Printed or PDF curriculum · Updated September 4, 2026

Kindy vs The Good and the Beautiful Preschool

The Good and the Beautiful Preschool is a Christian, non-denominational course book of 90 lessons for ages 3 and up, sold as a $15 PDF or $17.99 print book with optional practice sheets and folder activities, and it is not part of the company's free downloads, which start at kindergarten. Kindy is a secular, $9.99 a month parent-led preschool curriculum that places the child by a free readiness check and gives the parent one 10 to 15 minute activity a day, adjusting from how each one went. Both are screen-free and parent-led. Choose The Good and the Beautiful for a beautiful, scripted, faith-framed book at a one-time price. Choose Kindy for a secular plan that starts from your child rather than from lesson one.

Choose Kindy if

  • You want a secular curriculum
  • You want the sequence to start from what your child already knows, not lesson one
  • You want social, self-help and listening skills built in, not only letters, numbers and fine motor
  • You would rather have a plan that adjusts than a book you pace yourself

Choose The Good and the Beautiful Preschool Course if

  • You want a Christian framing to your child's first lessons
  • You love a physical, full-colour book on the table and a one-time price
  • You are already using The Good and the Beautiful for older children and want the same look
  • You prefer a fixed, scripted lesson you can open and read

At a glance

Kindy and The Good and the Beautiful Preschool Course at a glance. Facts checked September 4, 2026; sources at the end of the page.
KindyThe Good and the Beautiful Preschool Course
Price$9.99 per month, $4.99 per month for each additional child, cancel anytime in the app$15 PDF or $17.99 print for the course book; $48.97 full print set, one-time
Free option or trialFree readiness assessment with full results kept in the account; no card needed; subscribe only if you want the daily curriculumnone
Ages3-5 (the two to three years before kindergarten); placement is by ability, not age3 and older (product page); FAQ/marketing elsewhere also states 2.5+
Who is on the screenThe parent onlyNobody
Formatweb app for the parent (installable on a phone); activities are done hands-on, off screenprint + PDF
Time per dayOne 10 to 15 minute activity a day; the app offers more on energetic daysLessons are described as taking about 10-15 minutes (per third-party reviews) and as "less than 20 minutes" each; the company's own FAQ says not to complete exactly one lesson a day and to let the child's attention span set the pace.
How it adapts to the childEvery activity ends with one tap on how it went (Nailed it, Almost, Not yet). Three Nailed it ratings mark a skill mastered and it leaves the rotation; mastered letters and skills circle back for quick reviews so they stick. The next day's activity is chosen from the child's current level across all areas.Not adaptive/algorithmic. Company FAQ: "You do not need to complete exactly one lesson a day", parent paces lessons to the child's attention span and stops at signs of fatigue or frustration.
How the child is placedBy a readiness assessmentBy age
Skills coveredliteracy (letters, sounds, print awareness), early math (counting, number sense, shapes), language (vocabulary, storytelling, listening), thinking (problem solving, memory), social-emotional (sharing, manners, separation, feelings), fine motor (pencil grip, scissors, self-help), focus and self-controlletter recognition, letter sounds (most common sound of each letter), number recognition, counting, fine motor skills / pencil grip, colors, shapes, rhyming, sorting, sequencing
Secular or faith-basedsecularfaith-based (Christian, non-denominational, per company's own wording)
What the parent doesThe parent reads today's activity on their phone and does it with the child using things at home; the app tells them what to do and what to say. The child never uses the app.Parent-directed/open-and-go: the Course Book gives the parent scripted teacher instructions (shown in blue text) to read and lead each lesson; described by the company and reviewers as requiring "very little prep" beyond assembling Folder Activities and gathering basic art supplies.

What each one actually is

The Good and the Beautiful was founded by Jenny Phillips and grew from her free language arts downloads into a large Christian homeschool publisher. Its Preschool Course Book has 90 lessons in seven units covering letter recognition and sounds, number recognition and counting, fine motor skills, colours, shapes, rhyming, sorting and sequencing. The parent reads scripted instructions in blue text; lessons take roughly 10 to 20 minutes and the company's FAQ says not to force one lesson a day. The book costs $15 as a PDF or $17.99 in print, the full Language Arts Course Set with practice sheets and folder activities is $48.97 in print, and the preschool level is paid, unlike the company's free kindergarten to grade 8 language arts and math.

