Chances are you have found my Gather ‘Round Homeschool review because you are looking for answers about this curriculum. I am not compensated in any way by Gather ‘Round for this review, so I hope you will find that it is a simple and unbiased approach.
When I first started our homeschooling adventure, I never imagined how much our curriculum would evolve. Like many homeschool families, I found myself constantly searching for the perfect fit — something that could engage my entire family without requiring a ton of time to prepare each day. Especially as a full-time working mom, that has become a very important piece for me.
After a tough first part of the school year, we took a leap of faith and dived into the Gather ‘Round homeschool curriculum. It has become one of the best decisions we’ve ever made for our family school. Let’s dive into the ‘whys’ of this curriculum working so well for our young family, and more about the nitty-gritty of what Gather ‘Round homeschool is. Welcome to my honest take on Gather ‘Round homeschool.
This page may contain affiliate links. To view my full affiliate link disclosure, click here. There are Amazon affiliate links in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I make a small commission from Amazon links in this post. Find our privacy policy, terms of service, and more information about user data by visiting the links above.
We Changed Everything
I wrote this blog post during the summer to outline our curriculum choices for 2024-2025. I was so excited to start homeschooling again and I did a lot of research and spent a lot of time organizing and preparing everything. Plus there was a good chunk of change that went into our curriculum picks.
6 weeks into our school year, I realized that our math curriculum (Dimensions Math) was far too advanced for my oldest son. Truth be told, I sometimes didn’t even understand what the curriculum was trying to teach and it was a 1st grade math program! Not only that, but he was getting excessively frustrated.
After doing some consulting with our curriculum Facebook group, I changed him over to Math with Confidence and lowered him to a grade level. I felt like it was a big decision, little did I know, it was just the tip of the iceberg.
Note: I’m not dismissing Dimensions as a great program, but it was not for us.
As the weeks went on no one was thriving. From the toddler to the 1st grader, everyone was frustrated and starting to dread our homeschool routine. A large issue was that I needed to teach each child by grade level and it was creating a spiral effect of chaos. By November, I was desperate. There were daily fights, screaming, and pencil breaking, and the situation that broke me was when my son started hitting himself in frustration. The curriculum was not connecting with him.
That was the day, I knew we were done with everything. What we were doing was not the answer. We stopped school, and although I was sad and frustrated, I will never regret that decision.
Through a long process of consulting other homeschool moms, praying, and talking in-depth with my husband, I started researching a curriculum that might fit our sons better.
We changed everything this year. Actually, our homeschool was on the edge of imploding. Yes, that sounds very dramatic, but I do believe that had we continued with our trajectory my sons would have completely lost all love of learning, which is the cornerstone of what I desire for our homeschool. Our goal is to create lifelong learners who have a joy of learning and a heart for Jesus.
A Note on Our Previous Curriculum
It’s no secret that we were using My Father’s World curriculum, I want to be honest about that. I still love My Father’s World and I’ve promoted it enough that I’m still getting people purchasing their curriculum through my links! Thank you for that! It incorporated all the subjects and was heavy on literature and the Bible, which I truly did enjoy.
One thing that I instantly connected with as a formal educator when I first received our My Father’s World curriculum two years ago was that they use the slogan “Teach the Child, Not the Curriculum” on a lot of their promotional materials.
I love My Father’s World approach. It resonates with me deeply. I like to think of it as a cross between a Classical Education approach and Charlotte Mason’s approach.
However, what I’ve learned is that this approach was not working for my boys. It’s how I think, it’s how I teach, it’s how I learn, but my sons are different. What a sharp, but important learning curve for a homeschool mom!
The short of the long explanation is that my sons are kinesthetic and active learners. They love storytelling and they thrive when I put them in the driver’s seat of their education.
The approach was not working. It’s not that any of the resources or curriculum we were using was bad, they were just not working for our boys and I was unable to tweak the format anymore to meet their needs.
Switching Curriculums Mid-Year
Switching curriculums mid-year can feel like a big risk. We’d already invested in a primary curriculum that I thought would carry us through the full school year. Teaching each grade level was not working, our format was not working, and the approach was not working.
