A real-life Gather ’Round review of the Oceans unit—what we loved, what we used, and how it worked for our homeschool family.
If you’ve been around here for any length of time, you know we love a good unit study. There’s just something about learning together as a whole family that makes homeschool life feel a little more connected, a little more life-giving.
So today I wanted to sit down and share our experience with the Oceans Unit by Gather ’Round Homeschool—what we used, what we loved, and a few things I’m still thinking through as a homeschooling mom heading into next year.
If you’re looking for an honest Gather ’Round homeschool review from a busy mom actually in the trenches—this is it.
What We Used from Gather ’Round
We didn’t necessarily use everything included (because… real life), but we did use a good portion of the resources.
What I love about Gather ’Round homeschool curriculum is that it really is built for the entire family. The front page of their website asks this simple question: “What if you could do school with all your kids, together?” So the entire point of a curriculum like this is that it is really intended to bring the family unit together for learning. Whether you’ve got early readers, younger kids, or middle school and high school students, everything is designed to work together across different levels.
If you are interested in what originally brought us to Gather ‘Round Homeschool, I discuss everything in my first review of the Gather ‘Round curriculum.
Here’s what we used:
The Teacher’s Guide
The teacher’s guide is really the heart of all Gather ’Round units. The reading does end up taking a while, depending on how often you pause for questions or interruptions; it often will take us about 25 minutes to work through. The Teacher’s Guide also includes optional extension activities and a family devotional.
Something that I always like to point out to people is that the lessons are color-coded. Yellow sections are for the Pre-Reader and Early Reader. Yellow and Teal are for Early Elementary and Upper Elementary. Yellow, teal, and purple are for the Middle and High school levels.
I will say, I’ve used Gather ’Round for a while now (this is my second year), and one thing I always appreciate is how open-and-go it is. As a busy mom with little time, that matters so much.
That said, I do wish this unit had a digital format for the teacher’s guide audio (like MP3s). Some of the other units—like Dinosaurs—had more audio support, and I really missed that here.
The Student Books (Pre-Reader + Early Reader)
We used both the Pre-Reader and Early Reader student books, and this is where Gather ’Round really shines for homeschool families with multiple ages.
The student books are colorful, engaging, and honestly just beautiful things to have in your homeschool day. My early readers especially loved flipping through them and feeling like they had “real” work.
The reading level felt appropriate, and I like that they incorporate complete sentences, vocabulary, and gentle language arts practice without it feeling overwhelming. The Pre-Reader has 2 pages of work to do each day, and the Early Reader has 5 pages. Both cover science, geography, arts, language arts, history, social studies, Bible skills, and a small amount of math.
The scope and sequence is available for free on their app if you want to check it out yourself!
The Seatwork Pages
Okay, this is where I want to be honest—because I think it matters if you’re choosing a core curriculum or trying to decide if this is a good fit for your family.
The seatwork pages include things like grammar, writing, and some structured language arts work. And while I love the idea behind it, I’m starting to notice that the grammar feels a bit… sporadic.
There’s not a strong spiral learning structure from unit to unit. So while it introduces concepts, I’m not seeing full mastery happening. We only use this right now for my oldest child, and it’s honestly a fight for him because it’s just not connecting. I’m not saying the Seatwork is bad, but I am saying that as we finish up the school year, I’m praying and evaluating if we need to remove the Seatwork for next year and focus on a more structured program to get a good grasp on language arts.
Ocean Flashcards & Poster
These were such a sweet addition. I use the flashcards mainly as a way for the kids to visually see what we are going to be studying that week. I put them on the fridge with tiny little magnets, and the kids are able to see what is coming up without asking me a million questions. We’ve occasionally used them for review, too, but it’s mainly a visual thing.
The poster hangs on the back wall of our dining room, and it’s truly beautifully done. I mainly like having the poster around as another visual representation of what we are studying.
It’s those little touches that make Gather ’Round feel like a wonderful way to do family school.
Our Review – Three Things We Loved
Before we dive into the specifics, I just want to say—this unit really surprised me in the best way. It ended up being one of those studies that brought a lot of life and connection into our days, even when things felt busy or a little chaotic. So with that in mind, here are the three things we loved most about the Oceans unit.
