Thank you for this video. I think some of your points about depth with TGATB are valid. I think the strength of TGATB lies in the fact that their curriculum is very easy for new homeschoolers to feel confident with homeschooling. It’s easy to teach, doesn’t take up a ton of time, is fun for the kids, and beautiful to look at. For a new homeschooling mom, that was exactly what I needed. And the joy of teaching my kids came through using this curriculum. We’re going into year 4 of homeschooling and it is only now that I see the problems with the pacing and depth. We started homeschooling mid-way through my youngest’s kindergarten year, and she learned to read with level K and we were both so excited! It really lit the fire of loving learning together for us. Fast forward two years and we’re still working through level one. It goes waaaaaay too fast and there is not enough practice for my kids. So I have to supplement a LOT, and we read the reader to death. Same with Math…math K was great, and we used level 1 of their new math…my daughter loves it because it’s pretty and the games are fun, but again I have to supplement because the depth is not there. She’s really struggled with time and money and there is just not enough coverage in the curriculum for her to master it. It makes me sad because I have a real soft spot for TGATB. They opened the doors for us to homeschool and I will be forever grateful for that. We’ll likely be moving on next year tho.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I can totally relate, as TGATB was one of the first homeschool curriculums we used. I liked that it held my hand thru the beginning and like you said it wasn’t till later that I realized it was lacking. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to make this video. I was very naive to homeschooling and curriculum when I first started and I honestly didn’t know what to look for 🤷♀️. I think that it is so heavily promoted on YT that it even had me questioning what I was doing wrong, instead of what was wrong with the curriculum. I think having open discussions with each other and sharing different perspective helps people get a more accurate picture of a curriculum. This really helps people to be able to make a more informed choice.
Love your honest take and reflections! I’ve looked at TGTB so many times but I just couldn’t pull the trigger - especially on the math and LA. I’ve picked up a few readers and I just picked up the typing 🤣. Haha, yep it is pretty!
Thank you! I think it’s one of those things that you see and hear so much about in social media that you start to think you should try it 🤦♀️ That got me so many times!
Thank you for this review! We suffered through g&b literature k & 1 and thankfully have switched and I was considering their science this year thinking it would be better than their lit. Thank you🙌
I am glad you found the video helpful! I used the mammals and geology unit and was not impressed. My kids also retained very little information from it.
I think it's important to point out these editions are extremely out of date there have been 2 revisions to these books... so while your opinion is valid on this edition, alot has changed since the company first started. That's just my opinion. I generally love watching your content, I feel it's important to give all the facts when doing a review on a company that has changed alot since first starting. On the other hand... science, writing, and typing.... ya that's the same, and I agree...
Thank you for sharing this. Your right I am referring to older versions in Math And LA and I think that does make a difference. However, even with my editions being from 2019 I found the lack of diversity astounding. We’re not talking about a curriculum written 20 yrs ago. The fact that it’s didn’t occur to the company that they wrote a curriculum depicting only white people and had to be told to include other diverse backgrounds I find disheartening. For me, it seems like their pushing a certain narrow minded perspective.
@@michellegf that part I 100% agree with! Unfortunately this is not the only source with diversity issues. We use all types of curriculum here and when we come across bias throughout the years we call it out talk about it. I feel it's important to show our kids these things are still happening to this day, and racism issues are still issues to this day no matter how much people pretend their bias is different...
@@mock13 agreed! I feel like homeschooling curriculum is really lagging when it comes to these issues. I am excited to see change with this, but at times it is difficult to sift thru it all. I also totally agree about keeping the conversation going, especially with children. These issues are often presented as issues of the past, that have been resolved and are no longer a problem.
I appreciate your honest review! I will say that one difference I have found is in the math. I have used the Simply Good and Beautiful Level 3 and 4 and there is plenty of review and practice built in. This may be different in younger levels and may be the new math format. I actually came to TGATB from Singapore. To be fair I wasn’t using Dimensions but the older US Edition. We had wild gaps that I couldn’t fill until we used TGATB at a lower level for remediation and it all finally clicked for my daughter. I absolutely loved Singapore at first and appreciated the mastery approach. After 4 years of using it I found that the concepts while sticking better initially were not sticking in the long term memory because of the lack of consistent review. We would spend a week zooming through the graphing unit and she would master it. Then we wouldn’t do graphs for a year. We would spend 2 months on regrouping while neglecting multiplication and division and vice versa. When we would come back to a concept I would have to completely reteach it. This may be different in Dimensions and I’m assuming it is based on your review. We just had a different experience in this area. It may even be that a lot of the math curriculum from different companies has been updated to add more review and spiraling into the mastery.
I think so many of us have been “hypnotized by beauty” when it comes to TGATB. I also agree with what you said about influencers. The main people who constantly push & praise them are being paid!🤑🤑🤥Smh I joined a FB group & was shocked at how many people did not like TGATB & how the curriculum did not work for them. I always think it’s funny when people rave about their handwriting 🤣.
They definitely market it well! The handwriting! 😆 I too saw a lot of discrepancies between people who used the curriculum and didn’t like it and what I saw on social media. 🤷♀️
I started TGATB LA and Math to supplement public school as well. We then started homeschooling my oldest. I started her completely over because I had no idea where she was academically and I didn't want her to have any gaps. She was in a language academy before we pulled her and her first year was completely Spanish. Now that we're done with her current level, we're not going back. We already have the next level for handwriting but that's all we'll use. My biggest concern was that there was no depth and how was this going to prepare her for college. It doesn't align with our end goal for our children. It did build my confidence in building my own LA curriculum for my kiddos though. 🤣😂 The bar was set so low I knew I could do better. 🤦🏾♀️ Sorry for the long post!
I actually really enjoy long posts 😄 I love when people share their experiences and thoughts! I often worry that my comments back are too long 😆 I found TGATB to lack depth as well and my daughter had very little retention. The curriculum held my hand thru the beginning stages when I needed that and was very unsure of what I was doing. However it didn’t take me long like you said to realize I could do much better. It’s hard enough to feel confident as a parent, when you add in your child’s education on top of that it can be very daunting. I do think it’s funny now that I see so many people ditching TGATB after it was raved about so much the last few years. I have a feeling now that people are getting into the higher grades their starting to realize how lacking TGATB really is. On a side note I have been loving your day in the life videos. It’s so refreshing to see someone being authentic and real on this platform!
Thank you for this as a black mom who will be homeschooling black kids we definitely will be looking for more diverse options. I had no clue it lacked such diversity. I also tend to lean more secular for education.
I know they revised later editions to include more diverse imagery, but I always saw it as a red flag that the company never even considered including any diverse representation in their early editions.
Thank you for your honesty. I've been finding it increasingly difficult to find reviews of curriculum or "what we're using next year" that doesn't use TGATB or paint it through rose-colored glasses. We use TGATB for LA but have had to seriously cherry pick the lessons or topics we use. My older son has already completed level 8 book studies and won't be using the high school series; my daughter will be stopping after next year's level 7; and my younger son will use it one year with level 3 and that'll be it. Primarily, that's because I don't think they're responding well to cries for diversity even though they're updating the levels. Also, my biggest issue is their stance on books and only reading "good and beautiful" literature.
Yes! I think you bring up excellent points. The lack of equal representation in their material and the fact that they didn’t even realize and had to be told to include it, I find very disheartening. The literature might be good and beautiful, but it is also narrow minded and presents one main perspective the company is pushing. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience with it. I think having an open dialogue and discussion on these issues is crucial in the homeschooling community.