It was exhausting, and I knew there had to be a better way.
As I started looking for a curriculum, I stumbled upon the idea of unit studies and I was intrigued. The idea of my children choosing a subject matter that they were interested in and then diving into that subject matter while covering all subjects (literature, history, geography, reading, science), was very inviting to me. Plus the added (and very important benefit) that all my children could be included in the teaching time, was the fundamental piece that we had been missing.
Here is a Pinterest account that I have come to love with an abundance of unit study and homeschooling resources.
What are Unit Studies?
Unit studies are an educational approach where multiple subject areas are integrated and taught together around a central theme or topic. Instead of separating subjects like language arts, social studies, and science into different lessons, a unit study combines them into one cohesive learning experience. This method allows children of different ages and grade levels to study the same topic at their own depth and ability.
For example, if you’re working through the Reptile Unit (which was our first Gather ‘Round unit), your children might learn about the anatomy of reptiles in science, the habitats of various reptiles in geography, and famous myths or stories featuring reptiles in literature. This approach not only saves time but also helps children see how various subjects connect in real life.
Unit studies also tend to encourage ‘project-based ‘ learning and Gather ‘Round incorporates one into each unit study (modified based on age).
We finished our first unit study on Reptiles and my oldest learner completed his first-ever report on the Gila Monster. We were able to connect all of this in a very hands-on way by visiting Snake Discovery and seeing real Gila Monsters!
When Did Gather ‘Round Homeschool Curriculum Start?
I have been in the realm of education for over 10 years and homeschooling for about 3 years. Over my experience, I have explored a wide variety of curricula and even had the pleasure of developing my own. I’ve learned that it can be very easy to ‘jump on the bandwagon’ of something new, thinking that it will solve all my ‘education’ issues. To be completely honest, my ‘education’ issues this year, were quite abundant.
When I heard of Gather’ Round Homeschool, I, of course, went to see how old it was. It came out in 2019, so it’s a relatively new homeschool curriculum. I personally feel based on reviews I’ve read and social media posts I’ve seen that we’re seeing a lot of growing pains from a new company, which is certainly not a bad thing, but it is something to keep in mind as you dive into the curriculum.
What is Gather ‘Round Homeschool Curriculum?
Gather ‘Round Homeschool is a unit study approach designed to bring the entire family together while learning about various subjects. As a bonus, it is a faith-based program and each lesson concludes with a family devotional.
Each unit covers different topic areas like social studies, earth science, world history, and language arts — all centered around one main theme. The only subject not covered is math. The curriculum is available in both print editions and digital downloads, making it accessible for busy moms like me who prefer organized resources that can fit into real life.
The idea is that the teacher guide provides everything you need to lead lessons, while student notebooks break the material down by grade level. Whether you’re teaching young learners or high schoolers, each unit is designed to meet different subjects at different learning levels.
The core of each unit will come with a teacher guide and student books broken into the following age groups:
- Pre-reader
- Early Elementary
- Upper Elementary
- Middle School Bundle
- High School Bundle
There are additional resources available as well depending on the unit. We started using the student seatwork books for my oldest, but did decided to delay those until next year as I felt they were slightly too advanced. We will use them next year specifically for spelling and grammar.
Why Did We Switch?
We switched to Gather ‘Round because I needed a curriculum that could work for multiple children across various ages and subjects.
We switched to Gather’ Round because as a working mom, I needed a curriculum that did not require hours of prep work.
We switched to Gather ‘Round because it allowed my kids to pick topics that intrigued them, therefore putting them in the driver’s seat of their education.
We switched to Gather ‘Round because my younger kids can come alongside my older kids and all learn together in a family-centric learning style.
We switched to Gather ‘Round because there was an emphasis on faith formation woven through each lesson and unit study.
What Are We Using?
