{REVIEW} The Good and the Beautiful Math: Level 1

I am so excited to have an ENTIRE post to gush about math! Never in my life did I think I would write the above sentence!

This math is just THAT good. We have loved it and Jacob’s foundation in math is SOLID. He is always happy to do math – which I don’t think I can honestly say about any another subject.

WHAT IS INCLUDED?

• Level 1 Course Book Part 1
• Level 1 Course Book Part 2
• “My Planner”
• Levels 1-2 Math Activity Box
• Level 1 Transition Lessons {PDF Download}
• Level 1 Answer Key {PDF Download}
• MP3 Song Downloads {3 Songs Included}

LEVEL 1-2 MATH ACTIVITY BOX

The activity box is 100% worth it. You could do it without but…why? It is an investment but I think there is a lot of good that comes from the activity box. It comes with helpful math manipulatives AND games and activities that support what you are learning in the lessons.

Plus…everything is simply beautiful and makes you excited to learn. I am definitely more motivated around pretty things. Am I alone?!

PLUS…it lasts for two levels which is amazing!

I did a WHOLE post about how I prepped my Activity Box to make sure it lasts through all four of my kiddos! Check it out here.

Here is what is included in the activity box:

• 1 clock
• 2 ten-sided dice
• 1 (55-card) Double-Nine Domino Cards set
• 20 (Two-Color) counting chips
• 6 chipboard pages with fraction pieces, tangram pieces, Base Ten Bricks, seashell manipulatives, egg manipulatives, and marble manipulatives
• 10 mini wooden 3D figures: 1 sphere, 1 cube, 1 cylinder, 1 cone, 1 triangular pyramid, 1 hexagonal prism, 1 triangular prism, 1 rectangular prism, and 2 hemispheres
• 2 game pawns
• 1 mini measuring tape
• 128 Numbered Game Cards (numbers, symbols, and more)
• 1 (spiral bound) My Place Value Chart with pockets
• 1 Place Value Pieces page
• 10 (Double-Sided) Game and Work Mat Pages
• 44 (Double-Sided) Tangram Work Mats and Cards
• Game Instructions Booklet

A note about the chipboard pages. I feel like these are so well done and I wish there was a better way to describe them then just “chipboard”. They are thick and sturdy and honestly, I feel like they look just as good now after completing the course as when I first took them out.

ADDITIONAL SUPPLIES

There are minimal additional supplies you need on top of the Activity Box. The only ones that you might not have on hand are:

• Dry Erase Board / Markers / Eraser
• Dry Erase Pocket Sleeve {I actually didn’t have one of these and didn’t need one because I laminated materials from the Activity Box}
• 100 pennies, 20 nickels, 10 dimes, 8 quarters
• Ruler

LEVEL 1 TRANSITION LESSONS

I cannot personally speak to the transition lessons but I think the idea of them is AWESOME. There are six lessons available that are meant to help your child if they are new to The Good and the Beautiful math or if they simply want a refresher before you get started.

Since we went straight from Math K into Level 1 I didn’t feel like we needed them. But I think if we had a “summer break” in between levels these could be really helpful.

LENGTH OF COURSE

This level took us nine months to complete. I will say though, that was with us doing it over the summer {so a little sporadic} and also adding our little Lydia to our family {so we took a good couple weeks off of school}. I think planning on seven to eight months would definitely be a doable goal for this level.

There are 119 lessons and five assessments {four unit assessments and one final} included in the course.

UNITS

• Addition and Subtraction
• Addition and Subtraction Continued
• Measurement and More
• Numbers to 100

The units vary in length but each ends with a review and an assessment. Then at the completion of the whole course is a final assessment.

Each unit also has a different “theme”. The first lesson in each unit begins with a story introducing a new child. Jacob {and I!} love these stories. I love how they incorporate culture and a different theme into the learning. The four themes included in this course are:

• Hali who lives on an island in the Pacific {SHELL THEME}
• Ben who lives on a farm {EGG THEME}
• Isaiah {MARBLE THEME}
• Ming whose family runs a bookstore and lives in China {BOOK THEME}

LESSONS

Daily Dose

Each lesson begins with the “Daily Dose”. This is something I mostly let Jacob self start on his own.

Each day they mark off a day in their planner {included in the course}, write the date, add another box to their “Place Value Chart”, and write the number that comes before and after the number from their Place Value Chart.

Then there is usually one additional task that is a review from a previously learned concept {such as continuing a pattern, spelling a number word, counting by fives to 100, or coloring fractions}.

This part usually takes five to ten minutes – and at least for us – was mostly independent.

Lesson – Direct Instruction

This is your time to sit with your child and introduce and explain the new math concept. Everything is scripted out for you and it is truly “open and go”.

This part usually took us ten to fifteen minutes.

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Student Worksheet

Each lesson includes a worksheet at the end. These worksheets are so great though and not at all how I remember math worksheets when I was a kid!

These are meant to reinforce the concept learned in the lesson. This section I also left mostly to Jacob to do. I would go over the instructions with him and usually do the first problem or step and then let him take off with it.

Then when he was done I would check over it and go over anything that needed correcting.

Occasionally, instead of a worksheet you would play a game included in the math activity box. These games are AMAZING!

This part took us about five to ten minutes.

Bonus Independent Activity

The bonus activity is fun and reinforces material previously learned in prior lessons. Or they might just be fun math activities such as tangram puzzles. These are great to end your lesson and are always fun to do.

The time can really vary on this one. A lot of the time, Jacob would extend these longer than they needed to be {whether that was by coloring a picture on the page or doing additional puzzles} and so it was perfect that we left it for the end so that I could move on with something else and he could explore as long as he wanted to.

FLASHCARDS

This is something that I honestly forgot about and WISH that I hadn’t. The Good and the Beautiful has free flashcards that you can print and use for more addition and subtraction practice. We follow a Monday – Thursday schedule for our core subjects and use Friday as more of a review and extra activity day. This would be perfect for some Friday review.

MATH GAMES

The Activity Box comes with several games as well as an instruction booklet. THIS, by itself, makes the box worth it to me. These games are incredible. They solidify ALL that you are teaching in the lessons and do it in a fun, relaxed way that I think would be hard to replicate on your own.

Jacob loved playing these games. Since the Activity Box covers levels 1 and 2, you do not play all the games in level 1. The games that WERE used in this level were:

• Barnyard Bonanza
• Doubles Dash
• Facedown Showdown
• Fishing for Number Pairs
• Hidden Pairs
• Island Adventures
• Ladder Races
• Math War
• Subtraction Street
• Wheel Races

Some of the games and activities do have the option to be timed so that you can measure progress and I think it can be really motivating for some kids. Jacob is a little hit or miss on this. Sometimes he gets really excited to try and beat his time but other times it wasn’t helpful AT ALL to be timed. Do what works for your kids!

Final Thoughts

I believe this program to be SOLID. It is really gentle with its approach and I appreciate that it doesn’t rush things. We took it a lesson at a time and by the end it was so fulfilling to have Jacob do the final assessment and see ALL of the growth that he has made.

To check out more about this incredible course, click here.

Have you used the Good and the Beautiful Math courses? Thoughts? Questions? I want to hear ALL about it in the comments!

Other The Good and the Beautiful Math Course Reviews:

• Level K