You like to live dangerously don't you? This is the most taboo of Homeschool subjects. I've never used TGAB. I'm an eclectic homeschooler and I pretty much walk my own path so I never ended up buying anything from them. I'm guessing that maybe its a better fit for larger families that have a group learning experience for part of the day? I homeschool 1, so everything we do is just geared toward 1 child, but other people are looking for a broader stroke and most likely, the subjects in TGAB end up spiraling back at some point and detailed learning is presented again at older ages/grades. Its kind of a whole language approach that should be judged by its entirety, not any one separate piece. Its meant to work together as a whole.....but, who can afford it? This was a review thats worth taking into consideration, your points were clearly stated and explained and I think you made some valid points, especially the way you pointed out how things don't connect well, or the curriculum doesn't have a narrative aspect at younger levels. I don't know enough about TGAB to really speak to that, but thats interesting. I like to make connections between things and events and so few curriculums don't do that, so I piece together my own. Also, TGAB IS a preventatively pricy curriculum for a smaller family on a budget. It's just ridiculously priced, if you ask me.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. I too think you bring up some valid and interesting points. I think my overall conclusion is that it could work as a supplement, but not a stand alone curriculum. I too enjoy building upon what my kids know and this was just to all over the place for me.
We've been using their new math. My boys do really like it, but I do feel it is quite scattered and it's hard to really master a concept when you have very few practice problems. I'm considering filling in with Math Mammoth to help them get more practice and also deeper thinking. I love the word problems in MM! I used it some this year with my 2nd grader. The word problems in MM really required deeper thinking, while his 1 word problem every 4 or 5 days in TGTB would be something like "Johnny saw 2 birds yesterday and 3 today. How many did he see in all?" My son is very math minded and needs more than that.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Neither of my kids found it challenging enough. I have heard great things about Math Mammoth. It’s on my list of things to check out.
I agree with your assessment. We tried the new level k math. There was alot of diversity in images but I thought the actual course wasn't great. My daughter had no clue what was going on. It spiraled so quickly and didnt go into depth. When we came back to a topic, she couldn't remember it. I as the teacher had no help to trouble shoot. All I had was what was written on the pages. People seem to love the teacher and kid stuff together, but I see it as a drawback. We switched to Math with Confidence and love it. We also added in the level K LA mid year as a supplement to All About Reading. It was really a disappointment. The readers sucked and it would expect the child to know words that weren't sight words or hadnt been covered in the phonics. Just All in all, no good. I think the courses are beautiful, but to me, a quality education is much more important. I think you can have a "gentle" approach and actually teach thoroughly.
We tried TGTB a few times now, LA and Math. Even with the Math update, I just have found it doesn't go deep enough. Since switching to a new program, I have found ALOT of gaps in TGTB Math new Lvl 1. Maybe the updated LA will be better, yet I feel it won't level up to other programs.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Like I said in the video, I don’t have experience with the updated math. So I am curious if it’s been improved. All the curriculum I have used from TGATB seem to be surface level. When it comes down to it, I just found better options out there.
Spot on. I have been unimpressed with TGATB too. The language arts readers. OMG 🙈. It just screams "the past was better and most ideal" ultra conservative vibes. The art is all white people from the 1800s-1950s all looking happy in their very restricted gender roles and, and racial/socioeconomic status. Very Dick & Jane. The content is rainbow and butterflies fluff. Nothing to make your kid think or ask questions. Granted, it has filled some gaps for us, which is fine. But we won't be returning to it next year. You are also spot on about the math. It is so surface level. I had to quit after getting through about a quarter of level 1 becsuse while mu daughter loved playing the games and the the visual appeal, she was retaining nothing. And she is behind in math now because we had to switch mid year. Granted, math is a difficult subject for her too, which means all the more she needs a more systematic approach rather than a curriculum that very briefly touches on a subject without really teaching it. I think it was a good curriculum as a new homeschooler, learning how to use a curriculum since it is so open and go. It gave me confidence in that way. But now that I have the confidence, my kids need something better.
Agreed! The curriculum held my hand when I was new to homeschooling and quite frankly naive to a lot of it. Once I learned more about myself and how my kids actually learn I knew it wouldn’t work for us. Your also spot on with the rainbow and butterfly fluff! 🤣
I’m not really a huge TGTB fan, but my son’s TGTB math curriculum is was centered around 2 Chinese kids, Bo and Chun. Same characters throughout the entire curriculum, so I’m not seeing this ‘only whites’ issue..
@@laurak6685 I found this more in the Language Arts curriculum in the illustrations and art presented. Hopefully this has been improved in the new edition. The math curriculum was a little better.
@@laurak6685 what I find concerning is some of the editions I have were published in 2019. I find it disturbing that a company has to be told to include diversity representation in it. We’re talking about a curriculum that was published in the last few years, and they were completely fine publishing materials that solely depicted white people. That’s a big red flag for me.
@@michellegf Why is that a red flag?! Why are people so overly focused on melanin? Why are people trying to force companies into being what they’re not?
You nailed it! Of course I’ll admit to having a love hate relationship with if. I do love so much of it. I love the games (especially the math games from their old math) and how well some of it works for kinesthetic learners, however I just had my 7 year old son complete the Iowa normed standardized test and…..the whole grammar section was really a struggle for him. He taught himself to read right after her turned 5, so I don’t have personal experience as to how well it teaches reading, however there doesn’t seem to be a logical scaffolding or incremental progression of the material. I am now using the ordinary parents guide to teaching reading by Jessie Wise Bauer and it is so blank and white and (kind of boring) but the phonics progression is spectacular and it has my second kid (who turned 5 in February) reading at a first grade level. So yeah that test was a big wake up call and confirmed my suspicions. Now I’m looking at old school curriculum for next school year like growing with grammar, easy grammar, MCP plaid phonics, Evan moor stuff….the programs that have been out for decades and used by thousands of homeschoolers. I wonder how many TGTB supporters have limited experience with any other curricula, therefore no means of comparison? Perhaps that is why also a reason why they have such a following? Also, thank you for never sponsoring curricula on your channel. It’s increasingly harder to find truly honest reviews!
Thank you for sharing your experience with the curriculum. There are some points of TGATB I do like. For example, like you said the old math games. I just don’t think it’s a stand alone curriculum. I am often surprised how many homeschoolers don’t look into others options, whether it be older tried and true curriculum or public school material. 🤷♀️. I think it’s easy to get distracted by the new, trendy and shiny curriculum. The point of any curriculum should be what is your child actually learning/ getting out of it. I agree with the you about the difficulty of finding honest reviews on YT. I feel like so many videos are pushing something or selling something. There seems to be less genuine interaction and content 🫤
I read the comments on your why you do secular homeschooling and I feel you will probably get a similar response here but I really appreciate the candid take. So all the other homeschool channels saying TGATB had a gentle approach were just speaking in code for super easy? My 2nd grader wants to be an engineer and build robots and video games so we will definitely avoid TGATB math!
I appreciate your comments and thoughts on this. I think it’s possible to have a gentle approach, but still lay a solid foundation. For example Math With Confidence lays a solid foundation. It teaches conceptual math and number sense and it dives deep into subjects without overwhelming the child. That’s what I consider to be a gentle approach. I found no challenge or growth within my child when using TGATB.
I tried it the first year we homeschooled in 2020-2021 and had the same issues. Luckily my son was already great at math, but TGTB math sunk his standardized test scores until we got him caught up with another curriculum. That was the only time he had issues on tests, and it says a lot. But you hit the nail on it’s head about why it’s so popular- pretty, and easy.
Thank you for sharing you and your sons experience with it. I think it’s really interesting to have quantitative data that shows a decline in your child’s math scores. Curriculum can be pretty and fun, but if your kids isn’t learning from it, it becomes pretty pointless 🤷♀️
Thank you so much for your honesty! It’s very rare to see on RUclips these days. This is my first year homeschooling and before I made the decision, I spent hours watching RUclips videos to get an idea of what to expect, how to do it, peoples experiences, and most importantly curriculum reviews. I’ve seen some of the moms homeschooling just over the last year go from “honest reviews“ to “click the link below to save 10%!” , and it’s disappointing. I understand and can appreciate any sort of supplemental income, but when it comes at the expense of pushing a product, especially on new moms homeschooling and that already feel either insecure or self-conscious about what they are doing.
