THANK YOU!!! My husband just joked the other day that I spend more time researching curriculum then actually teaching. So glad I'm not alone! Thank you for being real!!
Pretty certain the research and learning about new curriculum is much more fun than actually homeschooling 🤣 New to your channel and love this video so much 🙌
Yes! If we spent as much time studying our children, and how they learn, and how we love to teach, we wouldn’t put that much stock in ANY curriculum ;) Not one single tool will fix everything in your house, and curriculum is no different.
You are very right about the cycle of new curriculum and shiny-ness wearing off. Especially in the internet era and research being so easy...hopping from one thing to another is a temptation, but it's far from ideal for our kids, because consistency actually has SO many benefits.
Ok first year homeschool mom. We are 1 week in! I have already feel like I picked the wrong curriculum. Then I have to tell my self I already spent months researching it. Why am I still researching. The only reason why I am still looking at gather round is because next year I’m having a kinder and 5th. I think it’s going to benefit us. Again I need to set it aside and come research it after this school year. I want them to love homeschool.
So glad I found your channel! We have done about 6 units and needed that minimalist approach (being my first year and pregnant/newborn phase also). Definitely wanted to beef it up now that I feel more confident, but also not feeling like my kids are without or falling behind. Thanks for the encouragement
Needed this video! Moving from a curriculum I have loved for years to Gather 'Round. We all need a change. I needed to hear, quit researching homeschool and homeschool! Thank you for the honest review.
For our family it works best to use in the fall and spring. It seems to take us quite a bit of time to get through each unit so we take breaks in-between and just do our own basic work with lots of read-a-louds. Great video, thank you.
I appreciate hearing your thoughts on gather round. I love gather round but I’ve been trying to find a good balance of adding in extras without overwhelming my kids.
I'm new to homeschooling, 6 months, and found we love unit studies. Thinking of getting a Gather Round unit studies. What I love a lot is being able to purchase it & reusing it based on child's age or abilities.
Subscribed!! Thank you so much Sara! I totally appreciated your video, your time, your honestly and your encouragement. I found myself giggling because I felt as if we were sitting beside each other enjoying our coffee (and squeaky chairs) talking to someone who knows me so well. 😅 I am thanking the Lord for using you. A man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. I’m thankful I made it to my page, due to my late night homeschool researching when I should be sleeping lol May the Lord bless you and your family more and more. Xoxo
I try to stick with only using the CM method because I find that a lot of curriculums are just busy work and fluff. Our state requires health and science and I’ve found that unit studies fill in that gap without too much extra fluff.
So blessed by this video! We too love Gatherround for a lot of the same reasons….and I’ve learned to just add some supplements for LA for my piece of mind and because I feels my boys need it. Tx for sharing!
Thanks for sharing your journey with GR! We have been testing a few units this year. I also had some 'freestyle' units where I didn't have a unit guide, but just pulled together materials. I found I do enjoy the structure the GR guide brings! We have been using other things for language arts also- I agree that it could totally be enough, but for our family, we choose to use a couple of things like spelling you see as well as explode the code for the younger ages. It's definitely adaptable though!
I just completed my 1st year homeschooling my 4 kids, grades 2,4,6,8. We started with GR and then I got majorly concerned and wondering if what I was doing was enough. We tried TGTB and BJU press for LA, and Notgrass for History. I’ll probably still keep Notgrass in the loop because I love it so much, and so do my kids. But, now here I am going back to GR lol. We are starting back up with the new Creepy Crawlies unit! My kids are pumped. We are now using CLE for our LA and All About Spelling and Reading, and BJU Math. What a journey it has been. It’s taken so much time and more I’m sure, to find my footing and confidence as a homeschool momma. 🤪😃
Sounds like a great plan! I feel like the newer units of GR just keep getting better and better so maybe they will tweak the middle school pages by then
Very very helpful video. You broke it all down so well it helped me a lot. Before seeing your video I was contemplating using both gather round with TGTB so it was nice to hear someone else thinking along the same lines. I’m torn about gather round science units vs TGTB science unit studies.
