I love the math by The Good and the Beautiful. I said it. I love it! It is so solid and it is Jacob’s favorite subject. He spends a slightly crazy amount of time flipping through his math books during his free time. That’s how much we love it around here. It’s gold.
So here is ALL of the goodness of The Good and the Beautiful Math Level 2.
Also, I debated about whether or not to do this post because they recently announced that they are discontinuing this math. Let me just say, my heart was actually really sad when I heard this. This math has been incredible for Jacob {and Sarah has really enjoyed Level K this year too!} and he has been through this program from the beginning. I attribute his love for math 100% to this program. So I was really sad about them switching things up. I momentarily had a moment of panic that I should order all the things for the other kids before it is gone forever. But, luckily, I reined myself in and decided to trust The Good and the Beautiful. We have tried everything – all subjects – for the ages of my kiddos and we use everything because we love it. So I am trusting that we will continue to love their new math. However, I also know many are still pushing forward with the old, so I thought I would leave this here for anyone planning to use it still in the future.
WHAT IS INCLUDED?
- Two full-color Course Books
- Math 1-2 Activity Box
- My Weekly Planner
- Level 2 Transitional Lessons {PDF download}
- Level 2 Answer Key {PDF download}
- Addition and Subtraction Flashcards {PDF download}
LEVEL 1-2 ACTIVITY BOX
The activity box is awesome. It is FILLED with manipulatives and games and just takes this whole program to another level of awesome-ness! I love that it covers two years of math. The only thing I wish is that the box were a little bigger. I thought the Level K box was a great size but I find that everything has to be in just so or it doesn’t all fit for this box. So it’s definitely a scrunch but you could always swap out for another container if it bothers you.
Here is everything that is included in the 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 wooded 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
Some people scoff about the chipboard pieces but these truly are so high quality. Even after using these for two years, they look just like the day we popped them out.
Check out this post on how I prepped my box to make it LAST!
ADDITIONAL SUPPLIES
There are a few additional supplies that you should probably have on hand. These are pretty basic and things that we just have available for the kiddos anyway.
- Pencils, crayons/colored pencils, scissors, glue, stapler/tape
- A timer {I just used the one on my phone}
- Dry-erase board and markers
- Dry-erase pocket sleeve {you don’t need this if you laminate your games}
- 100 pennies, 20 nickels, 10 dimes, 8 quarters
- 1 12-inch ruler
- Sticky notes or paper clips
LEVEL 2 TRANSITION LESSONS
If you are new to The Good and the Beautiful or maybe have taken a big break from math {summer break?} these transitional lessons can be really helpful. We have never needed to use them because we have never taken a big gap with math, but they look like they would be a great inbetween.
MY PLANNER
One thing that was new this year was the My Weekly Planner. There is an incredible lesson on time at the beginning of the course. This is meant to help the kids schedule out their weeks. This was one of those things where I kind of had to pick my battles. I have a planner and love it so I was really hoping Jacob would enjoy this too. Jacob liked it the first week or two, but then wanted NOTHING to do with it. It kind of became a struggle every week and eventually I just stopped asking him to do it. I think it is great idea but didn’t work out great for us. Plus, it didn’t help that we did this course pretty much entirely during COVID so there really wasn’t anything to write down.
LENGTH OF COURSE
The Level 2 course has 120 lessons. It is designed to be done four times a week which would enable you to get it done in 32 weeks. But this curriculum is very adaptable if you want to move quicker or slower. Move at the pace that works for your kiddo!
UNITS
- Geometry & Measurement
- Regrouping
- Numbers up to 1,000
- Fractions
Each unit varies in length but each one has a review and assessment at the end. One thing that Jacob loves about this math is that each unit has a child and story that goes along with it. He loves finding out the new story.
LESSONS
If you’ve done any math from The Good and the Beautiful before, each lesson is laid out the same. There are four different parts to each lesson.
DAILY DOSE
Each lesson begins with the “daily dose”. I am always surprised how often I hear people skipping this. I can pretty confidently say we never skip these. First of all, these are done independently. So when math rolls around, or even in free time beforehand, Jacob will just take out his math and do his daily dose on his own.
This is a great exercise in repetition. It is really short and reviews concepts that the student has already learned. I think it’s great and worth encouraging your child to do.
LESSON – DIRECT INSTRUCTION
This is your parent-involved time. I would say this takes anywhere from 15-20 minutes. This is when you introduce and explain the new concepts being learned. Everything is laid out for you and I think it is super easy to teach.
STUDENT WORKSHEET
After the lesson, there is a worksheet for the child to do. This basically reinforces whatever concept you learned in the lesson. I always review the instructions with Jacob and then leave him to do it on his own. Once he is done I check it and go over anything that may need correcting.
BONUS INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY
Last part is the bonus activity. This is probably Jacob’s favorite part of math {although I am honest in saying he really does love it all}. This is another opportunity to learn math skills in a really hands-on way. These frequently mean games or puzzles. These are also independent activities. Occasionally, I would do a game with Jacob but usually I just let him do them and it is a great review.
FLASHCARDS
In Level 2, I feel like you are really solidifying addition and subtraction. You begin to teach these concepts with BIG numbers and so the kiddos really need to have a firm grasp on them. I’ve never felt like Jacob needed the additional practice, but I love that it is an option. It is available as a free PDF online for anyone that wants them. And as always – they are beautiful. Is that totally weird that flashcards can be beautiful?
FINAL THOUGHTS
I don’t know what else to say. I love this math. It is so incredible in how it teaches AND how it teaches to every kind of learning style you may have. So I really feel like it is amazing for any child. Or, at least, it’s been great for my kiddos. I would 100% recommend it!
Check out the other math posts we’ve got!
