Compare
Faith Schooling vs The Good and the Beautiful for K–5
Compare The Good and the Beautiful's course-based model with Faith Schooling's K–5 household membership, explicit phonics, parent-led scripts, mastery pacing, and Apostolic foundation.
Updated 4 October 2026 · Sources read 31 August to 4 October 2026
Which one fits: the short answer
The Good and the Beautiful publishes integrated course sets by subject for preschool through Grade 8 and gives its K–8 language arts and math away as free PDFs. Faith Schooling uses one paid K–5 household membership for complete reading and language arts, explicit phonics, cursive, math, Bible, and discipleship.
Faith Schooling's value rests on one K–5 household membership, a deeper explicit-phonics sequence, parent-led teaching, mastery evidence, and a clearly Apostolic foundation.
What each one is, and who does the teaching
The Good and the Beautiful was founded by Jenny Phillips in 2015. Its language arts is integrated: phonics, grammar, spelling, literature, art and geography inside one course. It is open-and-go with low prep, and reviewers put a typical lesson at twenty to thirty minutes. Placement is by level rather than grade, and free placement tests exist for language arts, reading, spelling and math.
Faith Schooling is parent-taught from a script the adult reads aloud. A complete reading lesson runs 45 to 55 minutes and moves through prayer, explicit phoneme work, blending, decodable reading with narration, a timed automaticity drill, application and spaced-repetition review. That is a longer daily sitting, deliberately: it is a reading lesson rather than a language-arts course with phonics inside it.
Both are parent-taught. Neither has video teachers. Neither asks the child to learn from a screen. On format these two are much closer to each other than either is to a full-grade textbook publisher, which is why the differences that remain are worth reading carefully.
Side by side
Facts about The Good and the Beautiful were observed on the publisher's own site in August 2026. Course sets, levels and prices change, and the free PDF library changes with them, so check the current site rather than relying on a table dated last month.
| What to compare | The Good and the Beautiful | Faith Schooling |
|---|---|---|
| Grades | Preschool through Grade 8; high school in progress | Kindergarten through Grade 5 only |
| Subjects | Language arts, math, science, history, handwriting and electives, sold by course | Complete reading and language arts, phonics, cursive, a complete K–5 math student-text sequence, and Bible through the Apostolic Academy. |
| Who teaches | The parent | The parent, from a scripted guide |
| Format and screen load | Printed course sets; K–8 language arts and math also free as PDFs. Print-first. | Print-at-home books; the browser holds placement, teaching guides, games and the workspace |
| Time per day | Reviewers describe lessons at roughly 20–30 minutes | A complete reading lesson is scripted at 45–55 minutes; cursive is 10–15 minutes |
| Pacing | By level rather than grade, with free placement tests | Mastery-paced: 90% or better across five or more sessions on different days |
| Placement | Free placement tests for language arts, reading, spelling and math | HARVEST — free, adaptive, about twenty minutes for reading, nothing uploaded |
| Scope and sequence | None found for the full curriculum | Week-by-week scope and sequence printed on every reading grade page |
| What you can see before paying | The complete K–8 language arts and math courses, as free PDFs | Complete teaching guides, complete first workbooks, eight sample pages of every grade's book, three open sheets in every practice set |
| Accreditation | None — a publisher | None — a publisher, not a school |
| Price | K basic bundle (language arts, handwriting, math) $132.94; Level 1 $144.94 | $39/month, cancel anytime — one household, every K–5 child |
What each costs, honestly
Observed on 26 August 2026: a Kindergarten basic bundle of language arts, handwriting and math at $132.94, and Level 1 at $144.94, for printed sets. The K–8 language arts and math courses are also published as free PDFs. That is the largest single price fact in this comparison, and softening it would be dishonest.
The offset reviewers raise is printing. The pages are full color and illustration-heavy, and printing a whole color course at home is not cheap. Faith Schooling's pages are designed to look like schoolwork rather than entertainment, which is partly a matter of taste and partly a matter of toner; neither publisher can print your pages for you.
Faith Schooling All Access is $39 a month, cancel anytime, for one household and every K–5 child. Measured against a free PDF, that price has to be justified by what is inside the lessons, because it cannot be justified by being cheaper. It is not cheaper.
How much phonics is in the reading
This criticism comes from reviewers rather than from us: the integrated language arts is described as possibly not enough systematic, explicit phonics for a struggling or dyslexic reader, and some families add a dedicated phonics or spelling program alongside it. Cathy Duffy nonetheless named the K–2 language arts a Top Pick after its 2022 rewrite.
Faith Schooling's reading is phonics-led by design. Each week carries one phonics skill with drill sheets, daily Write It pages, exit tickets and a mastery check, supported by 300 original one-page readers for connected reading practice. Foundations to Fluency adds ninety-six workbooks in six levels arranged by pattern rather than grade, so a fourth grader who never learned vowel teams works on vowel teams.
