kids are using that, and it's also helping them learn to type. We are using like a reading app for our youngest. She just finished reading.com, but we're also using, I think LO is what it's called. But when she practices her reading, it actually she reads out loud, and the app will tell her if she got a word wrong. So it's a way for her to get more reading practice in without us having to sit with her and read every single time she reads. So there's so many tools that you can use and things that you can find. And I just feel like you have to know what likely works for one family is not necessarily gonna work for yours. But if you listen to this and you thought, yeah, I think that that sounds really good for my family too, those are my values. Then I do think the good and the beautiful is somewhere good to start. And you don't have to use the same curriculum. Like if you want to start with something and you finish the semester and you're like, I'm just not completely satisfied, these are. Problems are having switch, and that's exactly what we did. We started out with Me Academy, which is an online one, thinking it's easy, it's a full curriculum, but it just wasn't for us. We didn't like it, and we didn't want them on the computer that much, it just wasn't for us. So we switch and then we're gonna finish the year with good and the beautiful. I don't know if we'll always use the good and the beautiful, but for right now,

Try, Adjust, And Don’t Over-Invest

SPEAKER_02 22:24

for the ages that our kids are, it's a really, really good fit. So I think that the key is just realizing that what you choose today doesn't mean that you have to use it forever. And I would suggest if you're trying one, don't make a huge investment because you don't know if you might switch to it. So if you can, there are many that are low cost or you can try out for just like a short time and then see if you like it before you spend money on it. I hope this episode, full breakdown of our curriculum, helps someone out there. If you haven't yet, please, please, please leave us a review. We are getting a lot of fan mail. Thank you so, so much for sending those. But leave us a review. We are juggling what to do with this podcast.

Reviews, Feedback, And Next Steps

SPEAKER_02 23:18

Do we continue to do it and try to monetize, or is it something that we put put off later on whenever we end the year? But we'll definitely be documenting this first year either way. So we would love to know if you're loving the podcast, what you love about it, what you don't love about it. Share it with a friend. Thank you so much, and we will see you next week.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

We will work really hard on this podcast. Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss a single podcast episode. Thank you, have a good day.