Really loved your insights! So true about the “honeymoon” phase of new curriculum. Contentment and just doing the work is so important. We loved GR at first, but it ended up not being a good fit for us in this season of life. I do still think it’s a good curriculum 🙂
One of the best homeschool videos I’ve seen lately 💛 We are a GR family too, but I’m guilty of everything you said. We are excited for a new year and thank you for the encouragement 💛
This is so me! We've done 12 GR units. Went through a dry phase. Started wondering if MAYBE it wasnt the right curriculum for us anymore. Researched like crazy. EVEN BOUGHT OTHER STUFF. Nope, we just needed a break. Back to loving GR again haha.
Amen!! you nailed it!I have been there 100% with my stages of obsession with curricula. haha! But yes--- its ultimately a tool to use and not the "end-all-be-all" Thanks for your thoughts! Love your channel :)
Thanks for your video, we’re planning on using gather round for our science curriculum. We’ve started it this year and we are more cm homeschoolers. We have done 4 units this year so far, will have 5 completed at the end of the year.
I have 3 kids. The first 2 have attended public school and my 3 is now due to enroll into Kindergarten this year. I am strongly considering homeschooling and already find myself over researching! I've never considered myself a great teacher and not even sure if I would be able to manage work and homeschooling. Thank you for sharing your experience! It's been difficult finding information in my area as it seems no one does homeschooling near me.
I have 4 kids who are 8,6,4,2 and we love Gather Round homeschool 😁 and I agree your opinion that is not enough my family, too.. Actually, English is not my first language so sometimes I'm so struggling with this curriculum. However, I can ready some creative craft for my kids based on this curriculum. We are using GR only for Social Studies 😊 and I think this way is enough for our family. Your video is always helping me. Thanks.
I look forward to your videos! I absolutely love the way you cover different areas and you are always so knowledgeable. AND as for the beginning of this video, your words could have been mine. We started Gather'round and love it but I have my moments of wondering if I should try something else etc. I definitely love the constant new refreshing feeling of starting a new unit. We usually take about 8 weeks to get through a unit. One of my sons is profoundly dyslexic so I definitely have to supplement in a few areas. Thank you for always putting out amazing content! I will have a highschooler next year and would love him to join us in Gather'round. Highschool is terrifying!
Just thought it might help some to know that GR listened to feedback and starting putting in more LA pages in the Year 2 units. All the main units you mentioned (with the exception of Artists) are from Year 1. I, too, am going through Year 1 units and plan to purchase Year 2 during big sale coming up. - Shell
I love your videos thank you so much. I nome school been for 4 years we do computer power school plus work out of work books for writing skills and you fill me with great ideas.
This was a great honest review. I feel the same way. We have found our groove with Gather Round and Masterbooks math and LA. I just can’t quite grasp GR’s way of LA. It seems very unorganized and haphazard and I would be concerned about gaps without a linear approach to LA. My kids absolutely love GR. I would mention other options for next year and they would both say “we just want to do Gather Round, Mom!” It truly has brought so much peace. Due to special needs, my kids can’t handle the eclectic approach to curriculum; they do much better with all in one. I do have concerns about the middle school level and all the research b/c like you said, we are also very careful with technology usage in our house. But I’ll cross that bridge if we get there. In the meantime, we are headed into next year using upper elementary and early reader, which I think are prime GR ages. We do have so much fun with these units! Since January 2020 we’ve done 5 main units and 2 mini units. Beginning next school year we will be using GR full time.
I am exactly like you. I do all the same things in my search for the perfect curriculum. I was also hoping for some kind of unit study but knew it would not be enough. Now I think we can use gather round and pick and choose what works.
Great video! GRH fam here too but we supplement because we need the LA too and I'm like you with loving the hands on, activities, books and fun things to do as a family. Not sure if we will stick with GRH in MS or HS but we take everything year by year! This will be year 7 for us so we have learned our flow really well and what works and what doesn't! Our boys still really want GRH next year but we are stretching the units out and adding other things in for fun!
Such good stuff here! I can also fall into the "research" side of things versus "teaching." Great reminder! And we love Gather 'Round and have found that dragging them out has really enriched our learning and has made time for recipes and activities that have made the units come alive.
