DONE WITH THE GOOD & BEAUTIFUL HOMESCHOOL CURRICULUM | AFTER 4 YEARS WE ARE CHANGING EVERYTHING!

I’ve used G&B quite a bit and it’s a beautiful, well rounded program. I’m using the LA for high school now. As a homeschool mom/teacher of 20 years, the advice I would like to share is do not get bogged down in curriculum choices. Believe me when I say that there is so much more than curriculum in the elementary and middle school years. I’ve done it both ways and as I’m reaching the final years of homeschooling, I know I spent way too much time thinking about the right math program or the right LA books. As homeschool teachers we all lean towards a certain level of control. Controlling our child’s education is what we thrive on- that’s why we homeschool. Not a bad thing, but we can get “caught up” in always thinking there’s a better way. After 20 years, Ive seen and used a lot of the curricula out there. Just don’t get wrapped up in the choices and forget that homeschooling kids works best when we don’t follow a curriculum solely (you will burn out). Spend more time reading and playing games in those early years especially rather than jumping from curriculum to curriculum. Whenever I remembered to do that ( we had many days of just play) there was always so much more learning that went on.

I home schooled 2 kids through high school in the 90's and early 2000's. Now they are home schooling their own. May I just say that home schooling, regardless of curriculum, is better than anything if you are conscientious and thorough. ( I know parents that did a terrible job). No curriculum is perfect, and where your child lacks or excels, you can add or subtract material as needed. TGTB Language Arts is working very well for our older grand daughter, but our grandson has needed a different approach. TGTB math is working very well for both. (Our grand daughter is in level 4 math and lang arts, our grandson is level 2 lang arts and level 3 math. He loves math, but struggles with reading). God bless every parent that is home educating their children in this world we live in.

I’m so glad I’m not the only one who feels like G&B is just a bunch of busy work but doesn’t add any value to its lessons! Need to know what you find that works for you as far as language arts, writing and grammar, and history! And can’t wait to see a walkthrough of Saxon math!

I use the LA and Math for both of my kids. 3 years for the one and 2 years for the other and we love it! We've done kinder prep, and kindy la/math, and levels 1-3 (old levels) for LA and math new program 1-3. They've been life savers for me. The kids don't get bored and the phonics/spelling rules has improved his reading immensely. That being said, I tweak where I need and skip lessons if I feel a need, based on each child and what they need. That's the beauty of homeschool. All curriculums have pros and cons. I was told by veteran homeschooler when I started, don't get hung up on the curriculum because no curriculum is perfect and you will always find part of it that doesn't work for you. Just be ready to make changes and teach to your child's needs and interests. And so far TGATB is the program that ticks the most boxes for us and i have to do the least amount of adjusting.

I use TGAB for my three school-aged kids. We absolutely love it. We do skip some of the busy work, especially if it’s a concept they understand completely. That’s the beauty of homeschooling! My son is the same grade as his cousin (second grade). This week I got a glimpse of her public school education, and let me tell you, I have never been so happy that we’ve chosen the path we have! Her homework was an absolute joke and my son watched with his own eyes how important it is to continue doing school the way we do. He is about a fourth grade reading level 🤯 his cousin is less than a kindergarten level and she said that she’s not able to ask her teacher questions! Seriously?!

Anyway, we do skip almost if the extras in the curriculum, but some days, they need that. They need to learn things a different way.

Every child is different. 💕

Christian Light Education is what we use for Language Arts. The grammar, specifically, is so thorough. We also used TGTB LA alongside CLE as reinforcement, but dropped it when we saw how weak it was next to CLE. Such pretty curriculum, but we needed more repetition. We use Saxon as well. Best of luck finding what works best for you!

Our kids hated Saxon math. We just started using TGTB this year and our kids are thriving in all subjects. Every family and child is different and I'm thankful for all the options out there to choose from.

Thanks for the update. Looking forward to your 2nd grader's update. My daughter is 2nd grade also. I have made so many changes over the years. Saxon works great for my oldest, but the younger grades are different. It didn't work for my daughter, so I have her in Singapore Dimensions. Great thing about homeschool is the flexibility. Enjoy the rest of your winter break. :)

I love their history lol…I purchased all four years before it was discontinued. It’s the one subject we are keeping as is for next year. I love how different things work well for different people. Great review. 😊

I love this! We’re changing everything from TGAB as well.

