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Simply Good and Beautiful Math
Affordable, efficient, parent and child friendly, and thorough. Sound too good to be true? I humbly suggest that this newly revised Math program from The Good and the Beautiful is all of this and more! Currently available for grades K-5 with 6th-8th grade planned, this math program teaches to all learning styles with games, activities and stories while following a spiral methodology. The series primarily focuses on conceptual understanding and mathematical reasoning. Academically, this is a strong math curriculum that was developed by math specialists to meet high academic standards. It is not, however, aligned to the CCS or state standards, although it will meet or exceed many standards. All levels include an all-in-one student and teacher full color Course Book (separate answer key). Grades K-3 are parent taught, while Grades 4-5 are designed to be completed independently by the student. Content is unchanged from the free PDF versions on the publisher website. Course sets are available for a tremendous cost savings, compared to printing the student books and purchasing the included math manipulatives (K-3).
Grades K-3 sets include the All-in-One Course Book and the Math Box that provides the most commonly used manipulatives. There are a few items that you will need to provide like a white board and dry erase marker which are used in most lessons. Occasionally, additional household items will be needed, which are listed at the beginning of the unit. An example from kindergarten includes a small fruit snack and three small objects found in nature. Full color elementary Course Books are divided into three or four units with a total of 120 lessons (4 days per week), which allows extra time for life events or additional review or reteaching if necessary. As an all-in-one resource, the lesson text is in 2 colors: blue for parent notes and black text to read aloud to the child. Lessons are formatted similarly. A beginning review (optional if mastered concept), followed by the short story to introduce the concept, along with guided activities. The time for each lesson has been carefully planned to meet the attention span of younger learners. Kindergarten lessons should take approximately 10 minutes per day. Lesson time gradually increases each year, with the Grade 3 lessons taking around 30 minutes. Units conclude with an Assessment Test to ensure children have mastered the necessary concepts to move forward, but does not cover all concepts taught, as many will be retaught later. Answer Keys for grades 1-3 are available free online at The Good and the Beautiful website. There are no Answer Keys for the Kindergarten level. Additional free teaching resources are also available online. Depending on the level, this may include free videos, audio downloads, printable flashcards and extra practice pages, or a certificate of completion. Course Books are fully reproducible for family use. Math Box contents vary by grade level. See specific grades for contents.
