This year, we are diving fully into homeschool unit studies curriculum for our entire core curriculum, and I am so excited about it! “So excited about it.” That sounds like I’m just trying to ramp up the situation. ‘Excitement’ is a very cliché thing for a blog post to admit. However, I don’t think I can adequately communicate just how very excited I am to start the school year. I have pored over the curriculum and, after a rather dismal start to school last year, I’m hopeful that we are going to have the best school year yet.
We discovered the unit study approach last year, and it completely transformed our homeschool days, rekindling a lifelong love of learning around our kitchen table. If you’ve ever felt like your days are scattered across too many workbooks, unit studies can bring your whole family together in a rich, engaging way that covers a variety of subjects around a particular theme while allowing serious learning fun.
Our Family Homeschool Mission – To grow lifelong learners with a love of learning, a passion for pursuing excellence in all they do, and a zeal for being a soldier of Christ.
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Last Year’s Homeschool Picks:
Last year, we tested the waters with Gather ‘Round Homeschool’s unit study curriculum, and it honestly saved our homeschool. You can read about what we started the school with here, plus a review on Gather ‘Round Homeschool once we switched over. We switched over halfway through the school year and completed a Reptile and Forest Animal unit, which the boys are still talking about. This year, we’re ready to go all-in, and I’m confident this unit study approach will continue to foster a lifelong love of learning in our home.
What are Unit Studies?
Unit studies are a great way to teach various subjects around a specific topic or particular theme. With Gather ‘Round Homeschool, the full unit studies cover art, Bible, geography, grammar, history, language arts, math, science, social studies, and fine arts—all woven into one step-by-step guide that the whole family can do together. Instead of switching from subject to subject, you linger deeply in one theme, creating space for hands-on projects, notebooking pages, and educational videos for deeper learning.
Plus, the best part is that my children enjoy actively becoming engaged in that topic!
As a busy working mom of five, I love the open-and-go approach. Although truth be told, I don’t always open and go! Each week, typically on Sunday mornings, I sit down and have a homeschool meeting with myself. I review the previous week, and I prepare for the upcoming week by writing everything down in my homeschool planner, which we will talk about in a second!
Unit studies work beautifully with Charlotte Mason’s ideas, the Charlotte Mason method, or even classical education lovers who want to add hands-on assignments and fun ways to explore history and science without losing rigor.
Homeschool Digital Planner
A few years ago, I was struggling to find a homeschool planner that didn’t have too much, but also didn’t have too little. I was hoping for a digital format that I could put in my Noteshelf app. There are so many planners out there! So many systems!
Sadly, I never found anything that suited my needs, so I set out to create one. I made a massive homeschool planner that had SIMPLE pages that allowed me to keep record of our homeschool week without overplanning or analyzing.
Here’s what I’ve found with homeschool planners: they are all either not enough or too much. Every homeschool family is different, and everyone is going to need different planning pages.
I’ve made this one customizable for a tablet or iPad, and I want it to be FREE for YOU, because I know that more than likely, you will end up needing to customize it to fit your needs. The 2025-2026 Homeschool Planner is now available at my Gumroad shop to download away!
What We’re Using for Reading
While Gather ‘Round includes language arts and grammar within its unit study curriculum, we will continue to supplement with quality literature that aligns with our units (like Voyage with the Vikings for Vikings and Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims for American History). For our older two, who are learning to read, we will also be doing Reading.com lessons with a goal of accomplishing a lesson about 3 times a week. I have often been told that the book 100 Easy Lessons to Teach Your Child to Read is a great resource, and it is; however, the same philosophy seems to be applied to Reading.com, and it has become an engaging way to encourage my struggling reader to read.
Everyone has to decide for themself if the extra screentime is worth it. The lessons must be done with a grown-up, which makes it somehow ‘better’ to me!
Each unit we do this year will also have a ‘read aloud’ that I plan to do with the theme. You can find a list of the ones we are doing for inspiration here.
What We’re Using for Math
Although Gather ‘Round offers math connections within the units, we will continue using our math curriculum to ensure consistent skill-building. We are planning on switching things up this year and going to a more literature-based curriculum with MasterBooks. Our 2nd grader is working on level 1, and our kindergartner is completing their kindergarten math program.
Homeschool Unit Studies Curriculum 2025-2026
Now to the good stuff! Last year, as we were finishing our Forest Animals unit study, I went through the Gater ‘Round curriculum choices and printed off the covers of about 8 different units that I thought would align with my kids and our home. I spread them out on the kitchen table and everyone gathered around 😉, to inspect them. My older two were the most engaged, and they picked out which ones they were the most interested in.
Here are the unit studies we are using this year, each one a fun unit study packed with hands-on activities and a variety of activities to explore. The first three: Vikings, National Parks of North America, and A New World: US History 1, we will be doing in the fall before Thanksgiving and Christmas. The last three: Dinosaurs, Ocean Life, and Creepy Crawlies, will be after Christmas.
My Favorite Elements of Gather ‘Round
Before we dive into the curriculum, I want to give some bullet point reasons why these unit studies (and other units studies) have become my favorite way to educate our boys. Now, this is impotant, I’m not married to this curriculum. This may just be a season of our homeschooling and that’s totally fine.
- Open and go approach
- Ability to follow child led interests
- Rich in reading and literature
- Excellent for auditory learners
- Students draw, color, or write in their student books while the teacher reads the lesson (one of my favorite parts!).
- Easy to follow the teaching and lessons
- Easy to adjust lessons to fit the age levels and needs of students
- Room for exploration!
