The Good and the Beautiful

The Good and the Beautiful is the most visually distinctive and fastest-growing homeschool curriculum publisher of the 2020s. It is also one of the most theologically unusual, founded and run by a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, marketed as broadly Christian, and used heavily by evangelical, Catholic, and secular families who may or may not know its origin.

Last updated: 2026-04-20 · Every Homeschool Editorial Team

At a glance

Method	Charlotte Mason-influenced / literature-integrated / gentle
Worldview	Theologically broad-Christian in presentation; LDS (Latter-day Saints) in authorship
Grades	PreK-12 (high school program still expanding)
Formats	Print books + some free PDFs + online courses
Cost tier	Budget to Standard (aggressive low pricing is core strategy)
Parent intensity	3
ESA-common	Yes, on most marketplaces
Accredited	No
Established	2015
Website	goodandbeautiful.com

Our scoreboard (1-5)

Criterion	Score	One-line reason
Academic rigor	3	Gentle pacing; strong language arts, math is improving but still developing
Ease of teaching	4	Open-and-go design; minimal parent prep
Content quality	4	Well-written and aesthetically curated; some simplifications
Flexibility	3	Can be mixed, but the design wants to be whole
Value for money	5	Aggressive low pricing, free PDFs available, premium presentation
Worldview scope	3	Broadly Christian, with LDS-informed editorial sensibility in subtle ways
Visual/design	5	The most beautifully-designed homeschool materials on the market
Support resources	3	Community exists; less extensive than Abeka or BJU

Who the publisher is

The Good and the Beautiful was founded in 2015 by Jenny Phillips, a Latter-day Saint author and children's media producer from Utah. Phillips had been producing children's music and LDS-oriented family media for years, and she began releasing free homeschool language arts PDFs as a side project. The response was large enough that she formalized the curriculum and launched The Good and the Beautiful as a full publishing company. Since then, the publisher has grown exceptionally fast, by our editorial estimate, The Good and the Beautiful is currently one of the top five most-used homeschool curriculum publishers in the United States by active user count, and potentially the fastest-growing.

The theological and worldview situation is unusual and worth understanding before purchase. Jenny Phillips is a member of the LDS Church, and the company is headquartered in a heavily-LDS region of Utah. The curriculum is marketed as "non-denominational Christian" and "family-friendly." In practice, the language arts and history materials reference broadly-Christian concepts (God, creation, virtue, morality) without mentioning LDS-specific doctrine, and the curriculum is usable by evangelical, Catholic, and secular families. Where LDS influence shows up is in editorial sensibility, the curriculum is modest in dress, traditional in gender presentation, strongly pro-family, and handles topics like alcohol with a strictness that evangelical or Catholic materials might not. Some evangelical families are comfortable with this; some prefer to use The Good and the Beautiful explicitly because they find its broad-Christian tone welcoming without demanding denominational alignment; some avoid it once they learn the authorship; and many users never investigate the question at all.

The company's fastest-growing product lines are language arts (K-12, widely regarded as the strongest subject), math (elementary to middle school, improving rapidly), and science (elementary units). High school is the program's weakest area, the high school levels are still being built out and families currently need to supplement or bridge to other publishers.

The core pedagogy

The Good and the Beautiful is Charlotte Mason-influenced without being strictly classical. The method emphasizes short lessons, living books, beauty as a formative element, nature study, and integration across subjects. The language arts program, in particular, weaves grammar, spelling, literature, art, and some geography into a single unified flow, a child doing TGTB Level 3 Language Arts covers reading, writing, spelling, grammar, and art appreciation in one combined lesson rather than five separate ones.

Scope and sequence is progressive but gentle. Math starts slower than Saxon or Singapore and concentrates on understanding before speed. History and science are offered as unit studies, "Marine Biology," "Colonial America," "Health," etc. rather than as traditional grade-level courses, and families select which units they want for a given year.

Signature mechanics: (1) Unified language arts, the single most-praised component. The language arts course book is a beautifully-illustrated, literature-embedded workbook that replaces separate grammar, spelling, and reading curricula. (2) Aesthetic design, every page is photographed, illustrated, or typeset with obvious care. The materials are, frankly, the best-looking homeschool curriculum currently published, and this is not a superficial point: children often enjoy using TGTB in a way they do not enjoy using Abeka. (3) Free PDFs. TGTB offers the core language arts curriculum as free downloadable PDFs. Families can try the program at zero cost and upgrade to print books once they've decided. This marketing move is unprecedented in major homeschool publishing. (4) Unit-study science and history, rather than a year of "science," families buy a "Marine Biology Unit" (8-week course) and a "Birds Unit" (6-week course), mixing and matching across the year.

A day in the life

A third-grader using The Good and the Beautiful Level 3 starts the morning with the unified Language Arts course book (45-60 minutes, reading, grammar mini-lesson, spelling, writing, and art appreciation in a single integrated lesson). Math comes next (30-45 minutes. Math 3 lesson, manipulatives work, and a mostly-colorful workbook page). Then a history or science unit (30-40 minutes, reading, discussion, and a hands-on activity or notebook page). The afternoon is typically reading (library books), nature study, and free play. A typical parent-involved time is 1.5-2 hours; the child's total school day is about 3 to 3.5 hours, shorter than most traditional curricula. This is not an accident; TGTB believes in shorter academic hours and more childhood.