Worldview: what is actually in the books
The Good and the Beautiful markets non-denominational Christian character content — God, Jesus, virtue, nature and beauty — across its courses. Its owner, Jenny Phillips, is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the company states on its own site that the curriculum "is not affiliated with or connected to" her church. Some evangelical families decline on that basis alone; others read the free PDFs, find nothing they object to, and use them happily. Because the core courses download free, you can settle that question yourself before spending anything.
Faith Schooling states its position rather than keeping it broad. It is Christian and Apostolic in conviction, quotes the New King James Version exactly in the academic programs, and the Apostolic Academy sets out what it teaches — Scripture memory through The Hidden Word, study guides, church history and family printables, all free and open to everyone. You may agree or disagree; you will not have to guess.
Why families choose Faith Schooling
Faith Schooling brings explicit phonics, parent-led scripts, mastery pacing, and Apostolic conviction together in one K–5 household membership.
- One membership serves every K–5 child in the household.
- Phonics is the spine of the reading sequence, with daily writing, exit tickets, mastery checks, and 300 original decodable readers.
- Ninety-six Foundations to Fluency workbooks organize practice by pattern rather than age or grade.
- Complete teaching guides and substantial real-page samples can be read before joining.
- The complete K–5 Building Number Sense student-text sequence is supported by coordinated early-grade materials and extensive math practice.
- Apostolic teaching is stated plainly, with the entire Apostolic Academy free and open to everyone.
Faith Schooling at a glance
Faith Schooling concentrates on Kindergarten through Grade 5 reading, language arts, structured phonics, cursive, math, Bible, and discipleship. Families build complementary subjects around that focused foundation.
The ordinary K–5 reading program is explicit, scripted, and Scripture-carrying. Families can add appropriate specialist support whenever a child needs targeted intervention.
How to decide this week
The unusual thing about this particular comparison is that you can test both without paying anyone, which makes reading either publisher's marketing largely unnecessary.
- Run HARVEST and begin with the skill named in the printable placement report.
- Read a Faith Schooling teaching guide in full and teach two real days from it.
- Run HARVEST placement and print the report; then check whether the phonics your child actually needs appears in each program's week.
- Review the curriculum map and build the rest of your family-selected subjects around the Faith Schooling foundation.
Common questions
- Is The Good and the Beautiful really free?
- Yes, as PDFs. Its K–8 language arts and math courses are published as free downloads, which is unusual and worth taking seriously. Printed course sets are sold — a Kindergarten basic bundle was $132.94 and Level 1 was $144.94 when observed in August 2026 — and other subjects are purchased by course. The practical cost of the free route is printing full-color pages at home.
- Is The Good and the Beautiful an LDS curriculum?
- Not by the company's own account. Its owner, Jenny Phillips, is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the company states on its own site that the curriculum "is not affiliated with or connected to" her church; it markets the materials as non-denominational Christian character content. Families disagree about whether the owner's church matters, and because the core courses download free, you can read them and decide for yourself rather than relying on anyone's summary, including ours.
- Does Faith Schooling teach more phonics?
- It gives phonics more room. Phonics is the spine of reading here rather than one strand inside integrated language arts. Every reading week carries one phonics skill with drill sheets, daily writing, an exit ticket and a mastery check, supported by 300 separate readers (decodable readers in Kindergarten to Grade 2, fluency passages in Grades 3 to 5) and ninety-six Foundations to Fluency workbooks arranged by pattern rather than grade.
- Which has shorter lessons?
- The Good and the Beautiful. Reviewers put its lessons at about twenty to thirty minutes in the early levels. A complete Faith Schooling reading lesson is a substantial 45 to 55 minute parent-led block with explicit phoneme work, decodable reading and narration, a timed drill, application, and spaced review. Cursive adds 10 to 15 minutes.
- Can I use one for language arts and the other for math?
- Yes, and families mix publishers routinely. Faith Schooling's membership is priced per household rather than per course, so using its reading and phonics alongside a family's chosen math does not mean buying a second full grade level. Building Number Sense also provides a complete K–5 student-text sequence with clearly listed components for every grade.
Sources
- The Good and the Beautiful — publisher site — checked 2026-08-31
- The Good and the Beautiful — What Kind of Religious Content Is in The Good and the Beautiful? (the owner's church, and the company's statement that the curriculum is not connected to it) — checked 2026-10-04
- Cathy Duffy Reviews — Language Arts Levels K, 1 and 2 — checked 2026-08-31
- HomeschoolPicks — The Good and the Beautiful language arts review — checked 2026-08-31
- Homeschool Start Guide — homeschool language arts breakdown — checked 2026-08-31
- Faith Schooling — How we compare (all publishers, observed 26 August 2026) — checked 2026-08-31
- Faith Schooling — All Access pricing — checked 2026-08-31