Vikings
The first unit that my oldest son immediately gravitated toward, much to my surprise, was Vikings! He loves history (just like his mama) and he’s got that down to the core ‘boy personality’. Of course, Vikings was his first choice! Although it’s a more advanced unit, we will tweak the curriculum to accommodate our learning levels.
The Viking study includes an amazing history of the Viking Age. We will learn about Leif Erikson, Norse mythology, Viking ships, and life during this historical time period. It’s a perfect opportunity for mapwork, fine arts, and crafts.
One of the most engaging parts of the unit is a lapbook, which looks incredibly intimidating to me, but the Gather ‘Round community has assured me that it’s actually quite simple.
National Parks of North America
The National Parks of North America unit was actually a last-minute addition, as I had an odd gap in our calendar that wouldn’t fit a full unit. We are actually only going to be doing the first 10 lessons and then using the remaining lessons as a ‘fill-in’ if we have extra time. Maybe we’ll finish it next summer!
We will “visit” the national parks through virtual field trips and educational videos, learning about ecosystems, animals, and conservation. The reading or ‘teaching time’ is also through the scope of a story which follows a family through the North America National parks. My kids are going to LOVE the story based approach!
If you are interested in what our calendar looks like throughout the school year, you can check it out below.
To Embed on Websiteopy of 2025-2026 Homeschool Planner by Rachael.BomstaA New World: US History 1
The second unit study that my older two were the most interested in was US History. This is technically a Gather ‘Round mini unit, which means it does not necessarily cover all the core subjects. The student books also typically have fewer pages each day to complete.
Because my boys were interested in this unit and their ages, I was totally fine with not covering all the subjects over the course of the unit. It is still exceptionally engaging and even has an option for creating your own timeline in history.
Covering colonization through the American Revolution, this unit moves through US history through the lens of a Biblical worldview.
We will also be using the Timechart History of the World. It’s a very detailed map that gives a 6000-year overview of world history. I got a great idea from the Schoolhouse Rocked podcast to put Post-its on the map throughout the year to help kids visualize what point of history they are studying. The Timechart History of the year is not readily available, so a great alternative is the Adams Timechart, which I know a lot of homeschool families use.
Thanksgiving
One thing I love about the Thanksgiving mini unit is that it covers Thanksgiving in a worldwide context. A seasonal week unit study filled with hands-on projects around gratitude, history, and home economics (hello, pie baking!).
Christmas
I’m really excited about The First Christmas unit. We ordered it last year, and due to some customer service issues, we were unable to get it in time for Christmas. I took it as God’s way of telling me to just enjoy Christmas with my kids.
We will be using it throughout December. It includes picture book read-alouds, baking recipes, crafts, songs, acts of kindness, and faith-centered activities. The goal is to create meaningful traditions, strengthen family bonds, and shift the focus away from chaos and toward Christ-centered celebration.
Dinosaurs
This was the unit I initially wanted to start our Gather ‘Round studies with! However, I was encouraged by the Facebook Group that it might be a little advanced for my kids.
Fast forward, and I’m now entirely convinced that you can modify any unit to fit the ages and levels of your children. The key for us is more if they are interested in the subject. Our kids are interested, so we will go with it!
A fun unit study for younger children and older kids alike as we learn about fossils, geology, and God’s creation. It is also heavy on apologetics in the Christian faith.
Ocean Life
In this unit, we are going to dive deep into marine biology, ocean layers, and conservation with hands-on assignments and art projects. I’m specifically excited about the watercolor element that each lesson has. I really want to do watercoloring with each lesson, so we’ll see how we manage that!
Creepy Crawlies
Moving onto our last unit, which was intentionally picked to be a more ‘laid back’ or ‘easy’ unit to complete. We can stretch this one into the summer if needed! A unit filled with bugs, insects, and arachnids, perfect for nature walks, nature journals, and hands-on ideas to explore God’s tiniest creatures. My oldest, Wyatt, already has dreams of building a worm farm for this unit! We’re going to try and get him something like this!
What Are We Doing For PreK and Kindergarten?
Gather ‘Round Homeschool also has units for PreK (Numbers + Letters) and Kindergarten (Ready to Read). I’ve looked through both of the units and I’m abundantly impressed. My PreK student and Kindergarten student will be working through the student workbooks 2-3 times of week. Because they will also be doing the unit studies as a family, I’m going to be a bit more laid back about their workbooks.
Age Groups
Gather ‘Round Homeschool is designed for the whole family, offering levels from pre-reader through high school so siblings can learn together around the kitchen table while working at their own pace.
- Pre-reader
- Early Elementary
- Upper Elementary
- Middle School Bundle
- High School Bundle
There is also seatwork available for many of the units, which is helpful for increasing grammar and reading.
Important – for each unit, you will also need a Teacher’s Guide.
Is it Really Enough?
One of the biggest questions homeschool families have about unit studies is, “Is it really enough?” After experiencing this method, I can confidently say: yes! With hands-on activities, quality literature, writing, and multi-sensory learning, your children will retain and enjoy what they learn while covering all subject areas in a meaningful way.
There is even a resource page for High School (Gather ‘Round) if you want to have the appropriate amount of credits for your state!
Conclusion
Switching to homeschool unit studies has been one of the best decisions for our family. We’re excited to continue this unit study approach for 2025-2026 with Gather ‘Round Homeschool, and I can’t wait to see how these thematic units will continue to foster curiosity, creativity, and a lifelong love of learning in our home. Whether you are new to unit studies or considering it for the first time, I encourage you to give it a try—you might find that it saves your homeschool, too!
Curious about Gather ‘Round Homeschool or unit studies? Drop your questions in the comments, or let me know what unit studies your family is excited about this year! I love hearing how other homeschool families find serious learning fun in their days.
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