That’s the exact reason I refuse to do any type of affiliate work or sponsorships on my channel. It’s so easy to be manipulated on social media and I never want to misuse my influence, voice or opinions as a way to make money.
Thank you for this video I agree with most of what you said. I use the new 4 grade math from the good and the beautiful and I love it. It is completely different from the math, however I do not recommend using TGTB under level 3. It's everything that you said
Thank you for sharing your experience. I never looked into the higher levels of TGATB math, so it’s nice to have other perspectives and opinions on it.
Very interesting review. I've been using TGTB LA and Math. We have loved the math for my 8 year olds learning style, but have struggled through K Math with my 5 year old so we have been looking at something else for her. I have found that there have been times where we have supplemented LA with Explode the Code and Evan Moor books, but we have stuck with it. I feel my daughter may need a mastery approach, but my son gets bored too easily so for him the spiral approach with supplementing when we need to works very well. We use secular based science and history though because I fear that TGTB just won't cut it in that aspect
Thanks for sharing your experience with it. I’ve never attempted the history as that is pretty obviously biased. The science was just boring and lacking in my opinion.
I think your missing the point. African American Publishing companies exist because the mainline media i.e. literature, television, social media predominately promote white imagery. This is both historically and currently true. Not to mention the fact that just by being black, it is harder for an author to even get their work published. This isn’t a whites only country, but if you look at a lot of those sources of media that’s what you see. There isn’t equal representation. You can’t promote a curriculum saying its for everybody and only include white imagery. TGATB core values are emphasizing god, family, high character etc… are those only values available to white people?
Hi there! I am a new homeschooler and subscriber. I have a 5 year old and 3.5 year old. I am struggling with deciding whether to stick with their new LA and new Math. I have been looking for a secular curriculum. I chose TGAB for the free curriculum but I have noticed with my 5 year old she is not retaining when it comes to reading, and she is almost done with her math curriculum, and I guess my question is whether or not to scrap it and start over with math with confidence or would it be too simple. Same thing with their LA. Really appreciated your videos on this subject. Haven’t heard my feelings in a video before and I completely agree with how it is taught.
Hi! Math with Confidence is a gentle approach to math (short lessons, interactive real life activities, books). Although it goes at a slower pace it dives deeper into math concepts, mental math and conceptual thinking. Because it goes at a slower pace certain concepts aren’t introduced that are typically introduced in other curricula. For example in Math with Confidence Kindergarten, number bonds aren’t introduced at all. I think it’s a great curriculum and the only reason my daughter switched is because she needed something more challenging. I will start my youngest on it when he is old enough though. It really comes down to what would work best for your child. Do they prefer mastery vs spiral approach? Gentle or more rigorous? It’s funny my daughters are completely opposite when it comes to all that, so I feel like I’ve had to learn both sides of it 😆. For math I would focus on finding a curriculum that provides good number sense and conceptual thinking skills. The only curriculum I’ve used for LA in the early years is All About Reading. It has worked wonderfully for both my daughters and they’re very different learners. Hope that helps!
Thank you so much for responding. I actually am going to do math with confidence because although my daughter is almost done with math k from TGAB…there is no retention, it’s sad that her time was spent that way. It angers me a little bit, but I am glad I found your review and honest opinion. Thank you again for the feedback, appreciate your content :)
Thanks! I used it briefly when my oldest was younger. I liked that it was free however for my family it was not a good fit. I have no problem with using Christian curriculum. However, I don’t use curriculum that denounces others beliefs and frames them in a way that they’re wrong or “evil” for believing those things. I don’t interpret the Bible as the literal word of God and that is definitely weaved into the curriculum. Ultimately the curriculum offered a very narrow minded perspective that I don’t personally believe.
Michelle how can you learn tayping keyboard without looking is their equipment that help that is tells you the letters where they are which one is c or b memorize. Someone difficult tayping but writting with pen prefect even looking words he is vey slowl example writting words coconut he has tayp words by word is there equipment he can use Lean examples the people who has difficult match learning they use marbles or multiplication proplem they usa flash cards to memorize multiplication then they memorize? Thank you
I am curious of how long one lesson takes for you im LA? It sometimes takes my son more than 60 minutes for one lesson because he gets distracted a lot! And we do block schedule so Mondays are LA and we do 4 lessons, not 5 anymore because it was way too stressful.
I never found TGATB comprehensive enough for either of my children and there was very little retention so we ultimately moved onto other resources. My kids use a combination of resources now, so I wouldn’t say we have a set time for LA, as some days we incorporate different elements of LA. I have a recent day in the life video if you would like to see how a normal school day breaks down for us.
The only science unit I've done of theirs that was good was Human Body. All others have been horribly lacking and the age range is not realistic at all. Arthropods has been so bad so far! My son is done with AAR at level 2. He really doesn't need more so we are going Moving Beyond the Page with him.
I definitely felt like the age range was far too broad. My daughter stopped AAR after she finished level 1. It did a wonderful job in teaching her to read, but we found other options after that.
I feel like I could have made this video! lol Most of my thoughts and feelings are the exact same. I'm so disappointed because I was so excited to use TGATB this year. I went all out- LA, Math, Science, Handwriting, Typing- and I honestly hate it all so much lol My daughter (grade 1) who flew through K with ease now cries during most of our LA lessons because she's so overwhelmed with everything being thrown at her during each lesson. She does well with Math but like you said its surface level. She can do the lessons because she's remembering the instructions I give her in the moment but if I ask her how to do it later she can't tell me because we've already moved on through 3 other lessons focusing on completely different things! Science is dreadfully boring. Its too textbooky. My daughter hardly listens because all you do is talk and honestly, even I forget things learned from previous lessons. I'm looking into different curriculum now trying to decide what might work best for her. Thank you for making this video!! Its so nice to hear others sharing your same feelings towards something that so many people rave about.
Thank you for sharing your experience with TGATB. I felt like I had to make this video because all I ever saw on YT was glowing reviews of the curriculum. I felt like I was the only one having these problems and I couldn’t figure out why everyone loved it so much 🤷♀️. I kept buying into the hype of TGATB even though I was finding it to be a subpar curriculum. I hope your able to find curricula that works well for your daughter. I know how daunting and exhausting it can be researching and trying to choose curriculum. I try to remind myself when a curriculum doesn’t work out, at least it brought me one step closer to figuring out something that will work 😃
Wow she seems really offended as she speaks. And very woke for a Christian. 😬 I'm south American with indigenous and I have zero issue with white imagery and if u want diversity you can use other books to supplement other imagery. Why can't it be white. White is a culture too and can't white people put white people in their curriculum. Sad you have an issue with your own race demonstrating their own identity. She has some valid points about the depth. But again it's a base to work by that's easy to follow and you as a parent should supplement that base. I also agree with the building upon I believe that's constructive criticism.
The problem isn’t the expression of white culture, but by solely having white imagery it’s presenting white superiority. I’m not sure the negative connotation with being woke and Christian. Jesus continually talks about the importance of accepting all people regardless of societal pressures. He sought out the company of the marginalized and ostracized. Spoke out against the injustices. That’s pretty woke 😉
I also think because the LA is free ( now math) that increases the people who buy it. For me my first year homeschooling it was a lifesaver to have it free because I could not afford all the things. I did know for my then k he needed more so I purchased a reading specific program. I also purchased the puberty unit and it was nice. I do not like the science units also. I think LA can work and if you are working with your kids ( reading plenty as well as the curriculum) or if they are “fast learners”
I think offering some free options is helpful to a lot of families. I do think there are better free options available to homeschoolers though. If I had known about Core Knowledge 8 yrs ago, I never would have picked this curriculum up. I think because it is so heavily promoted a lot more people know about it than lesser promoted curriculum like Core Knowledge. I think it is important to have many options in the homeschooling community, as well as many perspectives and opinions. Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts with the curriculum 😀
@@michellegf you are right I did not know about core knowledge when I started. The thing is TGTB is easy enough because it’s mostly open and go ( the free options) that gives it some flashy quality. I also believe it’s not horrible I honestly think it’s more rigorous than master books. I also do believe there is better out there and core knowledge is probably one of them especially for science. I am grateful for it even though I have largely moved on ( I do still use the free math videos to supplement)
@@Qetesh777 agreed! I still use the original math games with my daughter for multiplication practice. I also used the free days of the week/months videos. We still use some aspects for supplemental purposes in my house. I too have tried Masterbooks and agree that TGATB is a step up from that.