Yes it is hard to not look at other curriculums and think Wow I should try that out. I think it's because it is shiny and new. Thanks for your great reviews of Gather Round! I think I might try out a unit eventually.
Hi! We have used sonlight for 7 years and now after trying some lessons are craving switching to unit based lessons with gather round. This video was so helpful. Thank you! I was hoping to find a living book list that goes along with each unit. Do you have a list for some of the units? The one thing I will miss from sonlight is the living books in the literature subject.
Great video! Thank you! Sounds like we school very similar ❤ Always enjoy listening and watching you share your thoughts. Blessings to you as you finish up your year!
Wow, this sounds like me and I'm only in my 1st year of homeschooling🙈 I'm research person by nature and spending waaay to much time researching curriculums😅
Thank you for your honest opinion. we also use GRH and love it, but also use other curriculums. I just need to figure out a routine with all of it. haha!
I wish we had found gather round when we started this year. We ended up going with Abeka video and my kids hated it. They are excited to start GR in the fall
Hi there! Im so happy I found your videos. Its true! I spend more time looking for whats best out there? what is a bad curriculum? Whats the best curriculum? and what not! It drives me crazy! But everybody does it different! What do you think If Im just teaching 2 grades? Or is it better for more than 2 grades!?
3:25 was me a few weeks ago 😂 Then I did a full circle back to Gather ‘Round after trying and buying new curriculum. This is my first full year homeschooling and I was wondering what else was out there. I realized I love GR over everything else. It feels good to drive myself crazy with research and know I searched for practically everything that’s offered. Anyways, we just finished US History and Easter and will start Oceans in a week! Yes! My kids LOVE GR! I had another ocean unit study and I asked them which one they wanted to do and they both picked GR without thinking about it! Also, when I tested out new curriculum for a few weeks, my son asked if we could go back to “regular school” again. He was begging for GR! Ah, I just love it! Lol. The only issue I have with GR is wondering if it is enough for LA. So I’m going to figure that out. I did get Masterbooks for my son and TGATB for my daughter, so we will see! 😄
Wow - so amazing that your kiddos love GR! Hope you find a great fit for LA. I am hoping to try out master books with Mariah in 2nd or 3rd grade. Thanks so much for watching and for commenting!
Thank you! We are a new homeschool family and using gather round, I do love it, but find myself second guessing from time to time. I landed on your video because I was starting to wonder if I need to supplement in LA for my kids (5th and 8th grade). Can you share with me what you use to supplement for your kiddos?
Boy, do I struggle with this. Even with curriculum that work fine and i'm like well maybe this would be a better fit 🤦and spend way too much time researching.
Thank you for the review! From your personal perspective, do you think Gather 'Round would be a good fit for a multi-grade private school setting? We are launching a new 2-day hybrid school and I am in the midst of researching LA curriculum for our K-2 classroom!
Hmmm - well if you are just using it for K-2 I'm wondering if it would be a bit too much? Since the teacher guides are written for students preschool-high school, I think there would probably be a lot more info than you would need for such a young classroom.
Each of my kids would probably have a different answer at this point - but I would definitely say they loved the oceans unit and Africa. Currently we rely on GR to cover science and history (and geography, and art, and so many other subjects). We use GR as the spine of our family subjects and then my kids do math and language arts as independent subjects.
Thanks for sharing. With the continent units, do they have some recipes in? Or do you need to purchase the accompanying cook book to get those? Thanks in advance.
Hi! I am praying about homeschooling my incoming 6th grader this next school year. He has been in a private Christian school since pre-k. He definitely needs a break from the rigorous style of traditional school, but I want him to have a good language arts program. It also needs to be open and go for me. Any recommendations? Thank you!
What have you done with your middle schoolers since you mentioned the Gather Round notebooks for that level relies too much on researching? I’d come to this same conclusion when I was looking into Gather Round.
We skip most of the research prompts, or do it together by watching RUclips videos, etc. We focus more on taking good and thorough notes from the teacher guide, reading good books (often from the book recommendation list), and hands on activities.
