Yes! Many Gather 'Round families use this curriculum on its own for all their children and all their subjects—right through high school! We have testimonies of many grad students who have successfully made the leap to college or university, fully equipped to think for themselves and read the subtext of what is being presented. That being said, we also have some families who choose to supplement based on their student's needs or because they have a curriculum that they just love and don't want to give up.While there are some reviews online that question whether we are enough, it is important to note that those were often done in the early years when we were still a startup. We have created many more resources to help close gaps, beef up our content, and find the elusive balance between "enough" and "too much". Our style is different, we focus on less quantity and more contextual learning—which can feel too simple especially if you are coming from a more traditional curriculum. However, many of our parents say that their students actually remember what they are learning and the results speak for themselves over time.

Choose a unit/topic that either interests you or meets a need (such as if you are working toward certain credits).Purchase either the digital full family bundle (which includes both the Teacher's Guide and all levels of student books), the one student bundle (which includes the Teacher's Guide and one level of your choice), or the printed books. If you decide to go with our beautiful, high-end printed books . . . you will need the Teacher's Guide and one book for each student.

What do I need to add?

The units cover all of your subjects but math. Our Modular Math program is available to cover K-grade 9 math, but high school math is not yet available on our site (though we do have plans to create it). Currently, you will need to get about 8 units per year along with about 8 math units per student in order to create a full curriculum year. Some families choose to add seatwork or our other Language Arts add-ons, fun holiday mini-units, and more . . . but these are not required.

How do I choose levels for multiple kids?

Our main units are designed to be used with the whole family. We have individual student books available in the following levels.Pre-Reader: recommended for younger students who are not ready to read/write (preschool/kindergarten age)Early Reader: recommended for emerging readers/writers (6-8 years old)Early Elementary: recommended for students who are comfortable using a word bank to write some of their answers (8-10 years old)Upper Elementary: recommended for students who are ready to write a sentence response (10-13 years old)Middle School: recommended for students who are ready for paragraph responses and more personal application/light research (13-16 years old)High School: prepares students to ask big questions, think for themselves, and apply topics to their own lives. This level is recommended for 16-18 years old and includes papers, essays, and more research.Some of our units are shorter or more simplified into levels 1, 2, and 3. For these, Level 3 is designed for Middle and High, level 2 for Early Elementary and Upper Elementary, and Level 1 for Pre-Reader and Early Reader.

How Long does it take?

Each unit is designed to take about a month—which means you will never get bored! You get to create your year based on your students' interests, covering all your subjects for all your grades, through one cohesive program that all points to Jesus! Each lesson is designed to take about 2-4 hours (depending on how many students you have, their ages, and whether you are completing the option rabbit trails or watching the resource videos available on our app). You will read the Teacher's Guide first to all students (which takes about 40 minutes to an hour depending on how many videos you show or the discussions you have) and then students will move to their student workbooks and complete their pages there. Units that have 20 lessons can be done 5 days a week and therefore being completed in 4 weeks. Or they can be done 4 days a week and take a bit longer. Because of this, most families work through about 8 units in a year with breaks and co-op days mixed in.

All of our units come with answer keys to help you mark your student's work. We have tried a bit of everything: including the answers in the Teacher's Guide, having them in the back of student notebooks, and eventually settling on including them in your downloads immediately after your order. You can use the answer key to help assign grades, but we recommend using a rubric for more accurate grading. To do this, you would assign points based on things like understanding (30%), completion (50%), effort (15%), and neatness (5%).

What is Modular Math?

Modular Math is our brand new math curriculum that covers K-grade 9 math—taking students all the way through Algebra 1. The units are topical and each step takes about 1 month. This means they can be used in either a mastery approach (staying on a topic and working on it through multiple levels) or spiral approach (completing one step of each topic throughout the year). This program was created with steps instead of grades, allowing you to custom-tailor the program to your student without discouraging them with where they are at. It can be used as a remedial program or for gifted students who want to move faster. Each day includes 2 pages. Day 1 teaches a new concept (and includes a devotional) and day 2 has practice that builds throughout the unit in a spiral approach. All you have to do is take a placement test on a topic and jump in! It is open and go with no teacher's guide, no manipulatives or resources required, and written directly to the student so that they can work independently. Yes, math can be this easy!