1. The Vast Resources
This is probably the most resource-rich unit we’ve done so far. And we’ve done a few—Dinosaurs, a couple mini units, and five of the main units—so that’s saying something. The app was just stocked full of additional and free resources. I was especially impressed with the videos for this unit. Their app also allows for in-app video viewing, which means I don’t have to open YouTube and see any sketchy ads while my kids are watching the educational videos.
The recommended book list alone was incredible. I found so many living books to pair with this unit, and it made the learning feel so full and layered.
We didn’t get to everything (because again… homeschool life), but I love knowing the resources are there. It gives you the flexibility to make it as simple or as in-depth as you want—whether you have a ton of time or just a little time.
2. The Artwork
This might just be me—but I love when curriculum is beautiful. The artwork in this unit was just stunning. It felt calm, cohesive, and honestly made me enjoy opening it up each day. And I really do think that matters.
As a homeschooling mom, when something is visually peaceful and well-designed, it sets the tone for our day. It makes learning feel less chaotic and more intentional.
3. The Observation Journal
This was hands-down my favorite part of the entire unit. At first, Wyatt was not into it. We tried the watercolor tutorials included in the unit (which are amazing, by the way), but he just wasn’t quite ready for that level yet.
So we pivoted.
I gave him a journal with transparent pages, and I told him—“You can trace the ocean animals if you want, outline them, write your observations, draw, color… just make it your own.”
It started out rocky. But I told him, “If you stick with this, you’re going to see growth.” And we did. By the end of those 20 lessons, the difference was incredible. His confidence, his attention to detail, his willingness to try—it all grew.
That was the best part of this unit. Not just what he learned—but how he grew.
A Few Things to Consider
I already mentioned the seatwork concerns, but I’ll summarize here:
- I’d love more consistency in grammar for true mastery
- I wish there were an MP3 Teacher’s Guide like there is for many other Gather ‘Round units
- There is a vast amount of resources in this unit, so be prepared to spend some time paring things down a bit.
And just to say—these aren’t dealbreakers for me.
But they are things I’m thinking through as I evaluate different programs for our homeschool curriculum pick next year.
Additional Resources We Loved
We added in a few of our own things to make this a fuller homeschooling adventure.
Instead of using the scripture tracing in the Seatwork journal, I created an Ocean-Inspired Bible Verse handwriting booklet for each of my children and catered it to their learning level. I really love the Charlotte Mason emphasis on copywork, and these booklets have been a great addition to our days.
The thing we loved the most was definitely our Fahlo bracelets. Fahlo allows you to track real animals in the wild! They were such a fun, hands-on way to bring ocean life into our home, especially since we’re nowhere near the ocean.
Each bracelet comes with a real animal to track (like a sea turtle, dolphin, or shark), and once you scan the QR code, you can follow that animal’s actual movements on a map, see updates, and learn about its habitat in real time. It made everything we were learning feel so much more real for my kids—like we weren’t just reading about ocean animals, we were actually following one on its journey.
We also did a few crafts and extension activities. The two crafts pictured below were definitely two of our favorites.
Of course, we also tried taking some local field trips. One trip was completely spur-of-the-moment. The kids were having a hard week, and I decided to take our learning on the road. We read the lesson about penguins during breakfast and did a bit of math work, and then hopped in the minivan to go see penguins in real life at Como Zoo.
Our end-of-unit field trip was to the Mall of America Sea Life, where we saw so many of the animals that we studied. Sea Life ended up being quite busy that day, which put a damper on how much we could focus on, but still a fun and worthwhile experience.
That’s one of the great things about the unit study approach—you can build it out as much or as little as you want.
Final Thoughts – Gather ‘Round Review
Overall, this Oceans unit was a favorite this year.
It was rich, engaging, and brought our whole family together in a really sweet way.
If you’re a homeschooling mom looking for:
- A family school approach
- Something that works across different grade levels
- A curriculum that connects multiple subject areas
- And a beautiful, organized set of resources
…I really do think Gather ’Round is worth trying.
If you’ve tried any of the Gather ’Round units—I’d love to hear what you thought. I’m already thinking about our next unit and what direction we’ll go.
Because that’s the beauty of this homeschooling journey… we’re always learning, too.
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