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 3 course and then I'll tell you why,
as an experienced educator, I love Simply Good and Beautiful math for homeschool families.
Simply Good and Beautiful math 3 course set comes with a full-color coursebook
and a math box which includes helpful math manipulatives.
We also offer a free pdf answer key that can be downloaded from the website. A physical copy of
the answer key can be purchased separately. First, let's look at the Math 3 box. As you can see,
this is a high-quality sturdy wooden box with an easy sliding lid. A great feature of this
lid is that one side is a magnetic whiteboard. I'll share why that is so helpful in a minute.
Inside the box are compartments for each type of manipulative, allowing you to keep them
organized and access them quickly and easily. You can find a set of tangram pieces along with
pattern blocks both of which have magnets on the backside you can also find two game pawns,
four different dice, a measuring tape, and an array mat. The dice included are a six-sided dice,
a ten-sided dice numbered one through ten, and a special pair of dice called capacity dice.
This array mat is a wipe-off dry erase board that is used for practicing multiplication,
finding perimeter and area, and exploring other math concepts taught in Math 3.
On the back of this mat, you'll see a calendar and temperature charts. I'll show you a few
examples of how these manipulatives are used when we look inside the coursebook.
In addition to these manipulatives in this box, this course also incorporates hands-on
learning through punch-out pages that are found in the back of the coursebook. Math 3 is the only
level that includes these unique punch-out pages. Let's take a look at the punch-out pages. First,
you'll see that the pages are made of sturdy cardstock with perforated edges around each
punch-out item. This means no cutting. Just pop out the manipulative needed when instructed in
the coursebook and you're ready to go. The great thing about these extra manipulatives is they are
only used one time for a specific lesson. Once your child finishes the lesson, there is no need
to store these paper manipulatives. Instead, you can recycle them. What if you have another child
who will use Math 3? Not to worry. The pieces are in the back of each coursebook which is available
in physical or pdf format. Now that we've covered all the manipulatives included with this level,
let's take a look inside this beautiful coursebook. The reference pages near the beginning
of the book are a helpful resource for the child when working through math problems when a parent
is not readily available. Also near the beginning of the book, you will find a multiplication chart
and multiplication mastery chart for tracking your child's memorization of multiplication facts. Math
3 is the first level in the Simply Good and Beautiful Math series that focuses on the
mastery of multiplication facts. All Simply Good and Beautiful math courses include 120 lessons.
At the beginning of each unit, you will find a unit overview page that lists what your child will
learn in that unit as well as any extra supplies needed for those lessons. 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. Let's take a look at the layout
of a typical lesson. The average time a lesson takes is approximately 30 to 35 minutes total,
which includes about 15 minutes of parent teaching time. Each lesson starts with a mini review box.
These review boxes include mental math strategies, calendar and temperature concepts, skip counting,
and much more. You can choose to do these items as a review or only do the items the
child has not mastered. Next, you'll find the lesson. This lesson teaches about capacity.
In Math 3, the lessons are parent-directed and provide open and go teaching along with
hands-on interactive practice. The lessons are scripted and easy to follow. The blue text
is information for parents, while the black text is to be read aloud to the child.
Following the lesson, you'll find two sections for the child to complete independently.
The first is the lesson practice. This section is dedicated to practicing the math concept taught in
the lesson. This lesson uses punch-out items from the back of the book. Here you can see it tells
you exactly where to find them. Having everything at your fingertips makes this course open and go.
The review and activities section reviews concepts from previous lessons using games, activities, and
logic puzzles. The great thing about the review and activities section is it can be completed
before or after the lesson. In the review and activities section, the child will also be
instructed to practice multiplication facts daily. The Good and the Beautiful offers three correlated
products for separate purchase to help students practice multiplication facts independently:
Musical Multiplication, multiplication flashcards, and multiplication practice sheets.
The coursebook will give you more information on how to practice multiplication facts.
Now I'm excited to highlight a few lessons throughout the course that
use the manipulatives provided with this level. Some manipulatives are used as part of the lesson,
while others are found more frequently in the practice and review sections.
This lesson uses the measuring tape to measure the height of each flower.
This lesson uses the six-sided dice and 10-sided dice to play a game that practices rounding.
All of these items can be found quickly in the Math 3 box when needed. No digging through a
cluttered math box trying to find what you need. Let's look at a few games within the course. The
capacity dice are used with the game called "Capacity Dice Game" which helps the child
practice comparing volumes in cups, pints, quarts, and gallons. Here's another game. This one has
everything you need right in the lesson, other than a bowl or bag and a whiteboard. All games
are included right in the coursebook. Here you can see the pattern blocks are used to reinforce
the concept of mixed numbers. Remember the magnetic whiteboard on the lid of the math box?
You can place the lid underneath the page or just place the pieces directly onto the coursebook.
Here the child uses tangram pieces to complete a logic puzzle. I'll highlight a few more activities
before wrapping up. On this page, you can see two different activities. This puzzle is a number
logic puzzle, which improves the child's number sense, while this peg pattern activity practices
spatial awareness. Finally, there are several fun and beautiful mazes sprinkled throughout the
course that makes reviewing multiplication and other math concepts fun and engaging. One last
thing I'd like to highlight is the diversity and cultural elements throughout the course.
This course highlights eight different countries and children from all around the world. Each
country section showcases the local food, wildlife, and culture, helping children discover
a rich and diverse world all while tying it to everyday math. Now that you've had a look
at this extraordinary course, I'll tell you why I love it and recommend it for homeschool families.
First, it is open-and-go. It is very easy to teach and children love the fun, interactive lessons.
Next, it is thorough and academically solid. The course meets or exceeds national standards.
Also, the lessons are an appropriate length and the course is beautiful. And to top it all off,
the course is extremely inexpensive. I'll leave you with this statement from a pilot family which
represents the wonderful feedback we received from our pilot families and the reason that
we have made this course so inexpensive for the physical course and completely free to download.
A pilot mom said, "At the beginning of the school year, my daughter hated math. She was good at it,
but every day was a fight. Emma just finished third grade. She woke up every day asking to
do math. It became such a wonderful time in our day as both she and her sister loved playing the
games together and completing lessons. Each year, we do the California achievement test to satisfy
our state's end-of-the-year requirements. Emma's high scores showed that this math
program is absolutely preparing students." For more information about Math 3 or the other levels
in the Simply Good and Beautiful math series, go to goodandbeautiful.com. I hope Simply Good and
Beautiful Math will help make your homeschool a powerful, beautiful, and easy experience.