I have heard from other families that there are so many gaps, so many grammatical and spelling errors, there isn’t much rhyme or reason to it especially for the whales unit.
As far as typos/errors I think it is to be expected with such a new curriculum. Especially as fast as they are putting out new units! From my point of view GR has done a really great job with updates and corrections.
What is your favorite resource for finding living books? What I mean is, how do you select living vs textbook style books, without pre-reading them all? I love the Charlotte Mason style but haven't found a comprehensive list of living books for a variety of subjects.
Hi. Have you tried Ambleside Online? It has books for every subject and until the 12th grade level... Other is also Simply Charlotte Mason. If you have young ones, Under The Home is great.
Yes I was going to say simply Charlotte mason and ambleside online both have great search options for living books. I also use a lot of sonlight’s suggested read alouds. As far as not pre-reading, I try to just make sure I find book recommendations from trusted sources (sites and other mama’s that I trust).
I plan to do Gather Round for US History but with World History I'm stuck in finding something that is similar to GR in the since of being able to teach multiple kids at once
THANK YOU!!! My husband just joked the other day that I spend more time researching curriculum then actually teaching. So glad I'm not alone! Thank you for being real!!
😂 yes you are in good company!
Lol I am so dead set on Memoria Press and super happy with it... yet here I am constantly up to date on all the new curriculum 😂
Haha I think I do the same currently trying to decide on gather round or the good and the beautiful
Yes, like so many things, preparation is key to success. So don't feel bad!
Currently watching this video because I’m researching curriculum 😂
Pretty certain the research and learning about new curriculum is much more fun than actually homeschooling 🤣
New to your channel and love this video so much 🙌
Haha yes sometimes I feel the same way!
I think we need the mental stimulation
I love “we should spend time ACTUALLY homeschooling...” that’s been my conviction lately!! Thanks for sharing ❤️
Thanks so much for watching!!!
Yes! If we spent as much time studying our children, and how they learn, and how we love to teach, we wouldn’t put that much stock in ANY curriculum ;) Not one single tool will fix everything in your house, and curriculum is no different.
Preach 👏🏼
I'm definitely a 2nd guesser and constantly looking at "better" options. Thank you for the encouragement!
The struggle is real!
Preach! Loved that you took us all to church and spoke some truth about our homeschools 🙌🏻. This entire video was spot on from start to finish!
Oh my! You are so kind. Thanks so much for watching.
You are very right about the cycle of new curriculum and shiny-ness wearing off. Especially in the internet era and research being so easy...hopping from one thing to another is a temptation, but it's far from ideal for our kids, because consistency actually has SO many benefits.
Agreed!
Ok first year homeschool mom. We are 1 week in! I have already feel like I picked the wrong curriculum. Then I have to tell my self I already spent months researching it. Why am I still researching. The only reason why I am still looking at gather round is because next year I’m having a kinder and 5th. I think it’s going to benefit us. Again I need to set it aside and come research it after this school year. I want them to love homeschool.
So glad I found your channel! We have done about 6 units and needed that minimalist approach (being my first year and pregnant/newborn phase also). Definitely wanted to beef it up now that I feel more confident, but also not feeling like my kids are without or falling behind. Thanks for the encouragement
Thanks so much!
Needed this video! Moving from a curriculum I have loved for years to Gather 'Round. We all need a change. I needed to hear, quit researching homeschool and homeschool! Thank you for the honest review.
For our family it works best to use in the fall and spring. It seems to take us quite a bit of time to get through each unit so we take breaks in-between and just do our own basic work with lots of read-a-louds. Great video, thank you.
That sounds like an awesome way to use Gather Round! Thanks for watching
Love this and YES on the back n forth with GR--its not "perfect" but it's not going anywhere in our homeschool
Agreed!
I appreciate hearing your thoughts on gather round. I love gather round but I’ve been trying to find a good balance of adding in extras without overwhelming my kids.
Yes, the struggle is real!
I'm new to homeschooling, 6 months, and found we love unit studies. Thinking of getting a Gather Round unit studies. What I love a lot is being able to purchase it & reusing it based on child's age or abilities.
