I reluctantly began my now four-year-old on The Good and the Beautiful’s Preschool Course in January of this year. I did not feel confident that he was ready for this course at a late three with language delays, but he was wanting so badly to have “school” like his older brother. We had typically spent his own little learning time with lots of sensory play, matching, stories, crafts, and coloring. And while he enjoys all of that, he was unlike my oldest in actually wanting to sit in place to do a little more. I often get questioned when a good age is to start preschool- and to that I say it really depends on the child. The Good and the Beautiful recommends their Preschool Course for ages 3-4, but older children needing a strong foundation may also benefit. If you are curious where or when to start, check out The Good and Beautiful’s Language Arts Placement Test, as well as the breakdown provided at the end of this post. When children will want to sit down for lessons will vary, how those lessons will look will vary, the information they retain, and the pace at which they do will vary. I was not mentally prepared to start him on a workbook. In fact, it was the last thing in my mind at the time, but with a new release and shiny eyes, I purchased it. I was reminded of our goal for gentle learning and said to myself that we could take our time, stop when needed, slow down, too.
And we did slow down. And we did stop. Busy days, lots of play, and travelling offered wonderful learning opportunities for my son in-between our start and go. In those moments of in-between, there was so much learning still happening! And there was lots of review, too! With even months without touching his course book, he would spy letters on signs, practice writing some on his own, even teaching himself how to write his name! I didn’t regret slowing down one bit because in those moments he was busy applying what he had previously learned to build a desire to want to know more! And that is the ultimate goal in the early years, right? …Creating a yearning for learning. While my two sons’ Preschool years looked vastly different, one planned and one not, I feel my son using The Good and the Beautiful’s Preschool Course has now a stronger foundation and confidence when it comes to early phonics, pre-reading, and applying those skills on the daily. Plus, he really enjoys learning through the lessons in this course!
Here we are now, mid-July, and he has surprised me again…. With few lessons remaining in his Preschool Course Book, he has me on my toes preparing what “what’s next” will look like for him. I had not anticipated completing the Preschool Course until end of year at the earliest; nice and slow was fine by me! But as I followed his lead with starts and breaks, I will follow his lead with what’s next, too. Children learn at different paces, and we have the privilege as homeschool parents of meeting them where they are, even if that “when” comes as a surprise!
”What’s next” looks for us like beginning the Kindergarten Prep Course, easy as that. Much like the Preschool Course, it includes practice of concepts such as letter recognition, beginning letter sounds, distinguishing and pairing of uppercase to lowercase, emphasis on pencil grip etc. Much different, it contains only 30 lessons to the Preschool Course Book’s 90…. Which means we will have a limbo period before Kindergarten that can offer us plenty of moments of review to continue building that strong foundation in early phonics and reading skills. The aim is to continue to follow his pace. We will slow down this course by competing only a few lessons a week, with review and play filling in the remaining days- taking breaks whenever the opportunity presents itself.
You might be asking yourself questions about the courses by now, and I will do my best to break them down below as simply as possible. Keep in mind that The Good and the Beautiful offers Preschool (90 lessons), Kindergarten Prep (30 lessons), and Kindergarten (120 lessons) for the early years. It could take your child months to a year to complete the Preschool Course, Weeks or Months to complete the Kindergarten Prep. You and your child will find a pace that’s comfortable, and there is no “right” timeline as when to finish. While we started Preschool reluctantly, it meant I didn’t have time to plan. That lack of planning ended up being the best thing for the both of us, as it offered an organic pace, one we could both feel out together.
Some suggestions (truly, opinions and continued personal experience) about the course flow: If your child has not completed the Preschool and/or Kindergarten Prep Courses, I would not jump into their Kindergarten unit unless they demonstrate a strong foundation in the following items to be mastered. If all of the Preschool items are mastered, you could simply use Kindergarten Prep as a month or so review prior to Kindergarten. This will give you and your child a feel for the pace, lesson structure, added confidence, and comfortability with the course. It’s a good tester to see if you should even continue on with their programs! The Good and the Beautiful teaches in a unique fashion, and I firmly belief the foundation they provide in the two earlier courses will best prepare your child for future coursework, both in concept and in practice. My oldest did not have that foundation as we tried other programs before The Good and the Beautiful’s Kindergarten, and I kick myself still to this day for not backtracking a little more before diving in.
PRESCHOOL COURSE BREAKDOWN
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90 lessons; 6 units: with Review and Unit “Assessments,” Hands-on Games Pack, Fine Motor Built into Lessons, Engaging Learning Songs and Videos
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Course Overview: Letter Recognition, Identifying Beginning Sounds of Words, Avoiding Lowercase b and d Confusion, Color Recognition, Numbers 1-10, Pencil Grip, Motor Skills, Sorting, Identifying Body Parts, Identifying Sounds of 3-Letter Words, Finding Missing Letter in Alphabet, Identifying Ending Sounds of Words, Counting Coins,
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Items to be Mastered Before Moving on to Kindergarten Prep Course: Identifying Colors, Counting to 10, Recognizing Most Uppercase and Lowercase Letters and Identifying Their Sound, Singing the Alphabet Alone or with Someone Else
HELPFUL PRESCHOOL LINKS:
Preschool Flip Through | YouTube
Preschool Course Set - Language Arts
Preschool Course Lesson Samples
Preschool Course FAQs and Extras
KINDERGARTEN PREP BREAKDOWN
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30 Lessons; 1 unit: Full Color Course Book in Similar Style to Preschool Course; Engaging Learning Songs and Videos
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Course Overview: Mastering Recognition of Uppercase and Lowercase Letters, Mastering Letter Sounds, Reading Two-Letter and Three-Letter (CVC) Words, Identifying Beginning, Middle, and Ending Sounds, Recognizing Vowels, Colors, Introduction to Word Families, Numbers 1-15, Motor Skills, Rhyming
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Items to be Mastered Before Moving on to Kindergarten Course: Same as Preschool PLUS Write His/Her Name Using Correct Uppercase and Lowercase Letters, Mastering Identifying All Uppercase and Lowercase Letters and Their Sound
