It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that I am still in catch up mode when it comes to documenting our schoolhouse happenings. But in May, Jacob finished the Level 5 Language Arts course from The Good and the Beautiful. He loved it and I would definitely recommend it! So here is all the information from his year of learning in language arts!
Course Set
When you order the course you receive a full-color course book, a Watercolor Around the World book, four novels, geography and grammar flashcards, and an answer key.
The only additional supplies you need is a set of watercolors and paintbrushes. There are occasionally lessons that may require additional supplies (there are a couple recipes) but for the most part it is not supply heavy at all.
Course Book
This course has 120 lessons and they are divided into six units. After every two units, there is a section review. And at the end of the course is a course assessment.
Each lesson alternates between a “Spelling Workshop” and a “Writing Workshop” as part of their independent work.
The course covers so many subjects, including: reading, literature, spelling, writing, grammar and usage, punctuation, vocabulary, geography, art appreciation, and art instruction.
Watercolor Around the World
The Watercolor Around the World Instruction Book is beautiful! It is filled with helpful tips and 12 watercolor projects. Each project tells you what colors you will need, and step by step written and picture instructions. The projects taught are:
- Spectacled Bear
- Color Wheel and Techniques
- Llama Scene
- Illuminated Letter “S”
- Illuminated Letter “X”
- Lighthouse
- Sea Turtle
- Black Forest Farmhouse
- Black Forest Mushrooms
- Cuckoo Bird
- Black Forest Cake
- Native American Pottery
These projects typically go along with what they are reading in the novels throughout the year.
Required Reading
Speaking of novels, there are four novels that are required reading for this course. They are:
- Captured Words by Frances Williams Browin
- Chico of the Andes by Christine Von Hagen
- Marjorie by Sidney Baldwin
- The Clockmaker’s Son by Jenny Phillips
I didn’t read these books with Jacob but he said he really enjoyed each of them. Chico of the Andes was his favorite!
Geography & Grammar Cards
If you have used other language arts lessons within the Good and the Beautiful – then you may be familiar with the Geography & Grammar Cards. They are flashcards to practice throughout the year (the course prompts you when to study them) and you have several courses (aka years) to work through them.
If I am being honest – I don’t love these. And maybe I just need more clarification but I don’t feel like we ever got into a good groove of “passing them off”.
Answer Key
Parent involvement in this course is very little (of course you could always be as involved as you wanted to be). There is usually a “Parent/Teacher” section at the beginning of the lesson where you may read poetry, vocabulary, dictation, reading, etc. This is probably about 5 minutes of time – so it is short.
Then after your child finishes the lesson, you can use the answer key (I promise you are going to want this!) to check over their work. I will say, there were definitely days where I didn’t check Jacob’s work the same day. In a perfect world, it would happen every day, but some days were lumped together and it still worked (but daily is definitely the ideal!).
Timing
I would plan on at least an hour per lesson for your child (this is including their independent reading). The “Parent/Teacher” section is about 5 minutes. Then the student section is roughly 15 minutes. Followed by about 15 minutes for the “Spelling Workshop” or “Writing Workshop” (this is probably the area where time would be added – especially on days when you have a project like a recipe or watercolor). Then the course recommends at least 20 minutes of personal reading. This is a big one for our house. Jacob can do this whenever works best in his schedule so it doesn’t necessarily happen during his “language arts” time.
One additional time I would add is for you to go over their work. Even with the answer key it does take a little time (especially when it comes to writing assignments) to do. I would plan on at least five minutes to go over everything with your child. So grand total of parent time = probably about 10 minutes.
Favorite Moments & Activities
Since this course is very hands off for the parent – there are hardly any pictures that I took unless it was an activity.
Final Thoughts
This course was wonderful! The language arts courses from The Good and the Beautiful are truly their crowning jewel. They are solid and I can’t imagine using anything else. And bonus – my kids love them, too!
Other Language Arts Courses from The Good and the Beautiful
We have used every language arts course from Preschool to Level 5 (some multiple times). I haven’t always reviewed each of them, but am more than happy to answer any questions you may have.
- Preschool
- Kindergarten Prep
- Level K
- Level 1
- Level 2
- Level 3
- Level 4