Subscribed!! Thank you so much Sara! I totally appreciated your video, your time, your honestly and your encouragement. I found myself giggling because I felt as if we were sitting beside each other enjoying our coffee (and squeaky chairs) talking to someone who knows me so well. 😅 I am thanking the Lord for using you. A man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. I’m thankful I made it to my page, due to my late night homeschool researching when I should be sleeping lol May the Lord bless you and your family more and more. Xoxo
I try to stick with only using the CM method because I find that a lot of curriculums are just busy work and fluff. Our state requires health and science and I’ve found that unit studies fill in that gap without too much extra fluff.
Yes I'm often tempted to rely on busy work when I am feeling insecure or worried about my kids' progress
So blessed by this video! We too love Gatherround for a lot of the same reasons….and I’ve learned to just add some supplements for LA for my piece of mind and because I feels my boys need it. Tx for sharing!
You are speaking truth. I love it, and I typically don’t like reviews because they’re so strange 😂
Thanks for sharing your journey with GR! We have been testing a few units this year. I also had some 'freestyle' units where I didn't have a unit guide, but just pulled together materials. I found I do enjoy the structure the GR guide brings! We have been using other things for language arts also- I agree that it could totally be enough, but for our family, we choose to use a couple of things like spelling you see as well as explode the code for the younger ages. It's definitely adaptable though!
Agreed!
Thanks for watching!
Thank you for taking time to share what you’ve learned with us!
Nine years?!?! Ok, I'm listening to you lol 😆
I just completed my 1st year homeschooling my 4 kids, grades 2,4,6,8. We started with GR and then I got majorly concerned and wondering if what I was doing was enough. We tried TGTB and BJU press for LA, and Notgrass for History. I’ll probably still keep Notgrass in the loop because I love it so much, and so do my kids. But, now here I am going back to GR lol. We are starting back up with the new Creepy Crawlies unit! My kids are pumped. We are now using CLE for our LA and All About Spelling and Reading, and BJU Math. What a journey it has been. It’s taken so much time and more I’m sure, to find my footing and confidence as a homeschool momma. 🤪😃
Wow you really did make the rounds your first year! Yay for finding what works and gaining confidence. You’ve got this Mama 💪🏼
We are going to start the middle school notebooks in September. If it doesn’t work out, I will probably put my son back in Upper Elementary.
Was thinking the same!!!! My oldest is heading into 7th, time to step things up...we will try, but if doesn't work...we can change the level
Sounds like a great plan! I feel like the newer units of GR just keep getting better and better so maybe they will tweak the middle school pages by then
Very very helpful video. You broke it all down so well it helped me a lot. Before seeing your video I was contemplating using both gather round with TGTB so it was nice to hear someone else thinking along the same lines. I’m torn about gather round science units vs TGTB science unit studies.
I love that is so easy to add to or take away from when you need too. Some of the other curriculum we’ve tried was challenging to do that with.
Yes GR is sooo flexible!
We LOVE GR. Total game changer here.
Agreed!
Really loved your insights! So true about the “honeymoon” phase of new curriculum. Contentment and just doing the work is so important. We loved GR at first, but it ended up not being a good fit for us in this season of life. I do still think it’s a good curriculum 🙂
Thanks!!!!
One of the best homeschool videos I’ve seen lately 💛 We are a GR family too, but I’m guilty of everything you said. We are excited for a new year and thank you for the encouragement 💛
Aw thank you so much!!!!
This is so me! We've done 12 GR units. Went through a dry phase. Started wondering if MAYBE it wasnt the right curriculum for us anymore. Researched like crazy. EVEN BOUGHT OTHER STUFF. Nope, we just needed a break. Back to loving GR again haha.
Amen!! you nailed it!I have been there 100% with my stages of obsession with curricula. haha! But yes--- its ultimately a tool to use and not the "end-all-be-all" Thanks for your thoughts! Love your channel :)
Thank you!