A ninth-grader using TGTB's high school program runs a more independent schedule, but the family is likely bridging to other publishers for subjects TGTB has not yet built out. A typical ninth-grade schedule includes TGTB High School Language Arts, a math program (frequently TGTB's Math 7 or a different publisher's Algebra I), a science program (either a TGTB unit or an outside publisher), and history. Parents of ninth-graders using TGTB commonly supplement rather than rely on the program as a complete stand-alone.

What they do exceptionally well

Language arts. The Good and the Beautiful's elementary language arts is, in our editorial view, the single best-designed language arts curriculum currently available at its price point. The integration of grammar, spelling, reading, and art into one lesson eliminates the fragmentation that makes other programs feel choppy. The workbook pages are genuinely beautiful. Children frequently ask to do language arts first in the morning, which is a sentence most homeschool parents rarely say.

Visual design and aesthetic care. The Good and the Beautiful's materials look like they were designed by an art book publisher rather than a textbook printing house. Paper quality, illustration style, typography, all are premium-level, and all come at the publisher's aggressive low prices. This is a genuine strategic advantage. Children do more school when the school materials are beautiful.

Pricing and free-PDF strategy. The language arts curriculum is available as free PDFs from the publisher's website. A family can try the program at zero cost. This is a trust-building move that no other major publisher has matched, and it explains much of the publisher's rapid growth.

What they do poorly

Math is still catching up to language arts. TGTB Math has improved substantially since 2020, but our editorial view is that it still lags Singapore Math and Math-U-See in conceptual depth and Saxon in computational drill. Families using TGTB Math at the upper elementary and middle school levels commonly supplement. High school math (Algebra I onward) is particularly underdeveloped as of April 2026 and typically requires a switch to a different publisher.

High school program is incomplete. The Good and the Beautiful's high school program is still being built out. Families looking for a complete K-12 program should not assume TGTB will carry them through twelfth grade; they should expect to bridge to other publishers for most subjects at the high school level.

Theological ambiguity. The company's LDS authorship is not hidden but is not prominently advertised either. Families who care about theological alignment, either because they want an explicitly evangelical program or because they want explicitly secular materials, should investigate TGTB's positioning before purchase. Our editorial stance is that this is a disclosure issue rather than a content issue: the materials themselves are not LDS-specific in content, but the company's editorial sensibility is shaped by its origins, and families deserve to make that call informed.

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• Pick The Good and the Beautiful if: you are budget-conscious and want premium-feeling materials; you love Charlotte Mason-influenced gentle pedagogy; you have early elementary children and want beautiful language arts; you want to try before you buy (free PDFs); you are comfortable with a broad-Christian, LDS-authored program; you want a shorter school day and more time for outside life.

• Skip The Good and the Beautiful if: you need a complete K-12 program today and are not willing to bridge to other publishers; you are a dedicated evangelical or Catholic family who wants denominationally-specific content; you are secular and want no religious content whatsoever; your child needs fast-paced, rigorous math; you are concerned about the LDS authorship; you have a high-school-bound student needing rigorous academic college-prep materials now.

Cost honest assessment

A full third-grade TGTB package. Language Arts 3 print set, Math 3 print set, and a science or history unit, runs approximately $150-$250 for print materials. Adding a second science or history unit brings the year to $200-$350. Families using the free language arts PDFs can run a year of school for well under $100 in printable materials plus a math book.

This pricing is aggressive and genuine. Compared to Abeka ($700-$850 for a third-grade print kit) and Sonlight ($1,000-$1,500 per elementary child all-in), TGTB is priced at roughly a quarter to a fifth of its competitors. The economics are viable because TGTB ships high print volumes at low margins and uses the free-PDF funnel to acquire customers.

For two or three children at the elementary level, a year of TGTB runs $300-$600 for the family. This is the cheapest serious full-curriculum option among the major publishers.

ESA eligibility notes

The Good and the Beautiful is approved on most state ESA marketplaces, including Arizona ClassWallet, Florida Step Up For Students, West Virginia Hope Scholarship, Iowa Student First, and Utah Fits All (where the company is headquartered and has strong adoption). The publisher has a dedicated ESA ordering process on its website. Because TGTB's pricing is so low, many ESA families purchase additional enrichment materials from other publishers within the same ESA budget. Free PDFs, while lovely for parents paying out of pocket, generally cannot be reimbursed by ESA programs, families on ESAs typically buy the print books to have a clear invoice trail.

Alternatives

• Masterbooks, a family would choose Masterbooks over TGTB because Masterbooks is more explicitly evangelical (Answers in Genesis-adjacent), similarly priced, and has a more complete high school program.
• Blossom and Root, a family would choose Blossom and Root over TGTB because Blossom and Root is explicitly secular and similarly Charlotte Mason-influenced in aesthetic and gentleness.
• Memoria Press, a family would choose Memoria over TGTB because Memoria is rigorously classical and academically more demanding.

How we verified this

Our editorial team reviewed The Good and the Beautiful's catalog at goodandbeautiful.com, downloaded and evaluated the free Language Arts Level 3 PDF, reviewed sample pages from Math 3 and the Marine Biology science unit, and examined the publisher's company history and founder biography. We cross-referenced against Cathy Duffy's published review and HSLDA's publisher profile.