Hi, I’m Amber, a math writer with The Good and the Beautiful.
Today, I’m going to give you a look inside the Simply Good and Beautiful Math 4 course,
and then share some reasons why I think you'll love it!
Simply Good and Beautiful Math 4 comes with this full-color course book, a mental math
book, a physical answer key, and access to all the videos needed for the student to complete
each lesson.
Math 4 is designed to be almost completely independent, allowing the student to complete
each lesson with little help from the parent.
Why is this important?
Because we listened to our customers, many of whom have families with multiple children
at different math levels.
Since our Math 4 and above courses are mainly independent, parents are able to teach math
to younger children in the family while older children work independently.
I’m excited to show you how this course works so well for independent learning!
We use a unique approach.
This is not an online program.
All the work is done in the course book, so let’s take a look at the course book first.
First, the course book is filled with full-color pages that engage children and draw them into
each lesson in meaningful, real-life ways.
Math 4 has four units and includes one-hundred twenty lessons total.
At the beginning of each unit, you will find a Unit Overview page that shows you exactly
what your child will learn in that unit, along with some parent tips.
Watch our “Spiral Math | Why it Works” video on Youtube to see how our well-planned
spiral approach makes these courses so effective.
Each unit ends with an assessment that gives you a clear picture of what your child has
learned and what he or she may need to review before moving on.
A reference page can be found at the back of the course book.
This page can be used to help the child work through math problems when assistance is needed.
Let’s take a look at the layout of a typical lesson.
Each lesson includes a section found in the mental math book, along with a video lesson,
a mini-lesson, a practice section, and a review section in the course book.
The Mental Math Map Mysteries book for Math 4 is one portion of the lesson that does require
parental involvement.
Let’s look inside this book.
This spiral-bound book is specifically designed so that the parent and child can complete
the mental math practice quickly.
To complete the mental math, the parent holds up the book so the child sees the Questions
page and the parent sees the Answer Key page.
For each lesson, the child answers the mental math questions aloud, while the parent checks
the answers and provides any corrections needed.
This mental math book is very unique because, at the end of each page, which covers four
or five lessons, the student is directed to place a sticker from the back of the book
onto a designated space on the map.
Once the child finishes the Math 4 course, he or she will have a completed map, and as
a reward for completing the course, the child is then able to read the “You-Choose”
book included in the course: Hayden and the Hidden Village.
The map that the child creates shows places included in the book.
Mental math is an important skill that helps children increase their number sense and solve
math problems more efficiently, and Simply Good and Beautiful Math makes practicing mental
math interactive and engaging.
Now, let’s go back to the course book and continue our way through the lesson.
The next part is the lesson itself.
This lesson teaches about geometric figures.
Although the student is given a choice between the video lesson and mini lesson, we highly
recommend watching each video lesson.
The videos contain the bulk of the teaching, often bringing in real-world applications
of the math concept being taught.
However, if your child feels confident in the topic being taught, he or she can skip
the video and read the mini lesson instead.
Or, if desired, the parent can teach the child using the mini lesson rather than have the
child watch the video lesson independently.
A student who struggles with the lesson practice should be encouraged to go back and watch
the video.
Let’s take a look at a few clips from some Math 4 video lessons.
In this video, you can see how we include real-life examples to teach a math concept.
Welcome to today's math lesson! One of the things I love to do when camping is make s'mores.
It is so pleasant to enjoy a delicious treat by the campfire on a cool night in the woods.
In today's lesson, we're going to your s'mores to learn about fractions.
This next video highlights how math can connect to nature:
Did you know, a single bee colony can have anywhere from just a few thousand to more than 80,000 bees?
Let's suppose one bee colony has 32,548 bees.
Place value plays an important role in this number.
This final video showcases the unique elements used to help make math easy to understand:
Let's suppose I am facing North.
If I haven't turned at all, I have rotated zero degrees.
What if I turned to face East?
If we look at my compass, when I rotate from North to East, I have created a right angle
Don’t these short clips make you want to take the math course yourself?
These video lessons are so engaging and walk the child through learning new math concepts
step by step while incorporating everyday math, connections to cultures, nature, art,
God, and high moral character.
The video box included in the lesson is for the child to work alongside the teacher in
the videos as he or she practices problems for each lesson concept.
Video lessons are approximately seven to ten minutes long, making the instruction concise
to help the child stay focused on the topic.
The videos are available on our website for free to stream or download.
Following the lesson, you’ll find two to three pages for the child to complete independently.
The first is the Lesson Practice, which gives practice with the concept taught in the lesson.
The Review section revisits concepts from previous lessons and levels.
These sections often bring in games, activities, and logic puzzles.
In the review sections, the child will also be instructed to practice multiplication facts daily.
The Good and the Beautiful offers three different correlated options to help your child practice
multiplication facts independently.
You can find more information about these products on our website or in the course book.
OK, I’m really excited to highlight a few pages throughout the course that showcase
the beautiful variety of Math 4.
Throughout this course you’ll find lesson practice and review pages that incorporate
riddles, puzzles, and mazes.
You’ll also find beautiful full-page illustrations like this one, as well as engaging math activities
like this create a zoo activity that practices area.
There are optional extension activities like this birdhouse blueprint, along with unique
review activities that bring in more than just the math concepts taught in the course.
There are a few lessons throughout the course that do not have a video, like this one.
For these lessons, the child uses the mini-lesson to learn the new math concept and then applies
what was learned to the practice activities.
I wish I could show you the whole course book because there is so much packed into this
wonderful book, but you can actually download the entire course book for free and check
it out yourself!
Now that you’ve had a look at the Math 4 course, I’ll tell you why I love it and
recommend it for homeschool families.
First, it is open and go, and children love the fun, interactive lessons.
Next, it is thorough and academically solid--the course meets and exceeds national standards.
You can trust that your child is getting a fantastic math foundation.
Also, the lessons are an appropriate length, and the course is beautiful!
And to top it all off, the physical course set is extremely inexpensive.
If you’re on a budget, the PDF downloads of our entire Math 1 through Math 5 courses
are completely free!
Physical course items are available as well and are extremely budget-friendly.
Another reason I recommend the course is because it is student-led.
Children at this age are ready for more independence and what better way to give it to them than
in a course where the students take the reins of their own learning.
Whether your child chooses to watch the video, or read the mini lesson, the child is taking
ownership of his or her learning.
This not only teaches responsibility, but it also frees you, the parent, to do different
things in your homeschool, whether it is teaching your youngest to read, or working through
another math level with a different child.
The math videos, mini lessons, and reference pages are all important tools that support
your child as he or she navigates independent learning.
But don’t worry, parents aren’t completely hands-off.
After each lesson, check your child’s work in the practice and review sections using
the provided answer key to ensure the concept was understood.
And don’t forget, you also get to help your child practice mental math skills using the
fun mental math book included with the course.
I’m so excited to think of parents and children diving into these extraordinary courses and
experiencing the joy and wonder that can be found in math.
For more information about Math 4, go to goodandbeautiful.com, and I wish you all a beautiful homeschool journey.