Thanks for your video, we’re planning on using gather round for our science curriculum. We’ve started it this year and we are more cm homeschoolers. We have done 4 units this year so far, will have 5 completed at the end of the year.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I have 3 kids. The first 2 have attended public school and my 3 is now due to enroll into Kindergarten this year. I am strongly considering homeschooling and already find myself over researching! I've never considered myself a great teacher and not even sure if I would be able to manage work and homeschooling. Thank you for sharing your experience! It's been difficult finding information in my area as it seems no one does homeschooling near me.
I have 4 kids who are 8,6,4,2 and we love Gather Round homeschool 😁 and I agree your opinion that is not enough my family, too.. Actually, English is not my first language so sometimes I'm so struggling with this curriculum. However, I can ready some creative craft for my kids based on this curriculum. We are using GR only for Social Studies 😊 and I think this way is enough for our family. Your video is always helping me. Thanks.
Wow 4 kiddos 8 and under! You have your hands full mama - what a blessing! So glad to hear GR is working for you. Thanks so much for watching!
I needed to hear what you said in this video! Thank you!! 💛
Aw thanks so much for watching!
I look forward to your videos! I absolutely love the way you cover different areas and you are always so knowledgeable. AND as for the beginning of this video, your words could have been mine. We started Gather'round and love it but I have my moments of wondering if I should try something else etc. I definitely love the constant new refreshing feeling of starting a new unit. We usually take about 8 weeks to get through a unit. One of my sons is profoundly dyslexic so I definitely have to supplement in a few areas.
Thank you for always putting out amazing content!
I will have a highschooler next year and would love him to join us in Gather'round. Highschool is terrifying!
Oh my yes just thinking about high school makes me shudder. This mama is NOT ready!
Just thought it might help some to know that GR listened to feedback and starting putting in more LA pages in the Year 2 units. All the main units you mentioned (with the exception of Artists) are from Year 1. I, too, am going through Year 1 units and plan to purchase Year 2 during big sale coming up. - Shell
One of my favorite things about GR is how much they listen to feedback and are willing to make changes!
@With Love from Nevada Yes, it is.
How do you find out when there are sales?
@@andreabowersox6318 Next sale will be sometime in July. It will be announced as it gets closer. It is usually a week long sale. - Shell
One month in and we are hating our work books. Researching new curriculum so this intro spoke to me lol
I love your videos thank you so much. I nome school been for 4 years we do computer power school plus work out of work books for writing skills and you fill me with great ideas.
This was such a helpful review, thank you!
Thank you for this thorough and honest review. Very insightful thank you!
Thank you for this video, it was spot on! I'm so glad I found your channel, you gained a subscribe from me :)
Wow thanks so much!!!!
This was a great honest review. I feel the same way. We have found our groove with Gather Round and Masterbooks math and LA. I just can’t quite grasp GR’s way of LA. It seems very unorganized and haphazard and I would be concerned about gaps without a linear approach to LA.
My kids absolutely love GR. I would mention other options for next year and they would both say “we just want to do Gather Round, Mom!” It truly has brought so much peace. Due to special needs, my kids can’t handle the eclectic approach to curriculum; they do much better with all in one.
I do have concerns about the middle school level and all the research b/c like you said, we are also very careful with technology usage in our house. But I’ll cross that bridge if we get there. In the meantime, we are headed into next year using upper elementary and early reader, which I think are prime GR ages. We do have so much fun with these units! Since January 2020 we’ve done 5 main units and 2 mini units. Beginning next school year we will be using GR full time.
Elaine I’m always so happy to read your comments! How awesome that your kids are bought into GR and that you’re making it work for your family.
I am exactly like you. I do all the same things in my search for the perfect curriculum. I was also hoping for some kind of unit study but knew it would not be enough. Now I think we can use gather round and pick and choose what works.
Glad I’m in good company! Thanks for watching.
Great video! GRH fam here too but we supplement because we need the LA too and I'm like you with loving the hands on, activities, books and fun things to do as a family. Not sure if we will stick with GRH in MS or HS but we take everything year by year! This will be year 7 for us so we have learned our flow really well and what works and what doesn't! Our boys still really want GRH next year but we are stretching the units out and adding other things in for fun!
Amen to taking things one year at a time! Sounds like we’re very similar!!!