Omgeee. I just got my level one book. My daughter is on lesson 6 and my son is on lesson 3. I HATE IT 😓. It does not teach anything really and it’s too quick. And I don’t mean fast pace like a harder curriculum, but I mean lesson 4 can teach “ar” and then right away the next lesson or two teaches “alk” AND “old”. Like it’s too quick without practice. I don’t know the lessons exactly, but basically, my daughter is about to start lesson six today and she has already learned three phonograms, and only six lessons. The biggest thing I don’t like is the kids have to know about 20 sight words before they can even start the lesson. Like it just won’t work well if they don’t know those words. Mind you, these are kids just coming out of kindergarten. I’m so disappointed.
Thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts with the curriculum. I think a lot of people have had similar experiences. I never really understood the constant jumping around either. It never really seemed connected and just moved from one concept to another 🤷♀️
I have never bought any TGTB products, but the typing has always puzzled me. You could literally open up any book in your house and a word document on your computer and have basically the same set up for free.
Oh my goodness, I came looking to see if ANYone else felt the same way as we did and I feel so much better watching this. I tried so many times and I just can not do it. It is horrible. The science though… I don’t think you can get any more boring. Is the core knowledge FUN? Anyone have science recs? Thank you!!
I felt the same way! I couldn’t understand why people were constantly talking about how great it was 🤷♀️. My kids and I like using CK SCI. They like the YT linked videos and demonstrations. It’s definitely more textbookish, but I like that it’s leveled by grade so the amount of information has always been spot on for their ages.
Seems like a lot has changed since these editions you’re reviewing - my 5 year old just started level 1 math and is almost done with level k LA - he’s super advanced in math and reading at about a 2nd grade level. I also love the old-timey feel of the readers, but I guess that’s just a personal preference. Their new units also have a lot of diversity in them - too much if you ask me because the majority of people in the pictures are not white and it is an American curriculum and the majority of Americans are Caucasian - so it’s not an accurate representation when only 25% of the stories are showing white people. Of course you’re entitled to your own opinions, but it’s a little frustrating coming across new video reviews that are reviewing outdated editions.
I do have older versions, but keep in mind the publication date for most of my materials are 2019. Also I believe the foundations of the curriculum are the same, the really only change is how the material is presented to the child. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts and opinions on it, as I feel we need an equal representation to truly assess the curriculum. However, as far as your comment about diversity I find disheartening. Are you seriously complaining about too much ethnic representation in a curriculum? I find it confusing how your correlate being an “American” with being white 🤷♀️. This curriculum is targeted at a specific demographic and you seem to be a prime candidate.
My point about diversity was that there are many more Caucasians than any other demographic in the US - but people have gone too far with wanting to show diversity that the group that makes up the majority of the country is becoming the least represented, which is an untrue representation. I for sure want my children to grow up seeing and celebrating diversity but I’m annoyed with the way our country has taken the road to anti-racism so far that white people are supposed to feel guilty for being white. That’s not how I want my kids to feel. Christians should be able to see through all the propaganda meant to pit people against each other, cause strife, and lead to more government control (hogwash such as white supremacy, critical race theory, etc.) but unfortunately many do not see through all the lies.
And another one bites the dust... I will never apologize for being white. I do not have special privilege because I’m white, nor am I racist simply because I’m white. Thankfully these things are ultimately between ourselves and God and He knows what’s in each of our hearts. Unfortunately so many are being brainwashed by the media, and most don’t even recognize truth anymore :/ I continue to pray for our country, that people will wake up to the lies, deception, and propaganda that the media and government are pushing, and that people will recognize and realize Gods truth as the only truth ♥️
@@michellegf I appreciate your review. I am teaching my children with the new level pre k, level k and level 1 and so far so good, I did teach my now first grader last year how to read using my own "put together " LA curriculum, so we shall see how well off my kinder is when she is done with this current school year if the concepts stick. As far as the diversity, I had never even noticed "too much" diversity until reading Rachel parks comment. I am a black woman and too me the literature (books, readers) have an amazing showcase for all races. I am seeing a mix of black, white, Hispanic, Asian, pacifica Islanders, even biracial representation. So I do not quiet understand that a white child would feel left out. I grew up here in the US and was a public school student in the 90's and early 2000's representation in our textbooks 25 years ago for minorities was a problem then, but to see companies that include all people in their works, I just dont get the complaining? The US is represented by all people from around the world not just white people.....our literature over the years was always represented by the pages only having white faces on them, and now that more people are mixing it up and showing our melting pot, of races it is "too much diversity"....very sad.
Wait. The black and white pictures in the readers don’t show diverse people? How do you know? The pictures are not colored to depict any skin color 🤷♀️ Should that be the focus of a curriculum anyway? Why can’t you add in supplemental books about POC to your routine? We do. Btw TGTB does have a great story on George Washington Carver and the two sisters of tennis who are not white. Also in the math 3 books we learned about several cultures throughout including China and Uganda. Tons of pictures that are colored and are representative of people of color. If you feel it’s not diverse enough, then that’s on you not the curriculum. There’s no rules saying you can’t add in as much as you want.
So when your child learns a concept do you not stop and take the time to talk and review it with her yourself? Do you just have her do the problems in the book and move on? For me homeschooling is so wonderful because we can stop and help them as much as possible and talk it all out. I’m just trying to understand. Thanks for sharing!
I do love that with homeschooling it offers the opportunity to really take your time and really understand a subject. However if the curriculum itself doesn’t have a solid foundation, your child is more likely to struggle. For example with TGAB math, no number senses or conceptual math was really being taught. It never challenged my daughter to explore the relationship and patterns of numbers. She was taught how to do a problem, but not why. Due to that she would often be able to do the math or language arts assignments fine, but when circling back to the concept she struggled. There was very little retention because she wasn’t being taught to think and problem solve herself, so much as regurgitate simple math facts. For me, no amount of supplementation will make up for a curriculum with a weak foundation.
@@lauragross8292 thank you for asking the question and starting the conversation! It’s so nice when we can have open communication and be able to share different points of view within the comments. It’s so hard to fit everything into a video, that it really helps to clarify questions that come up after watching the video.
@@michellegf I agree! And at the end of the day, I think we all can agree that we want to be doing our very best within our homeschool! So the more informed. And the more view points the better our kids will be!
I am sorry but what you say about TGATB being a white-only curriculum is just not true at all. In math (we completed the old version level K - 3) the children follow the stories of kids from Peru, the Philippines, China, the Caribbean etc. In the new math level 4, the video lessons are taught by a woman of color.
