The Good and the Beautiful is a homeschool curriculum created in 2015 by Jenny Phillips. It offers free and beautiful courses for preschool to high school kids, focusing on multiple subjects with a strong emphasis on accessibility.
Most homeschool families report completing core academic subjects in 3-4 hours per day for elementary students, compared to the 6-7 hours typical of traditional schools, due to the one-on-one instruction and absence of classroom management overhead (NHERI, 2024). According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), approximately 3.3 million students were homeschooled in the United States as of 2023, representing roughly 6% of the school-age population.
What is the good and the beautiful?
The Good and the Beautiful is a homeschool curriculum company started in 2015 by Jenny Phillips. They provide courses for kids from preschool to high school across various subjects. What makes TGTB special is its mix of Charlotte Mason-inspired methods, lovely designs, and a commitment to accessibility. You can even get their core curriculum as free PDF downloads. Many families—hundreds of thousands—now use TGTB materials. Their language arts program is the most searched homeschool language arts curriculum out there. It blends reading, spelling, grammar, geography, and art appreciation into one cohesive course.
What makes tgtb unique
Three things really set The Good and the Beautiful apart. First, it has an open-and-go format. Each lesson includes all the instructions right on the page, so parents don’t have to prep daily. Second, their language arts program is all-in-one. One spiral-bound book covers reading, spelling, writing, grammar, geography, and art appreciation—no need to juggle different programs. Third, the price is hard to beat. Offering core curriculum for free is rare in the homeschool world. TGTB says this shows their goal to bring 'goodness and beauty into as many homes as possible,' no matter the budget.
Potential limitations
No curriculum is perfect, and TGTB has some critiques. Lessons can take a while—20 to over 60 minutes depending on your child. Some families feel they can't finish a full level in a year. Purists of Charlotte Mason might think the workbook parts go against true CM philosophy. While the literature is clean and wholesome, it might not be enough for families looking for more challenging classics. Also, since the founder is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, some evangelical families review the content carefully before jumping in, even though the curriculum takes a non-denominational Christian approach.
The bottom line
The Good and the Beautiful has built a huge following by offering beautiful, well-organized curriculum at prices that fit any budget. If you like an open-and-go structure, enjoy lessons that weave in nature and character, and want an all-in-one language arts program, TGTB is worth considering. You can download the free PDFs and try a few lessons first. It doesn't cost anything to see if it fits your family's style.