Such good stuff here! I can also fall into the "research" side of things versus "teaching." Great reminder! And we love Gather 'Round and have found that dragging them out has really enriched our learning and has made time for recipes and activities that have made the units come alive.
Yes! Taking our time with each unit has really enriched our homeschool. Thanks for watching!
Yes it is hard to not look at other curriculums and think Wow I should try that out. I think it's because it is shiny and new. Thanks for your great reviews of Gather Round! I think I might try out a unit eventually.
Yes the grass is always greener.... thanks for watching
Yes ! I love that my kids feel the same way ... it’s been a godsend! 💜 great advice and encouragement!
Thanks!
Hi! We have used sonlight for 7 years and now after trying some lessons are craving switching to unit based lessons with gather round. This video was so helpful. Thank you! I was hoping to find a living book list that goes along with each unit. Do you have a list for some of the units? The one thing I will miss from sonlight is the living books in the literature subject.
Great video! Thank you! Sounds like we school very similar ❤ Always enjoy listening and watching you share your thoughts. Blessings to you as you finish up your year!
Aw thanks so much - and thanks for watching!
You are in good company. I feel I am always thinking I should change
Glad I’m not alone!
Great video. Thank you for your input and perspective!
Thank you and thanks for watching!
Wow, this sounds like me and I'm only in my 1st year of homeschooling🙈 I'm research person by nature and spending waaay to much time researching curriculums😅
You just explained me! Lol all the research , is this enough , am I messing up. Etc
Glad I’m in good company 🤷🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️😊
Thank you for your honest opinion. we also use GRH and love it, but also use other curriculums. I just need to figure out a routine with all of it. haha!
I fee like our schedule changes every unit - good luck! Thanks so much for watching!
I wish we had found gather round when we started this year. We ended up going with Abeka video and my kids hated it. They are excited to start GR in the fall
Hi there! Im so happy I found your videos. Its true! I spend more time looking for whats best out there? what is a bad curriculum? Whats the best curriculum? and what not! It drives me crazy! But everybody does it different! What do you think If Im just teaching 2 grades? Or is it better for more than 2 grades!?
Yes yes yes I agree completely!!
Glad I’m not alone!
appreciate this and agree!
Thank you!
3:25 was me a few weeks ago 😂 Then I did a full circle back to Gather ‘Round after trying and buying new curriculum. This is my first full year homeschooling and I was wondering what else was out there. I realized I love GR over everything else. It feels good to drive myself crazy with research and know I searched for practically everything that’s offered. Anyways, we just finished US History and Easter and will start Oceans in a week!
Yes! My kids LOVE GR! I had another ocean unit study and I asked them which one they wanted to do and they both picked GR without thinking about it! Also, when I tested out new curriculum for a few weeks, my son asked if we could go back to “regular school” again. He was begging for GR! Ah, I just love it! Lol. The only issue I have with GR is wondering if it is enough for LA. So I’m going to figure that out. I did get Masterbooks for my son and TGATB for my daughter, so we will see! 😄
Wow - so amazing that your kiddos love GR! Hope you find a great fit for LA. I am hoping to try out master books with Mariah in 2nd or 3rd grade.
Thanks so much for watching and for commenting!
Hi, thank you for your video. Loved it!
Was just wondering what language art curriculum you are using?
We use Happy Cheetah with my 2nd grader and a combo of IEW, analytical grammar, and spelling you see with my middle schoolers.
Thank you! We are a new homeschool family and using gather round, I do love it, but find myself second guessing from time to time. I landed on your video because I was starting to wonder if I need to supplement in LA for my kids (5th and 8th grade). Can you share with me what you use to supplement for your kiddos?
For my middle schoolers we used spelling you see and IEW for writing/grammar
Love your videos. Thanks for you honest opinions! Have you tried or “researched” TGATB? Wondering what you think of them in comparison.
I have looked into TGATB (it definitely is beautiful!) But for many reasons it’s not currently a good fit for our family.
Boy, do I struggle with this. Even with curriculum that work fine and i'm like well maybe this would be a better fit 🤦and spend way too much time researching.