You just lost me and I unsubscribed why does everybody have to turn everything into a racial matter. You need to check the curriculum completely because you are so wrong
Thank you for this video. I think some of your points about depth with TGATB are valid. I think the strength of TGATB lies in the fact that their curriculum is very easy for new homeschoolers to feel confident with homeschooling. It’s easy to teach, doesn’t take up a ton of time, is fun for the kids, and beautiful to look at. For a new homeschooling mom, that was exactly what I needed. And the joy of teaching my kids came through using this curriculum. We’re going into year 4 of homeschooling and it is only now that I see the problems with the pacing and depth. We started homeschooling mid-way through my youngest’s kindergarten year, and she learned to read with level K and we were both so excited! It really lit the fire of loving learning together for us. Fast forward two years and we’re still working through level one. It goes waaaaaay too fast and there is not enough practice for my kids. So I have to supplement a LOT, and we read the reader to death. Same with Math…math K was great, and we used level 1 of their new math…my daughter loves it because it’s pretty and the games are fun, but again I have to supplement because the depth is not there. She’s really struggled with time and money and there is just not enough coverage in the curriculum for her to master it. It makes me sad because I have a real soft spot for TGATB. They opened the doors for us to homeschool and I will be forever grateful for that. We’ll likely be moving on next year tho.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I can totally relate, as TGATB was one of the first homeschool curriculums we used. I liked that it held my hand thru the beginning and like you said it wasn’t till later that I realized it was lacking. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to make this video. I was very naive to homeschooling and curriculum when I first started and I honestly didn’t know what to look for 🤷♀️. I think that it is so heavily promoted on YT that it even had me questioning what I was doing wrong, instead of what was wrong with the curriculum. I think having open discussions with each other and sharing different perspective helps people get a more accurate picture of a curriculum. This really helps people to be able to make a more informed choice.
Love your honest take and reflections! I’ve looked at TGTB so many times but I just couldn’t pull the trigger - especially on the math and LA. I’ve picked up a few readers and I just picked up the typing 🤣. Haha, yep it is pretty!
Thank you! I think it’s one of those things that you see and hear so much about in social media that you start to think you should try it 🤦♀️ That got me so many times!
Try it for your self because she is so wrong
Thank you for this review! We suffered through g&b literature k & 1 and thankfully have switched and I was considering their science this year thinking it would be better than their lit. Thank you🙌
I am glad you found the video helpful!
I used the mammals and geology unit and was not impressed. My kids also retained very little information from it.
I think it's important to point out these editions are extremely out of date there have been 2 revisions to these books... so while your opinion is valid on this edition, alot has changed since the company first started. That's just my opinion. I generally love watching your content, I feel it's important to give all the facts when doing a review on a company that has changed alot since first starting. On the other hand... science, writing, and typing.... ya that's the same, and I agree...
Thank you for sharing this. Your right I am referring to older versions in Math And LA and I think that does make a difference. However, even with my editions being from 2019 I found the lack of diversity astounding. We’re not talking about a curriculum written 20 yrs ago. The fact that it’s didn’t occur to the company that they wrote a curriculum depicting only white people and had to be told to include other diverse backgrounds I find disheartening. For me, it seems like their pushing a certain narrow minded perspective.
@@michellegf that part I 100% agree with! Unfortunately this is not the only source with diversity issues. We use all types of curriculum here and when we come across bias throughout the years we call it out talk about it. I feel it's important to show our kids these things are still happening to this day, and racism issues are still issues to this day no matter how much people pretend their bias is different...
@@mock13 agreed! I feel like homeschooling curriculum is really lagging when it comes to these issues. I am excited to see change with this, but at times it is difficult to sift thru it all. I also totally agree about keeping the conversation going, especially with children. These issues are often presented as issues of the past, that have been resolved and are no longer a problem.
You are so honest with your reviews. I really appreciate that!
Thanks!
I appreciate your honest review!
I will say that one difference I have found is in the math. I have used the Simply Good and Beautiful Level 3 and 4 and there is plenty of review and practice built in. This may be different in younger levels and may be the new math format.
I actually came to TGATB from Singapore. To be fair I wasn’t using Dimensions but the older US Edition. We had wild gaps that I couldn’t fill until we used TGATB at a lower level for remediation and it all finally clicked for my daughter. I absolutely loved Singapore at first and appreciated the mastery approach. After 4 years of using it I found that the concepts while sticking better initially were not sticking in the long term memory because of the lack of consistent review. We would spend a week zooming through the graphing unit and she would master it. Then we wouldn’t do graphs for a year. We would spend 2 months on regrouping while neglecting multiplication and division and vice versa. When we would come back to a concept I would have to completely reteach it.
This may be different in Dimensions and I’m assuming it is based on your review. We just had a different experience in this area. It may even be that a lot of the math curriculum from different companies has been updated to add more review and spiraling into the mastery.
Thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts on this.
I think so many of us have been “hypnotized by beauty” when it comes to TGATB.
I also agree with what you said about influencers. The main people who constantly push & praise them are being paid!🤑🤑🤥Smh
I joined a FB group & was shocked at how many people did not like TGATB & how the curriculum did not work for them.
I always think it’s funny when people rave about their handwriting 🤣.
They definitely market it well! The handwriting! 😆 I too saw a lot of discrepancies between people who used the curriculum and didn’t like it and what I saw on social media. 🤷♀️
I started TGATB LA and Math to supplement public school as well. We then started homeschooling my oldest. I started her completely over because I had no idea where she was academically and I didn't want her to have any gaps. She was in a language academy before we pulled her and her first year was completely Spanish. Now that we're done with her current level, we're not going back. We already have the next level for handwriting but that's all we'll use. My biggest concern was that there was no depth and how was this going to prepare her for college. It doesn't align with our end goal for our children. It did build my confidence in building my own LA curriculum for my kiddos though. 🤣😂 The bar was set so low I knew I could do better. 🤦🏾♀️ Sorry for the long post!
I actually really enjoy long posts 😄
I love when people share their experiences and thoughts! I often worry that my comments back are too long 😆
I found TGATB to lack depth as well and my daughter had very little retention. The curriculum held my hand thru the beginning stages when I needed that and was very unsure of what I was doing. However it didn’t take me long like you said to realize I could do much better. It’s hard enough to feel confident as a parent, when you add in your child’s education on top of that it can be very daunting. I do think it’s funny now that I see so many people ditching TGATB after it was raved about so much the last few years. I have a feeling now that people are getting into the higher grades their starting to realize how lacking TGATB really is. On a side note I have been loving your day in the life videos. It’s so refreshing to see someone being authentic and real on this platform!
Thank you for this as a black mom who will be homeschooling black kids we definitely will be looking for more diverse options. I had no clue it lacked such diversity. I also tend to lean more secular for education.
I know they revised later editions to include more diverse imagery, but I always saw it as a red flag that the company never even considered including any diverse representation in their early editions.
Thank you for your honesty. I've been finding it increasingly difficult to find reviews of curriculum or "what we're using next year" that doesn't use TGATB or paint it through rose-colored glasses. We use TGATB for LA but have had to seriously cherry pick the lessons or topics we use. My older son has already completed level 8 book studies and won't be using the high school series; my daughter will be stopping after next year's level 7; and my younger son will use it one year with level 3 and that'll be it. Primarily, that's because I don't think they're responding well to cries for diversity even though they're updating the levels. Also, my biggest issue is their stance on books and only reading "good and beautiful" literature.
Yes! I think you bring up excellent points. The lack of equal representation in their material and the fact that they didn’t even realize and had to be told to include it, I find very disheartening. The literature might be good and beautiful, but it is also narrow minded and presents one main perspective the company is pushing. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience with it. I think having an open dialogue and discussion on these issues is crucial in the homeschooling community.
You like to live dangerously don't you? This is the most taboo of Homeschool subjects.
I've never used TGAB. I'm an eclectic homeschooler and I pretty much walk my own path so I never ended up buying anything from them.
I'm guessing that maybe its a better fit for larger families that have a group learning experience for part of the day?
I homeschool 1, so everything we do is just geared toward 1 child, but other people are looking for a broader stroke and most likely, the subjects in TGAB end up spiraling back at some point and detailed learning is presented again at older ages/grades. Its kind of a whole language approach that should be judged by its entirety, not any one separate piece. Its meant to work together as a whole.....but, who can afford it?