Curriculum itself cannot be accredited, only schools can. Accreditation means a school with qualified teachers, reporting, and grading that is following the government requirements for each grade. That being said, Gather 'Round Homeschool curriculum can absolutely be used all the way through High School by you, the parent! Most schools use the Carnegie method to assign credits, this means that 120 hours of instruction in a topic = 1 credit. We've made it super easy to you by training our very own Gather bot! All of our units cover such a wide variety of subjects that you can use the bot to help figure out how many credits have been covered (or will be covered) based on the units you have done or are planning on. We also have access to full high school plans, transcripts, and unit credit breakdowns on our high school page here.

What is the Online Academy?

The Online Academy is our new online school. We have about 600 students who tune in online to watch a lesson being taught live—complete with live polls, comments, reactions, and resources. Replays are also available for families who miss a class. Homework is assigned and families complete their student notebooks together—we are even looking at adding in grading and report cards! There are currently three frequency options available (or three different levels of homeschool support): One day a week (join us every Tuesday at 10am EST)Two days a week (join us every Tuesday and Thursday at 10am EST)Four days a week (join us Monday-Thursday for every single lesson!)Currently, these lessons are being taught by the founder, Rebecca Spooner, though we hope to expand to hire more teachers and offer more class times and options in the future. Learn more

Can I use it in a group?

Gather 'Round is licensed for individual family use only (which means to a parent/guardian and the children they are legal guardians of). If you want to use this in a small group (with your sister, friend, or a few friends), you will need to make sure that each person owns their own materials, as file sharing and copying (or teaching to student's outside your home) is not allowed. If you want to use this in a co-op or hybrid model to a large group of students, we do require that you purchase print and sign an agreement stating that you will not photocopy or share. With this option, we also do have a group discount available. Learn more here.

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Welcome to Science Fiction

Meet our very first high-school-only novel study with one core theme: Science fiction is a playground for authors to explore the big questions of philosophy and theology. This unit is one-of-a-kind and applicable whether your student is interested in sci-fi or not. It will check off boxes for theology, philosophy, and even British Lit-all upper level topics that looks great on a transcript (you're welcome).

With only one book-written to students directly-this study has daily teaching pages, vocabulary, context and reading assignments. Students will need to purchase the novel, Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis-which is the novel they will study to see real examples of how big ideas are explored in this unique genre. After reading, students have a number of worksheets that allow them to focus on understanding complex quotes, reflect on personal meaning and application, and follow the elements of the story such as character development, plot, and more. Our second page has teaching that is done in a never-before-seen style with teaching on the page (no research!) and questions that students highlight as they read. Students end the book with a unit project to either write their own science fiction or a book report on the unit.

Warning: This novel is heady, the topics in this unit go deep, and the teaching itself all points back to God unapologetically. Lewis does use some phrases, terms, or even explores some topics that may make some readers uncomfortable (read the note in the product listing for more details). Our goal with this unit is to go deep, expose truth, and break things down in a way that will help students realize they can do hard things and to think about issues bigger than themselves. We can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Get Started!

Subject Cards

Philosophy

Engage with thoughtful questions about truth, reality, ethics, science, faith, and the human condition. Students learn to evaluate ideas carefully and develop discernment in a world full of competing narratives.

Theology

Contrast fictional worlds with eternal truth. Students explore biblical perspectives on creation, curiosity, imagination, and the nature of God, grounding their learning in a Christ-centered worldview.

Science

Explore real scientific concepts that inspire science fiction-space, technology, exploration, and the natural laws that govern our universe. Students examine how scientific discovery fuels imagination and shapes the stories we tell about the future.

Language Arts

Dive into the elements of science fiction as a genre-worldbuilding, conflict, theme, character development, and symbolism. Students build vocabulary, analyze literature, and strengthen comprehension and writing skills through rich discussion and reading.

History

Meet the innovators, authors, and historical moments that shaped the world of science fiction. From world events to groundbreaking inventions, students see how history influences imagination and storytelling.

Social Studies

Examine big ideas like culture, worldview, courage, fear of the unknown, and the impact of scientific advancement on society. Students learn to think critically about how science and belief systems shape communities.

Art

Study influential artists and visual representations connected to scientific discovery and human understanding. Students explore how art reflects curiosity, innovation, and the beauty of creation.

