Masterbooks vs The Good and The Beautiful (what you should know)

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Masterbooks vs The Good and The Beautiful seems to be a very commonly discussed topic amongst homeschool moms.

In fact, it can even be quite a polarizing topic. The Good and The Beautiful controversy is something that I’ve talked about before and it’s an ongoing issue for many homeschool families.

However, that’s not what this post is about. I want to set aside all of the extra opinions and just focus on what these two curriculums offer.

That way you can make an informed decision on which one might be the right fit for your family.

If you’re on the hunt for a christian curriculum then you’ve probably come across both of these. So, what makes them different from each other? Keep reading…

Masterbooks vs The Good & The Beautiful

These two curriculums have risen to great popularity over recent times, and for good reason. They are both faith-based curriculums which are straightforward to use.

I feel as though the easiest way for me to break down this side-by-side comparison is to talk about what they have in common, and then how they differ.

If you want my personal opinion on each curriculum, then I’ll leave that right at the end so that you can just focus on the facts if you’re not interested.

All About Masterbooks

Masterbooks is a heavily faith-based curriculum. It is open and go for the most part, but there is always a list of necessary supplies found at the beginning of each book.

You can purchase either the physical items or the PDF version of the books they offer. The PDF version is only minorly discounted in relation to the physical item.

Masterbooks offers more than just their own curriculum. They’re more of an umbrella company that sells curriculum on the behalf of others as well as their own.

This can be really helpful if you want to mix and match the different curriculums for different subjects.

They also cater for preschool right through to high school.

All About The Good and The Beautiful

The Good and The Beautiful was founded by a homeschool mom, Jenny Phillips. It is a beautiful curriculum that has a heavy focus on wholesome literature and stunning art.

While Jenny is a part of The Church of The Latter Day Saints, the curriculum itself is non-denominational and gives more of a general moral overview. There isn’t any specific doctrine to be found.

While The Good and The Beautiful offers an array of subjects, they only offer Language Arts when it comes to high school.

This is also an open-and-go curriculum with a supply list given at the start of every book.

Their Language Arts Levels 1-5 are available as a free PDF download, as will their Math Levels 1-5 when it is released in the summer of 2021.

Along with their curriculum they also have an ever-expanding book library with level-appropriate books. Their book list is helpful if you’re looking for good literature for your kids.

This company has a deep love for wholesome literature and that is definitely the founding of their curriculum.

What They Have in Common

Let’s talk about what these two curriculums have in common.

They are both open and go curriculums that are affordable. There is little to no daily prep time required.

Both curriculums offer the choice of physical product or PDF for most of the items that they sell.

Masterbooks and The Good & The Beautiful both share from a faith-based perspective (more on that later).

You’ll find that they also nod to the Charlotte Mason method of education but are not even close to being a true form of that homeschool style.

In fact, I would say that they both have a combination of the typical homeschool styles that are referred to.

They also both focus on having short lessons that are age-appropriate. The fact that their lessons don’t take a lot of time means they work well for many families.

I would also say that both curriculums offer different ways to cater for different learning styles.

You don’t really need lesson plans for either as they’re clearly laid out in the front of each book.

How They are Different

While there are definitely similarities between the two curriculums, there are just as many differences.

As mentioned previously, they are both faith-based curriculums. However, Masterbooks is heavily faith-based and their books all have a Biblical world view.

The Good & The Beautiful has a Christian world view but sticks to generalized morals and stays neutral on things such the young earth vs old earth theory.

Master books has a 5-day school week whereas The Good & The Beautiful is structured to cater for a 4-day school week.

Neither of them have all their levels aligned with grade level. They both recommend that parents have their children take an assessment to place them at the right level.

In saying that, The Good & The Beautiful is often advanced while Masterbooks tends to be on the more gentle side.

The Good & The Beautiful has more of a vintage feel to it with a lot of emphasis on artists, poets, and writers from history. This is also evident in the curriculum illustrations.

Masterbooks does focus on historic people as well, but it definitely has a more modern distinction to it.

Which One Will Work for You?

Ultimately, the decision about which homeschool curriculum will be a great fit for you is your decision to make. Both of these will offer a Christian education but one is stronger on that front than the other.

I can’t just tell you which one to go with. However, I can give some summarizing points that may help you out.

Hopefully some of those points will help you decide if either of these curriculums would be a good fit for your family.

There is no such thing as the perfect curriculum so I always recommend making it work for your child instead of feeling like a slave to it.

I personally have never just used one particular curriculum because different ones work better for different subjects. I’ll share my thoughts about these two specifically below.

Our Experience With Masterbooks vs The Good and The Beautiful

Last school year we used both of the curriculums in our homeschool.

It is impossible for me to give a full review of both curriculums as a whole as my children are still young and therefore we can only use so many of their resources.

When I have older kids I’ll for sure share my thoughts on that as well.

What I’m going to share is my opinion on the resources that we have used from each curriculum thus far.

You can also see my curriculum picks for this year in this post.

Last year we used Math(Level K), Language Arts(Level K), and Handwriting(Level K) from The Good and The Beautiful. From Masterbooks, we used Math(level K) and Foundation Phonics.

I used the level K Math from Masterbooks with my then 3-year old. She’s bright but I wouldn’t call her advanced and the math lessons were easy peasy for her. Just because they were easy lessons didn’t mean they were useless though.

Taking a gentle approach, especially in the early years, can be a good thing.

We paused Language Arts Level K from The Good and The Beautiful and switched to All About Reading because it was moving too quickly.

I added Foundations Phonics from Masterbooks as a supplement.

My Thoughts

While Masterbooks Math curriculum was definitely very gentle I didn’t actually dislike it. It’s just that we preferred the math program from The Good and The Beautiful. It’s the best fit for us right now.

I did not care for Foundations Phonics at all. They tied in the letter sounds with a short story that was Bible-based and while it’s a cute idea, I just found it to be a bit of a stretch in some cases.

I also didn’t feel as though there was enough repetition and review in the language lessons in order for it to be a solid reading program.

In comparison to the likes of All About Reading it is sorely lacking.

In saying all that, this past year we’ve not been using any subjects from Masterbooks. I have their Language Lessons for a Living Education Level 1 book on my bookshelf but haven’t felt the need to look at it.

Next year, I am hoping to use their science program with my kids. In fact, that is the main part of their curriculum that I’ll consider going forward.

For now, The Good & The Beautiful is our core curriculum but I supplement with several other things.

As someone from the Christian faith who believes God’s Word is our ultimate authority, I believe that there’s room for both curriculums in my homeschool.