This was a review thats worth taking into consideration, your points were clearly stated and explained and I think you made some valid points, especially the way you pointed out how things don't connect well, or the curriculum doesn't have a narrative aspect at younger levels. I don't know enough about TGAB to really speak to that, but thats interesting. I like to make connections between things and events and so few curriculums don't do that, so I piece together my own. Also, TGAB IS a preventatively pricy curriculum for a smaller family on a budget. It's just ridiculously priced, if you ask me.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. I too think you bring up some valid and interesting points. I think my overall conclusion is that it could work as a supplement, but not a stand alone curriculum. I too enjoy building upon what my kids know and this was just to all over the place for me.
@@michellegf People love it, thats for sure. Its also probably more worth the money if its for group work. Have a nice evening, brave mama. 😉 💛.
@@misfithomemaker3683 Thanks! Hope you have a good night too.
We've been using their new math. My boys do really like it, but I do feel it is quite scattered and it's hard to really master a concept when you have very few practice problems. I'm considering filling in with Math Mammoth to help them get more practice and also deeper thinking. I love the word problems in MM! I used it some this year with my 2nd grader. The word problems in MM really required deeper thinking, while his 1 word problem every 4 or 5 days in TGTB would be something like "Johnny saw 2 birds yesterday and 3 today. How many did he see in all?" My son is very math minded and needs more than that.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Neither of my kids found it challenging enough. I have heard great things about Math Mammoth. It’s on my list of things to check out.
I agree with your assessment. We tried the new level k math. There was alot of diversity in images but I thought the actual course wasn't great. My daughter had no clue what was going on. It spiraled so quickly and didnt go into depth. When we came back to a topic, she couldn't remember it. I as the teacher had no help to trouble shoot. All I had was what was written on the pages. People seem to love the teacher and kid stuff together, but I see it as a drawback. We switched to Math with Confidence and love it.
We also added in the level K LA mid year as a supplement to All About Reading. It was really a disappointment. The readers sucked and it would expect the child to know words that weren't sight words or hadnt been covered in the phonics. Just All in all, no good.
I think the courses are beautiful, but to me, a quality education is much more important. I think you can have a "gentle" approach and actually teach thoroughly.
I think you summed it up perfectly 👌
We tried TGTB a few times now, LA and Math. Even with the Math update, I just have found it doesn't go deep enough. Since switching to a new program, I have found ALOT of gaps in TGTB Math new Lvl 1. Maybe the updated LA will be better, yet I feel it won't level up to other programs.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Like I said in the video, I don’t have experience with the updated math. So I am curious if it’s been improved. All the curriculum I have used from TGATB seem to be surface level. When it comes down to it, I just found better options out there.
Spot on. I have been unimpressed with TGATB too. The language arts readers. OMG 🙈. It just screams "the past was better and most ideal" ultra conservative vibes. The art is all white people from the 1800s-1950s all looking happy in their very restricted gender roles and, and racial/socioeconomic status. Very Dick & Jane. The content is rainbow and butterflies fluff. Nothing to make your kid think or ask questions. Granted, it has filled some gaps for us, which is fine. But we won't be returning to it next year.
You are also spot on about the math. It is so surface level. I had to quit after getting through about a quarter of level 1 becsuse while mu daughter loved playing the games and the the visual appeal, she was retaining nothing. And she is behind in math now because we had to switch mid year. Granted, math is a difficult subject for her too, which means all the more she needs a more systematic approach rather than a curriculum that very briefly touches on a subject without really teaching it.
I think it was a good curriculum as a new homeschooler, learning how to use a curriculum since it is so open and go. It gave me confidence in that way. But now that I have the confidence, my kids need something better.
Agreed! The curriculum held my hand when I was new to homeschooling and quite frankly naive to a lot of it. Once I learned more about myself and how my kids actually learn I knew it wouldn’t work for us. Your also spot on with the rainbow and butterfly fluff! 🤣
I’m not really a huge TGTB fan, but my son’s TGTB math curriculum is was centered around 2 Chinese kids, Bo and Chun. Same characters throughout the entire curriculum, so I’m not seeing this ‘only whites’ issue..
@@laurak6685 I found this more in the Language Arts curriculum in the illustrations and art presented. Hopefully this has been improved in the new edition. The math curriculum was a little better.
@@laurak6685 what I find concerning is some of the editions I have were published in 2019. I find it disturbing that a company has to be told to include diversity representation in it. We’re talking about a curriculum that was published in the last few years, and they were completely fine publishing materials that solely depicted white people. That’s a big red flag for me.
@@michellegf Why is that a red flag?! Why are people so overly focused on melanin? Why are people trying to force companies into being what they’re not?
You nailed it! Of course I’ll admit to having a love hate relationship with if. I do love so much of it. I love the games (especially the math games from their old math) and how well some of it works for kinesthetic learners, however I just had my 7 year old son complete the Iowa normed standardized test and…..the whole grammar section was really a struggle for him. He taught himself to read right after her turned 5, so I don’t have personal experience as to how well it teaches reading, however there doesn’t seem to be a logical scaffolding or incremental progression of the material. I am now using the ordinary parents guide to teaching reading by Jessie Wise Bauer and it is so blank and white and (kind of boring) but the phonics progression is spectacular and it has my second kid (who turned 5 in February) reading at a first grade level. So yeah that test was a big wake up call and confirmed my suspicions. Now I’m looking at old school curriculum for next school year like growing with grammar, easy grammar, MCP plaid phonics, Evan moor stuff….the programs that have been out for decades and used by thousands of homeschoolers. I wonder how many TGTB supporters have limited experience with any other curricula, therefore no means of comparison? Perhaps that is why also a reason why they have such a following? Also, thank you for never sponsoring curricula on your channel. It’s increasingly harder to find truly honest reviews!
Thank you for sharing your experience with the curriculum. There are some points of TGATB I do like. For example, like you said the old math games. I just don’t think it’s a stand alone curriculum. I am often surprised how many homeschoolers don’t look into others options, whether it be older tried and true curriculum or public school material. 🤷♀️. I think it’s easy to get distracted by the new, trendy and shiny curriculum. The point of any curriculum should be what is your child actually learning/ getting out of it. I agree with the you about the difficulty of finding honest reviews on YT. I feel like so many videos are pushing something or selling something. There seems to be less genuine interaction and content 🫤
I read the comments on your why you do secular homeschooling and I feel you will probably get a similar response here but I really appreciate the candid take. So all the other homeschool channels saying TGATB had a gentle approach were just speaking in code for super easy? My 2nd grader wants to be an engineer and build robots and video games so we will definitely avoid TGATB math!
I appreciate your comments and thoughts on this. I think it’s possible to have a gentle approach, but still lay a solid foundation. For example Math With Confidence lays a solid foundation. It teaches conceptual math and number sense and it dives deep into subjects without overwhelming the child. That’s what I consider to be a gentle approach. I found no challenge or growth within my child when using TGATB.
I tried it the first year we homeschooled in 2020-2021 and had the same issues. Luckily my son was already great at math, but TGTB math sunk his standardized test scores until we got him caught up with another curriculum. That was the only time he had issues on tests, and it says a lot. But you hit the nail on it’s head about why it’s so popular- pretty, and easy.
Thank you for sharing you and your sons experience with it. I think it’s really interesting to have quantitative data that shows a decline in your child’s math scores. Curriculum can be pretty and fun, but if your kids isn’t learning from it, it becomes pretty pointless 🤷♀️
Thank you so much for your honesty! It’s very rare to see on RUclips these days.
This is my first year homeschooling and before I made the decision, I spent hours watching RUclips videos to get an idea of what to expect, how to do it, peoples experiences, and most importantly curriculum reviews. I’ve seen some of the moms homeschooling just over the last year go from “honest reviews“ to “click the link below to save 10%!” , and it’s disappointing. I understand and can appreciate any sort of supplemental income, but when it comes at the expense of pushing a product, especially on new moms homeschooling and that already feel either insecure or self-conscious about what they are doing.
That’s the exact reason I refuse to do any type of affiliate work or sponsorships on my channel. It’s so easy to be manipulated on social media and I never want to misuse my influence, voice or opinions as a way to make money.