We started the Gather ‘Round homeschool curriculum in January and have used it three days a week. Next year we will move to four days a week. On Mondays, my oldest learners attend a Co-Op and on Tuesdays, all my learners are educated by my parents while I’m at work and they are finishing up My Father’s World Bible notebook and reader in the 1st grade curriculum.
We finished the Reptile Unit Study in February and it was the most peaceful and cohesive two months of education we have ever had.
Currently, we are working through the North American Forest Animals unit. My 1st grader is using the Early Elementary notebook, while my 5-year-old and 2-year-old are using the Pre-Reader notebook.
I appreciate how the teacher guide breaks everything down into complete sentences, making it easy to follow even on days when we have little time. The recommended book list helps round out our lessons with primary source materials and beautiful literature.
I also recommend using the Gather ‘Round homeschool app which includes things like unit certificates, book lists, video links, and more resources for each unit.
Is Gather ‘Round Enough?
One of the most common questions in curriculum reviews is whether Gather ‘Round is enough as a core curriculum. I hate this question. Is anything enough? No. There will always be gaps in education that we cannot anticipate. I think the better question is whether the Gather ‘Round Homeschool curriculum is a well-balanced and rich program. Yes, it is.
Was our previous curriculum a well-balanced and rich program? Yes, but it did not work for us.
There will always be tweaks needed in a curriculum because remember we teach the child, not the curriculum.
What Units Do They Offer?
One of the coolest things about Gather ‘Round is the variety of units they offer. You can choose from full units or mini units. Most of their units are 20 lessons long. As of March 2025, here are the full units they offer:
- Africa
- Ancient Civilizations
- Antarctica
- Artists
- Asia
- Australia + Oceania
- Botany
- Careers + Trades
- Chemistry
- Creepy Crawlies
- Dinosaurs
- Earth Science
- Energy
- Entrepreneurship
- Europe
- Farming + Food
- Human Body
- Inventions + Ideas
- Life Skills
- Living off the Land
- Middle Ages
- Music
- National Parks of North America
- North America
- North American Birds Part 1
- North American Birds
- North American Forest Animals
- Oceans
- Ocean Life
- Psychology
- Renaissance and Revival
- Reptiles
- Rocks + Minerals
- South America
- Space
- Sports + PE
- Transportation
- Unsolved Mysteries
- Vikings
They are consistently adding new full units and mini units to keep things fresh.
Is the Price Worth It?
Gather ‘Round isn’t the cheapest homeschool curriculum out there, but I genuinely believe the price is worth it. The digital format allows me to print exactly what I need, saving money on unnecessary materials. Purchasing the digital files also means you get all of the student notebooks, which is going to be helpful if we repeat a unit when my family is older. This does save you money in the long run.
There is no doubt that this curriculum is expensive. I just finished planning our curriculum choices for next year. I will be adding a third learner next year and we are supplementing some extra materials with math and reading. Regardless, I estimate we are almost doubling our curriculum expenses, which is a major consideration.
Yes, I believe for the cohesiveness and peace we’ve experienced with this switch, I believe the price is worth it.
What Else Did We Switch?
We added a couple of educational resources to help round out our year. These were chosen very intentionally to support the learning styles of my unique learners.
- Reading.com – best reading program we’ve used
- IXL Math
- Math with Confidence
Conclusion – Why I Love It
Gather ‘Round Homeschool has completely transformed our homeschooling adventure. It’s a great way to teach different subjects to different grade levels without feeling scattered or overwhelmed. The curriculum encourages our entire family to learn together, which has been an important change for us.
Is it the ‘end all’ of our homeschool curriculum? Of course not. No doubt as our boys age and change we will modify and adapt. However, we teach the child, not the curriculum around her,e and Gather ‘Round homeschool curriculum has allowed me to teach our children in a way that resonates with them.
If you’re looking for a curriculum that blends faith, family, and education in a beautiful and organized way, I can’t recommend Gather ‘Round enough. Whether you’re teaching young learners or high school students, this unique approach to homeschool curriculum is truly a breath of fresh air. I hope this Gather Round Homeschool review helps you decide if this curriculum is the right fit for your family too!
More Resources from Healing Home:
