Abeka vs The Good and the Beautiful: Which Christian Homeschool Curriculum Fits?

Abeka vs The Good and the Beautiful: the short answer

Both are Christian homeschool curricula that cover preschool through high school, but they feel like opposite ends of the spectrum.

Abeka is traditional Christian school, packaged for home. Textbooks, drill, review and memorization in every subject, with the option of classroom teachers on video and an accredited diploma. The Good and the Beautiful is gentle and open-and-go. Its language arts blends phonics, spelling, grammar, writing, geography and art in colorful, scripted lessons, and the K–8 language arts is free as PDFs.

If you want structure and someone else to teach, Abeka. If you want short, lovely lessons you teach yourself at low cost, The Good and the Beautiful.

Teaching approach

Abeka is known above all for phonics and early reading. Lessons move quickly with lots of repetition and review, and every subject carries a fundamentalist Christian framing, including KJV Scripture and young-earth creation. Families choose parent-led book kits or Abeka Academy video, where classroom teachers teach each lesson. The video program has an accredited option with report cards, transcripts and a diploma.

The Good and the Beautiful puts language arts at the center: one course set per level covers phonics, reading, spelling, grammar, writing, geography and art. Lessons are scripted and short, and many subjects (science, history) are taught family-style. It describes itself as broadly Christian, not tied to one church. Math is sold separately and uses a spiral approach.

What a lesson looks like

Abeka, 1st grade video: your child watches the teacher lead phonics drills, reading, arithmetic and Bible with a real class on screen, then does seatwork from the child kit. Elementary video days often run 3–4 hours, and many families skip some worksheets.

The Good and the Beautiful, Level 1 language arts: you open the course book, read the script, review phonics cards, read a short story together, do a spelling and handwriting activity and look at a piece of art. It's done in well under an hour, but you're involved the whole time.

Price and value

As of October 2026:

The Good and the Beautiful is far cheaper, especially if you print the free PDFs. Abeka costs more, but its video replaces much of the parent's teaching time, which is what many families are paying for.

Who should choose Abeka

• Families who want a complete Christian school at home in every subject
• Parents who want teacher-led video so they don't teach every lesson
• Students who need an accredited transcript and diploma
• Kids who do well with routine, review and memorization

Who should choose The Good and the Beautiful

• Families new to homeschooling who want an easy, open-and-go start
• Budget-minded families (start with the free language arts PDFs)
• Kids who respond to beautiful books, art and short lessons
• Parents who enjoy teaching and want a gentler pace

Alternatives to both

• BJU Press Homeschool: Christian, rigorous, with video options and a less drill-heavy feel.
• Christian Light: affordable Mennonite worktexts.
• Sonlight: literature-based Christian curriculum.
• Master Books: gentle, faith-based and open-and-go.
• Monarch: Christian online curriculum.
• All About Reading: non-religious phonics if you want to swap one subject.

See all Christian homeschool curriculum and the best homeschool curriculum.

Can you use a scholarship for either?

Often. Curriculum and accredited distance programs are commonly allowable in education savings account programs such as Arizona's ESA and Florida's scholarships, and Step Up For Students lists The Good and the Beautiful in its vendor information pages. Each program decides what it covers and how purchases are made. Read what ESA funds can buy, save your pick to your wishlist, and apply once to the scholarships for your state.