You need to check it out for your self because she is so wrong
love this honest review. thank you so much for taking the time
Thank you for this video I agree with most of what you said. I use the new 4 grade math from the good and the beautiful and I love it. It is completely different from the math, however I do not recommend using TGTB under level 3. It's everything that you said
Thank you for sharing your experience. I never looked into the higher levels of TGATB math, so it’s nice to have other perspectives and opinions on it.
Very interesting review. I've been using TGTB LA and Math. We have loved the math for my 8 year olds learning style, but have struggled through K Math with my 5 year old so we have been looking at something else for her. I have found that there have been times where we have supplemented LA with Explode the Code and Evan Moor books, but we have stuck with it. I feel my daughter may need a mastery approach, but my son gets bored too easily so for him the spiral approach with supplementing when we need to works very well. We use secular based science and history though because I fear that TGTB just won't cut it in that aspect
Thanks for sharing your experience with it. I’ve never attempted the history as that is pretty obviously biased. The science was just boring and lacking in my opinion.
Do black publishers use white people in their books? Are they diverse?
I think your missing the point. African American Publishing companies exist because the mainline media i.e. literature, television, social media predominately promote white imagery. This is both historically and currently true. Not to mention the fact that just by being black, it is harder for an author to even get their work published. This isn’t a whites only country, but if you look at a lot of those sources of media that’s what you see. There isn’t equal representation. You can’t promote a curriculum saying its for everybody and only include white imagery. TGATB core values are emphasizing god, family, high character etc… are those only values available to white people?
Hi there! I am a new homeschooler and subscriber. I have a 5 year old and 3.5 year old. I am struggling with deciding whether to stick with their new LA and new Math. I have been looking for a secular curriculum. I chose TGAB for the free curriculum but I have noticed with my 5 year old she is not retaining when it comes to reading, and she is almost done with her math curriculum, and I guess my question is whether or not to scrap it and start over with math with confidence or would it be too simple. Same thing with their LA. Really appreciated your videos on this subject. Haven’t heard my feelings in a video before and I completely agree with how it is taught.
Hi! Math with Confidence is a gentle approach to math (short lessons, interactive real life activities, books). Although it goes at a slower pace it dives deeper into math concepts, mental math and conceptual thinking. Because it goes at a slower pace certain concepts aren’t introduced that are typically introduced in other curricula. For example in Math with Confidence Kindergarten, number bonds aren’t introduced at all. I think it’s a great curriculum and the only reason my daughter switched is because she needed something more challenging. I will start my youngest on it when he is old enough though. It really comes down to what would work best for your child. Do they prefer mastery vs spiral approach? Gentle or more rigorous? It’s funny my daughters are completely opposite when it comes to all that, so I feel like I’ve had to learn both sides of it 😆. For math I would focus on finding a curriculum that provides good number sense and conceptual thinking skills. The only curriculum I’ve used for LA in the early years is All About Reading. It has worked wonderfully for both my daughters and they’re very different learners. Hope that helps!
Thank you so much for responding. I actually am going to do math with confidence because although my daughter is almost done with math k from TGAB…there is no retention, it’s sad that her time was spent that way. It angers me a little bit, but I am glad I found your review and honest opinion. Thank you again for the feedback, appreciate your content :)
Great review! I’m curious if you have looked into Easy Peasy All in One Homeschool and if you have any thoughts on it?
Thanks! I used it briefly when my oldest was younger. I liked that it was free however for my family it was not a good fit. I have no problem with using Christian curriculum. However, I don’t use curriculum that denounces others beliefs and frames them in a way that they’re wrong or “evil” for believing those things. I don’t interpret the Bible as the literal word of God and that is definitely weaved into the curriculum. Ultimately the curriculum offered a very narrow minded perspective that I don’t personally believe.
Michelle how can you learn tayping keyboard without looking is their equipment that help that is tells you the letters where they are which one is c or b memorize. Someone difficult tayping but writting with pen prefect even looking words he is vey slowl example writting words coconut he has tayp words by word is there equipment he can use Lean examples the people who has difficult match learning they use marbles or multiplication proplem they usa flash cards to memorize multiplication then they memorize? Thank you
I am curious of how long one lesson takes for you im LA? It sometimes takes my son more than
60 minutes for one lesson because he gets distracted a lot! And we do block schedule so Mondays are LA and we do 4 lessons, not 5 anymore because it was way too stressful.
I never found TGATB comprehensive enough for either of my children and there was very little retention so we ultimately moved onto other resources. My kids use a combination of resources now, so I wouldn’t say we have a set time for LA, as some days we incorporate different elements of LA. I have a recent day in the life video if you would like to see how a normal school day breaks down for us.
The only science unit I've done of theirs that was good was Human Body. All others have been horribly lacking and the age range is not realistic at all. Arthropods has been so bad so far! My son is done with AAR at level 2. He really doesn't need more so we are going Moving Beyond the Page with him.
I definitely felt like the age range was far too broad. My daughter stopped AAR after she finished level 1. It did a wonderful job in teaching her to read, but we found other options after that.
I feel like I could have made this video! lol Most of my thoughts and feelings are the exact same. I'm so disappointed because I was so excited to use TGATB this year. I went all out- LA, Math, Science, Handwriting, Typing- and I honestly hate it all so much lol My daughter (grade 1) who flew through K with ease now cries during most of our LA lessons because she's so overwhelmed with everything being thrown at her during each lesson. She does well with Math but like you said its surface level. She can do the lessons because she's remembering the instructions I give her in the moment but if I ask her how to do it later she can't tell me because we've already moved on through 3 other lessons focusing on completely different things! Science is dreadfully boring. Its too textbooky. My daughter hardly listens because all you do is talk and honestly, even I forget things learned from previous lessons. I'm looking into different curriculum now trying to decide what might work best for her. Thank you for making this video!! Its so nice to hear others sharing your same feelings towards something that so many people rave about.
Thank you for sharing your experience with TGATB. I felt like I had to make this video because all I ever saw on YT was glowing reviews of the curriculum. I felt like I was the only one having these problems and I couldn’t figure out why everyone loved it so much 🤷♀️. I kept buying into the hype of TGATB even though I was finding it to be a subpar curriculum. I hope your able to find curricula that works well for your daughter. I know how daunting and exhausting it can be researching and trying to choose curriculum. I try to remind myself when a curriculum doesn’t work out, at least it brought me one step closer to figuring out something that will work 😃
Wow she seems really offended as she speaks. And very woke for a Christian. 😬
I'm south American with indigenous and I have zero issue with white imagery and if u want diversity you can use other books to supplement other imagery. Why can't it be white. White is a culture too and can't white people put white people in their curriculum. Sad you have an issue with your own race demonstrating their own identity.
She has some valid points about the depth. But again it's a base to work by that's easy to follow and you as a parent should supplement that base. I also agree with the building upon I believe that's constructive criticism.
The problem isn’t the expression of white culture, but by solely having white imagery it’s presenting white superiority. I’m not sure the negative connotation with being woke and Christian. Jesus continually talks about the importance of accepting all people regardless of societal pressures. He sought out the company of the marginalized and ostracized. Spoke out against the injustices. That’s pretty woke 😉
I also think because the LA is free ( now math) that increases the people who buy it. For me my first year homeschooling it was a lifesaver to have it free because I could not afford all the things. I did know for my then k he needed more so I purchased a reading specific program. I also purchased the puberty unit and it was nice. I do not like the science units also. I think LA can work and if you are working with your kids ( reading plenty as well as the curriculum) or if they are “fast learners”
I think offering some free options is helpful to a lot of families. I do think there are better free options available to homeschoolers though. If I had known about Core Knowledge 8 yrs ago, I never would have picked this curriculum up. I think because it is so heavily promoted a lot more people know about it than lesser promoted curriculum like Core Knowledge. I think it is important to have many options in the homeschooling community, as well as many perspectives and opinions. Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts with the curriculum 😀
@@michellegf you are right I did not know about core knowledge when I started. The thing is TGTB is easy enough because it’s mostly open and go ( the free options) that gives it some flashy quality. I also believe it’s not horrible I honestly think it’s more rigorous than master books. I also do believe there is better out there and core knowledge is probably one of them especially for science. I am grateful for it even though I have largely moved on ( I do still use the free math videos to supplement)
@@Qetesh777 agreed! I still use the original math games with my daughter for multiplication practice. I also used the free days of the week/months videos. We still use some aspects for supplemental purposes in my house. I too have tried Masterbooks and agree that TGATB is a step up from that.
