Gather ‘Round Review | Unit Study Curriculum Review | Raising A to Z

I love unit studies. And since I use and buy a lot of unit studies I get asked for a lot of recommendations and my opinion on different companies.

One that I get asked about most often is Gather ‘Round. I decided to give it a try and see what all the fuss was about and if it was something I would recommend or use for my kids.

I purchased 2 levels of the Artist unit study (not sponsored) and will share what I think of this curriculum. I’ll share the good, and the bad and talk about who might like it and who might not.

0:00 Intro
1:40 What Is Gather 'Round?
3:26 A Pet Peeve Of Mine
5:16 Pros
5:58 Cons
18:03 Conclusion
19:34 Outro

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Hi, and welcome to the show! I’m Amanda, the teacher-turned-homeschool mom behind Raising A to Z, an informational and inspirational Youtube channel all about Homeschooling. I hope you’ll join me every Monday as I talk about a variety of topics related to, you guessed it….homeschooling!

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[TitaAguirreGarcia]

Thanks for the review. I did find harbor and sprouts super interesting. Thanks
For the recommendation❤

[schultesweeties]

I think this is spot on. Thank you for expressing what it is that didn’t work. We used one of their earlier units and I wanted to love it, but I didn’t. We did North American birds and were so bored by the end. Plus we were still doing all of our curriculum still since I didn’t feel like it was enough either. Sometimes I look at the tops and wish to try more, but i never can get past the price point.

[starrdust]

I’m on day two of the only gr digital unit I purchased and I already can not stand it. My son is bored, I’m appalled at how much I have to read (to my early reader kindergartener!) I planned for an hour+ through the first two weeks of lessons to find videos and activities to break up the reading. Everything feels so separate too, with instructions tucked away in the student book and in the teachers guide, I feel like I can’t keep track of everything properly, in one spot. I’m glad I didn’t go crazy buying more. It’s been very very enlightening! I need something way more open and go and deeper. I don’t even think moving him up to a higher level would help with gr bc you hear the exact same teachers guide part no matter the level of the kid!

[UsagiHinotsuki]

Something that does bother me tho is the cult like mentality of some of its users. That freaks me out a little how zealous some people are about it.

[haleighhowland]

I got artist as well it was so disappointing. So much reading that fell flat for my kids. My kids and I were so bored.

[courtneylyons]

Thank you for your review! I’m interested in looking at the TPT unit study you were talking about. Can you share the link?

[sharonallen]

I recently purchased two TGTB Unit Studies - Health and the Human Body and Mammals. They are absolutely beautiful to look at but I haven't gone throught them properly to decide if they're goingt to suit us. Reviews are so mixed that the only way to know was to take the plunge and get them. From what you've said here and what I read in the comments, they may be similar to GR?

[Esea.]

The pros & cons you presented are just spot on! Every year I think about buying one of their units but I just end up not trying at all. I printed their free trial but I just find the way it was written is so dry. I agree with the other comment, no company could be all-in-one. The idea is great and I'm pretty sure GR isn't the first one to think of it but surely they are the first one to try and advertise it as such. Clearly the output has come short hence no big & established curriculum company has tried selling all-in-one unit studies/curriculum for elementary & h.s. way before GR. There are some families who use GR and it works well for them but mostly they had to supplement L.A. which defeats the purpose of being all-in-one esp for the price tag. Too bad, I think the topics they have are very interesting and the visuals are so pretty.

[UsagiHinotsuki]

I agree with everything you said! I have bought almost all of them lol 😂 😅 we’ve been taking months to finish one unit, it’s too much in too little time! For example Asia took us 8 months to finish, we def had to supplement but we very much enjoyed it. We’re doing dinosaurs and I’m trying to finish it in 20 weeks. We did botany for a whole year and totally loved it. Although we used it as more of a backbone and totally did supplement/immerse ourselves with hands on activities and classes.

[CCgirl]

I remember when you asked how we felt about it in a different video. I let you know how it worked for us. I'm sorry it didn't work out for you either.
I believe the same, it could be great if it focus. If they didn't try to be an all in one, but a complete unit study program with all the information that topic needed it could be amazing. I'm happy you gave a fair review on it.

I don't think any company could be an all in one curriculum. Even with the Good and the Beautiful LA, the spelling just didn't work for my oldest and we had to find another program for her.

I don't remember if you have tried the Good and the Beautiful for a unit study yet, but I think you might like the older version of them. I haven't yet tried the new versions yet.

[keirajones]

Harbor and Sprout has now added another style of unit ( their original ones are still available) that is done as 21 modules per topic, although they only have botany available so far for the primary/ elementary units, and theyve also done some for highschool

[HomeschoolShoppingChannel]

I love your review. Just subscribed! :)

[jennprescott]

I own a couple years of digital but haven’t done that many units. We tend towards unschooling but sometimes do a bit of curriculum. My kids love it. We use it largely as a springboard. I do think the reading is dry and try to adapt it.

I can see how if you lived in a place that had specific requirements it could fall very short. If you want to lean on your curriculum for teaching your children everything their schooling counterparts learn at the age, GR would not be for you either.

Rebecca Spooner is a bit stressful of a person in my mind and I do wonder if she would have taken more time before putting this curriculum out if it could have been better. The first sales were the test group. I don’t think that’s ideal.

Definitely pros and cons to it. It’s a shame something so beautiful isn’t better done haha

[robandcrystalcooper]

Everything you said is what I have been feeling. It is not all in one, like they claim, it needs LA supplemented for sure, and it is the least open and go curriculum I have ever used. You have to add much. You are right, it is too much and not enough all at the same time. I love how pretty it is, but I am having to ask myself, if there were no pretty pictures and artwork in it, would I still want to use it. I don't think I would. It is very expensive for a smaller family, it definitely caters to large families. When it first came out I was so excited to have a Canadian curriculum creator, but it quickly became apparent that it was going to be yet another American company. We will finish the units that we have, but I don't think we will be using it next year.

[nicolemoler]

This was a wonderful review. Thank you so much. I've been on the fence about this one - specifically for their Psychology course for high school, and I wasn't sure if it would be enough for my daughter. After watching your review, I think I will pass on this one and go with something else. I'd love to hear if anyone has used the Psychology course for high school and what they think of it.

[milaalvarez]

I purchased the human body unit, I wanted to love it so much… I am really glad I didn’t purchased the printed versions it would have been pretty painful to my purse. I got the one student pdf which includes TG and one level. Although, I only need it for science I printed the entire student book and I can’t imagine feeling confident by just doing that for all subjects! I don’t like how scattered it is… There’re no daily lessons or beginning or end to anything! It’s a whole lot of information to read to the child and a whole lot of videos and extra stuff to print out. I watched some reviews and I can’t figure out what they loved about it. I ended up purchasing the anatomicum book and the activity book that so many parents recommended to go with the unit. The book is complete, to the point and the illustrations are beautiful, they are very anatomically correct so get ready for the conversation. No fluff no extras. It is disappointing to not like GR because one wants to be supportive and even ride in the wagon!

[marybowling]

Thanks for this honest review -- my little guy likes to dig deep on topics so this would not be his cup of tea.

[kawaiikawaiianimegirl]

I really wanted this curriculum to work for us but it was very overwhelming for my son. It was too much for my, I really did think it was interesting but my son just didn't enjoy it. We tried the Dinosaur unit to test it out and the DINOSAUR unit couldn't hold his interest

[baileycumpson]

I would love to hear your opinion of blossom and root. I have been looking into that one for a while!

[kim.ra_bell]

Could you please review the similar-but-different unit study curriculum called Campfire Curriculum? Would appreciate your thoughts.