Different strokes for different folks. It's nice you gave it a look/try and giving myself and others some things to think about. Thank you for this video and the work you do. 👍

I have an L5 & L3 in TGTB and they both love it and thrive!!! We use Ambleside online as our spine and TGTB as a supplement to that. Math was such a struggle for my oldest and she absolutely adores TGTB math. Having the stories speaks to her and let’s her put her guard down.

I felt the same way about TGTB language arts. My son didn’t care for the readers. Stories were boring for him and me as well quite frankly. Writing instruction, in my opinion, just was not thorough enough. Math was way too “fluffy” for him. In short we switched to Saxon Math, IEW for writing, Moving Beyond the Page for Reading & Social Studies. Very happy with all of the changes we’ve made thus far. New subscriber! Good luck with all of your new curriculum. Can’t wait for future updates! It’s always nice to find the curriculum and flow that works best for your family.

I haven’t tuned into the homeschool YouTube community in a while and I haven’t posted a new video in FORRREVERR and I always enjoyed your videos and sitting down watching your videos right now has motivated me to want to get back to my channel 😭 not sure why it’s such a struggle for me lol but hey girlllyyyy is been a while and thank you for motivating me, hopefully I do something with it 🤣

Excited to see your experience with the new curriculum 🤗

Thanks for your informative video!

I work at a local homeschool curriculum store, and I’ve noticed an increasing number of customers telling me something similar — they’ve been using TGTB for 2-3 years for some or all subjects and now are ready to switch to other curricula. The subject areas that seem most problematic are math and language arts.

With K through 5th grade math, students should be gaining an assortment of skills, like writing the numerals correctly and neatly, memorization of facts (+/– within 10 and then within 20, multiplication through 9x9), memorization of procedures (column addition/subtraction, long division, long multiplication, fraction work, and more), and clerical skills (checking one’s own work for errors, copying problems correctly, showing steps neatly). As they head into the middle grades, they will add in application skills (real-world math problems), problem-solving (puzzle-y math problems), and increasing stamina to concentrate on doing something they might not prefer.

With language arts for most K-2nd, the priorities are handwriting, phonics, and listening to classic literature being read aloud to them (30-90 min/day).

With language arts for most 2nd-5th, the priorities are handwriting/penmanship, spelling (which is backwards phonics), grammar/punctuation/capitalization (most programs combine these three), and literature (a combination of listening to a read-aloud and reading independently).

Some streamlined/efficient and effective options for language arts:
- Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading (scripted lessons)
- Spelling Workout
- Evan Moor Building Spelling Skills
- Rod and Staff Spelling
- First Language Lessons (scripted lessons) Levels 1-4
- Rod and Staff Building Christian English Grade 5
- Writing with Ease (scripted lessons) Levels 1-3

Note: Generally, students start spelling when they are near the end of their phonics instruction. For most, this will be 2nd grade, when they’ll do both spelling and phonics concurrently.

Thank you for your honesty ❤️
I subscribed just because of it, and plus your videos are very informative and you are not afraid to try new things 😉
This is my second year homeschooling, so I am soaking all of info about curriculum...
I'm using CLE, Generations curriculum, IEW, Lifepacs and Masterbooks 📚

First year homeschooler (k-5yr preschooler-3yr & 18mon) and I used to be a public school teacher taught (Kinder-5th)! I looked into curriculum so much and feel like there’s a lot of fluff and need enough writing (not a fan of just copy work) I like writers workshop but doesn’t seem like that’s a homeschool thing-it is for my kinder and preschooler though! They are writing narratives and letters and getting into nonfiction writing also.
ELA I was putting together my own lessons bc I couldn’t find one that had it all. Decided a few days ago to bite the bullet and buy TGAB for this year until I find something I like more! This video couldn’t have come at a better time! Reading all the comments and going to do some more research for this upcoming year! I’m glad I’m in the beginning years 😅 thanks mamas for doing all the work for us who are just learning!

Agreed. The only curriculum we love from TGTB that works well for us is their science units. Those are fabulous

We also made this exact conclusion one week ago and for the same reasons. We are now transitioning to the Robinson Curriculum which also uses Saxon Math. Please keep us updated! I am intrigued :)

I used Saxon for math for my oldest. It was PERFECT for him. He is math minded naturally. I switched to the TGTB for math for my middle guy because I was bored of Saxon. I regret it and we are moving back to Saxon. You've made the right choice for your daughter. The are a lot of homeschool mama opinions about Saxon, but I'm here to say we LOVE it too.