Thank you for the review! From your personal perspective, do you think Gather 'Round would be a good fit for a multi-grade private school setting? We are launching a new 2-day hybrid school and I am in the midst of researching LA curriculum for our K-2 classroom!
Hmmm - well if you are just using it for K-2 I'm wondering if it would be a bit too much? Since the teacher guides are written for students preschool-high school, I think there would probably be a lot more info than you would need for such a young classroom.
@@EverydayHomeschooler Thank you for the feedback!!
Thanks for the video! Can you tell what GR your child enjoyed most? Do you also do History and Science?
Each of my kids would probably have a different answer at this point - but I would definitely say they loved the oceans unit and Africa.
Currently we rely on GR to cover science and history (and geography, and art, and so many other subjects). We use GR as the spine of our family subjects and then my kids do math and language arts as independent subjects.
I hope to do a few units from gather round for my 11,8,3 and 11 month old
Wow we have a similar age range of kids
I’m not the kind of person to comment, but I really enjoyed this thorough review. Do you like Susan Wise Bauer at all?
Yes! The well trained mind was one of my first homeschool reads.
Thanks for sharing. With the continent units, do they have some recipes in? Or do you need to purchase the accompanying cook book to get those? Thanks in advance.
You have to order the cookbook separately, but the digital copy is very reasonably priced and the recipes have been wonderful!
Hi! I am praying about homeschooling my incoming 6th grader this next school year. He has been in a private Christian school since pre-k. He definitely needs a break from the rigorous style of traditional school, but I want him to have a good language arts program. It also needs to be open and go for me. Any recommendations? Thank you!
I have not used it personally, but maybe Master Books Language Lessons? It’s an all in one and open and go.
Oh my gosh I love you! Lol
Aww thanks!
What have you done with your middle schoolers since you mentioned the Gather Round notebooks for that level relies too much on researching? I’d come to this same conclusion when I was looking into Gather Round.
We skip most of the research prompts, or do it together by watching RUclips videos, etc. We focus more on taking good and thorough notes from the teacher guide, reading good books (often from the book recommendation list), and hands on activities.
What do you use to supplement the language arts?
Different things for different kids. Some of our favorites are IEW, Spelling You See, & Happy Cheetah.
Would you go back through the same units again in another couple years and have your kids do the higher level notebook?
Depending on the child and the unit - yes!
I have heard from other families that there are so many gaps, so many grammatical and spelling errors, there isn’t much rhyme or reason to it especially for the whales unit.
As far as typos/errors I think it is to be expected with such a new curriculum. Especially as fast as they are putting out new units! From my point of view GR has done a really great job with updates and corrections.
What is your favorite resource for finding living books? What I mean is, how do you select living vs textbook style books, without pre-reading them all? I love the Charlotte Mason style but haven't found a comprehensive list of living books for a variety of subjects.
Hi. Have you tried Ambleside Online? It has books for every subject and until the 12th grade level... Other is also Simply Charlotte Mason. If you have young ones, Under The Home is great.
For Gather Round, they have suggested books for each level...
Yes I was going to say simply Charlotte mason and ambleside online both have great search options for living books. I also use a lot of sonlight’s suggested read alouds.
As far as not pre-reading, I try to just make sure I find book recommendations from trusted sources (sites and other mama’s that I trust).
Buying a new book every 6 weeks sounds really expensive
Will you share what you use to supplement language arts?
Check out my curriculum picks videos
What do you do with your 3 year old during the lesson time for olders?
So me...all these things😂
Do you think you’ll use Gather ‘Round for high school at all?
Have you done or plane to do history 3&4 ?
We have not done them yet, but hoping to maybe next year
@@EverydayHomeschooler Did you use something else for History that you recommend or have you just used GR
What age range and what type of history (US, World, etc.)?
@@EverydayHomeschooler world history for grades 2-5
I plan to do Gather Round for US History but with World History I'm stuck in finding something that is similar to GR in the since of being able to teach multiple kids at once
I don’t really understand what you mean by living books.
Living books is a term used by Charlotte Mason - Books that engage and draw readers into the story.