Kindy is secular, $9.99 a month, and shares the same starting point: a parent, a child, and no screen for the child. The difference is what is between them. A free readiness check places the child by what they can already do, Kindy builds a plan across literacy, early math, language, thinking, social-emotional and fine motor skills, and each day gives the parent one hands-on activity with what to do and say. A tap on how it went adjusts tomorrow.

A fixed book versus a plan that starts from your child

A course book has one order for every child. If your child already knows twelve letters, lesson one still teaches the first one. The Good and the Beautiful handles this by telling parents to set the pace and skip as needed, which is sensible and also means the parent is doing the placement by feel. Kindy does the placement from the readiness check and keeps doing it from every activity rating, so a child who is strong in letters and unsure with scissors gets a different week from a child the other way round.

The other difference is scope. The Good and the Beautiful's preschool list is letters, numbers, fine motor and early concepts, all done well. Kindy adds language, thinking and social-emotional strands, practised with you, because kindergarten teachers notice a goodbye at drop-off before they notice a letter sound.

Faith, stated plainly

The company describes its curriculum as Christian and non-denominational, and says it contains no doctrine specific to any church. One 2023 reviewer found the preschool level itself only lightly faith-based. If that framing is what you want, it is a strength. If you want neutral content, Kindy is secular throughout.

Where The Good and the Beautiful Preschool Course is the better choice

Price and permanence. Fifteen dollars once for a course book you own, full colour, scripted, open-and-go, praised in review after review for how engaging it is for small children. If budget is tight and you are comfortable pacing it yourself, it is excellent value.

Faith and family continuity. For families who want a Christian framing and already use The Good and the Beautiful for older children, the preschool course fits naturally and the free kindergarten materials follow.

Where Kindy is the better choice

It starts from your child. Placement by readiness check and re-evaluation after every activity mean the plan fits your child from day one, not from lesson one. Progress reflects what your child can actually do.

Secular and wider. Kindy covers language, thinking and social-emotional readiness alongside letters, numbers and fine motor, and tells you what to do today rather than leaving you to decide what to skip. $9.99 a month, cancel in one tap.

Questions parents ask

Is The Good and the Beautiful preschool free?

No. The company's free downloads are its kindergarten to grade 8 language arts and math courses. The Preschool Course Book is $15 as a PDF or $17.99 in print; practice sheets and folder activities are sold separately. Checked September 4, 2026.

Is The Good and the Beautiful religious?

The company describes it as Christian and non-denominational, with no doctrine specific to any church. One reviewer found the preschool level only lightly faith-based. Kindy is secular.

Which one is screen-free?

Both. The Good and the Beautiful is a book. Kindy is an app for the parent only; the child's activities are hands-on.

Can I use Kindy alongside The Good and the Beautiful?

Yes. Kindy lets you log activities from other materials so they count toward your child's progress, and it will keep choosing the daily activity from your child's readiness picture.

Which is better for a child who already knows their letters?

Kindy, because it starts from a readiness check and will not spend weeks on letters your child already knows. With a course book you would skip ahead yourself.

Sources

Facts about The Good and the Beautiful Preschool Course:

Facts about Kindy:

Note: Exact founding year of the company was not confirmed on the company's own About Us page in this research pass (page did not surface a specific year in fetched content); a 2026 news article and secondary sources describe growth 'in the last decade' consistent with a mid-2010s founding, but no single official source with an exact year was directly quoted, so no founding year is recorded above rather than guessing. The company's own site content did not, in the pages fetched, use the literal phrase 'no screen' for Preschool; the 'screen-free' characterization here is inferred from delivery format (print/PDF workbook with only optional supplementary online video/audio) and one reviewer's comment, not a direct company claim, treat 'who_is_on_screen: none' as describing the core lesson delivery, not a guarantee that no digital component exists. Ages are stated inconsistently across the company's own pages: the Course Book product page says '3 and older' while other company marketing pages/FAQs elsewhere reference 2.5+; both are recorded. Charlotte Mason influence is not claimed by the company for the Preschool course specifically in the pages fetched; one 2025-2026-era third-party review (Humbly Haley, undated year on the post itself) noted only 'small hints' of Charlotte Mason methods (art and poetry in a few lessons), not a company-stated Charlotte Mason philosophy for this product. Session length figures come from third-party reviews and the company's pacing guidance, not a single official 'recommended minutes per lesson' statement.

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