Omgeee. I just got my level one book. My daughter is on lesson 6 and my son is on lesson 3. I HATE IT 😓. It does not teach anything really and it’s too quick. And I don’t mean fast pace like a harder curriculum, but I mean lesson 4 can teach “ar” and then right away the next lesson or two teaches “alk” AND “old”. Like it’s too quick without practice. I don’t know the lessons exactly, but basically, my daughter is about to start lesson six today and she has already learned three phonograms, and only six lessons. The biggest thing I don’t like is the kids have to know about 20 sight words before they can even start the lesson. Like it just won’t work well if they don’t know those words. Mind you, these are kids just coming out of kindergarten. I’m so disappointed.
Thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts with the curriculum. I think a lot of people have had similar experiences. I never really understood the constant jumping around either. It never really seemed connected and just moved from one concept to another 🤷♀️
I have never bought any TGTB products, but the typing has always puzzled me. You could literally open up any book in your house and a word document on your computer and have basically the same set up for free.
I never understood the appeal either 🤷♀️
Oh my goodness, I came looking to see if ANYone else felt the same way as we did and I feel so much better watching this. I tried so many times and I just can not do it. It is horrible. The science though… I don’t think you can get any more boring. Is the core knowledge FUN? Anyone have science recs? Thank you!!
I felt the same way! I couldn’t understand why people were constantly talking about how great it was 🤷♀️. My kids and I like using CK SCI. They like the YT linked videos and demonstrations. It’s definitely more textbookish, but I like that it’s leveled by grade so the amount of information has always been spot on for their ages.
Seems like a lot has changed since these editions you’re reviewing - my 5 year old just started level 1 math and is almost done with level k LA - he’s super advanced in math and reading at about a 2nd grade level. I also love the old-timey feel of the readers, but I guess that’s just a personal preference. Their new units also have a lot of diversity in them - too much if you ask me because the majority of people in the pictures are not white and it is an American curriculum and the majority of Americans are Caucasian - so it’s not an accurate representation when only 25% of the stories are showing white people. Of course you’re entitled to your own opinions, but it’s a little frustrating coming across new video reviews that are reviewing outdated editions.
I do have older versions, but keep in mind the publication date for most of my materials are 2019. Also I believe the foundations of the curriculum are the same, the really only change is how the material is presented to the child. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts and opinions on it, as I feel we need an equal representation to truly assess the curriculum. However, as far as your comment about diversity I find disheartening. Are you seriously complaining about too much ethnic representation in a curriculum? I find it confusing how your correlate being an “American” with being white 🤷♀️. This curriculum is targeted at a specific demographic and you seem to be a prime candidate.
My point about diversity was that there are many more Caucasians than any other demographic in the US - but people have gone too far with wanting to show diversity that the group that makes up the majority of the country is becoming the least represented, which is an untrue representation. I for sure want my children to grow up seeing and celebrating diversity but I’m annoyed with the way our country has taken the road to anti-racism so far that white people are supposed to feel guilty for being white. That’s not how I want my kids to feel. Christians should be able to see through all the propaganda meant to pit people against each other, cause strife, and lead to more government control (hogwash such as white supremacy, critical race theory, etc.) but unfortunately many do not see through all the lies.
@@reclaimingwonder yeah that’s pretty much the definition of white privilege 🤦♀️
And another one bites the dust... I will never apologize for being white. I do not have special privilege because I’m white, nor am I racist simply because I’m white. Thankfully these things are ultimately between ourselves and God and He knows what’s in each of our hearts. Unfortunately so many are being brainwashed by the media, and most don’t even recognize truth anymore :/ I continue to pray for our country, that people will wake up to the lies, deception, and propaganda that the media and government are pushing, and that people will recognize and realize Gods truth as the only truth ♥️
@@michellegf I appreciate your review. I am teaching my children with the new level pre k, level k and level 1 and so far so good, I did teach my now first grader last year how to read using my own "put together " LA curriculum, so we shall see how well off my kinder is when she is done with this current school year if the concepts stick. As far as the diversity, I had never even noticed "too much" diversity until reading Rachel parks comment. I am a black woman and too me the literature (books, readers) have an amazing showcase for all races. I am seeing a mix of black, white, Hispanic, Asian, pacifica Islanders, even biracial representation. So I do not quiet understand that a white child would feel left out. I grew up here in the US and was a public school student in the 90's and early 2000's representation in our textbooks 25 years ago for minorities was a problem then, but to see companies that include all people in their works, I just dont get the complaining? The US is represented by all people from around the world not just white people.....our literature over the years was always represented by the pages only having white faces on them, and now that more people are mixing it up and showing our melting pot, of races it is "too much diversity"....very sad.
Wait. The black and white pictures in the readers don’t show diverse people? How do you know? The pictures are not colored to depict any skin color 🤷♀️ Should that be the focus of a curriculum anyway? Why can’t you add in supplemental books about POC to your routine? We do. Btw TGTB does have a great story on George Washington Carver and the two sisters of tennis who are not white. Also in the math 3 books we learned about several cultures throughout including China and Uganda. Tons of pictures that are colored and are representative of people of color. If you feel it’s not diverse enough, then that’s on you not the curriculum. There’s no rules saying you can’t add in as much as you want.
Yeah that’s the point of the video…I didn’t find it diverse enough and that’s one of the reasons it didn’t work for my family.
Thank you for the informative video
So when your child learns a concept do you not stop and take the time to talk and review it with her yourself? Do you just have her do the problems in the book and move on? For me homeschooling is so wonderful because we can stop and help them as much as possible and talk it all out. I’m just trying to understand. Thanks for sharing!
I do love that with homeschooling it offers the opportunity to really take your time and really understand a subject. However if the curriculum itself doesn’t have a solid foundation, your child is more likely to struggle. For example with TGAB math, no number senses or conceptual math was really being taught. It never challenged my daughter to explore the relationship and patterns of numbers. She was taught how to do a problem, but not why. Due to that she would often be able to do the math or language arts assignments fine, but when circling back to the concept she struggled. There was very little retention because she wasn’t being taught to think and problem solve herself, so much as regurgitate simple math facts. For me, no amount of supplementation will make up for a curriculum with a weak foundation.
@@michellegf Got it! Thank you for taking the time to reply.. and also for your view point. It’s nice to hear the other side!
@@lauragross8292 thank you for asking the question and starting the conversation! It’s so nice when we can have open communication and be able to share different points of view within the comments. It’s so hard to fit everything into a video, that it really helps to clarify questions that come up after watching the video.
@@michellegf I agree! And at the end of the day, I think we all can agree that we want to be doing our very best within our homeschool! So the more informed. And the more view points the better our kids will be!
I am sorry but what you say about TGATB being a white-only curriculum is just not true at all. In math (we completed the old version level K - 3) the children follow the stories of kids from Peru, the Philippines, China, the Caribbean etc. In the new math level 4, the video lessons are taught by a woman of color.
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Thank you very helpful
Glad you found it helpful!
You just lost me and I unsubscribed why does everybody have to turn everything into a racial matter. You need to check the curriculum completely because you are so wrong
Exactly....Basically she's trashing it because it's not "diverse" enough. Everyone is tired of that hogwash...