Sneak Peek of Science Fiction

Sneak peek of
Science Fiction

Here's a sneak peek of our latest unit, Science Fiction

Resources

Access helpful materials, guides, and downloads that support your learning journey with Gather 'Round. Explore our growing library of resources designed to make teaching simple and engaging.

Explore Resources

Resources

Access helpful materials, guides, and downloads that support your learning journey with Gather 'Round. Explore our growing library of resources designed to make teaching simple and engaging.

Explore Resources

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Binder Spines

Find the answer key in your downloads on your store account.

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Scope and Sequence

Check out the scope and sequence for this unit.

Science Fiction

Geography

Belfast, Ireland
England
University College, Oxford
France

Science

Extraterrestrial life
How science proves the benefits of human connection
COVID-19 pandemic
Harry Harlow and his experiments with baby monkeys
Gravity's affects on bones and muscles
Microgravity's affects
How astrounauts adjust to gravity
How astounatust protect their bodies in microgravity
Artificial gravity on spacecrafts
What is time?
Extinct animals: dodo, passenger pigeon, Tasmanian tiger, great auk, Steller's sea cow, quagga, baiji
Theory of evolution

Language Arts

What is science fiction?
Words you should know: plausibility, malediction, sanguine hoes, doggedly, ascertaining, apropos
Read chapter 1 of Out of the Silent Planet
Literary analysis: understanding, character, application
Why space is the backdrop of science fiction
Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon
H.G. Wells' The First Men in the Moon
Words you should know: squalor, parody, cliché, plaintively, prise, benighted, masochism, uninitiate, don, propagate, lassitude, prosaic, infinitesimal, portentous, megalomaniac
Read chapters 2–3 of Out of the Silent Planet
Literary analysis: understanding, plot, application
Every good story weaves courage into it
Words you should know: hypocrisy, virtue, tremulous, terrestrial, deuce, attainments, beset, vivisection, individualistic, alacrity, magnanimous
Read chapter 4 of Out of the Silent Planet
Literary analysis: understanding, plot, application
War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
Words you should know: thither, loquacious, satire, ironical, disquieting, palpable, emphatic, enigmatic, microcosm, ethereal, endangered, engendered, empyrean, odious, vermiculate, pious
Read chapter 5 of Out of the Silent Planet
Literary analysis: understanding, character analysis, application
Space as a setting for isolation in a story
Words you should know: bellicose, diminution, coprologies, jerkin, blasé, cessation, trencherman, protracted, spectral, surrealistic, hummocks, hither, filial
Read chapters 6–8 of Out of the Silent Planet
Using first contact in a storyline to introduce conflict
Words you should know: coruscating, basso profondissimo, voracious, haphazard, pallid, denuded, cadaverous, ineffaceable, promontory, stoat, articulate, prodigious, smote
Read chapter 9 of Out of the Silent Planet
Freewriting
Among humans, all language is connected
Words you should know: sinuous, ineluctable, draught, bastion, cessation, Grecian caryatid, variegated, ubiquitous
Read chapter 10 of Out of the Silent Planet
Freewriting
What intelligence really is
Understanding humility
Intelligence in science fiction
Words you should know: stupefaction, faute de mieux, antiphonally, predominate, communally, fervour, scruple, conscientious, catechism, intelligentsia
Read chapter 11 of Out of the Silent Planet
Conflict in a story
Ransom's internal struggle
What it means to be human
What monogamous means
Words you should know: anthropology, monogamous, maleficent, corporeal, subordination, intelligible, cosmological
Read chapter 12 of Out of the Silent Planet
World-building in a story
What are the eldil
What makes a civilization advanced
How people define "advanced"
Theme of corruption of mankind
Words you should know: incessant, unwonted, muffed, purport, posterity, furlong, inarticulate, infantile, imprecations, stupor, protestations, elicit
Read chapter 13 of Out of the Silent Planet
Lying in Out of the Silent Planet
Correlation between Weston and Devine and Christopher Columbus
Theme of living things under a law of sorts
Words you should know: composure, rationalized, henceforward, chastened, spurs, Lapland winter, hobgoblins, smote
Read chapter 14 of Out of the Silent Planet
Literary analasys: understanding, character analysis, application
Theme of time
Words you should know: spectre, indifference, programme, hitherto, shank, gawk, palate, ply
Read chapter 15 of Out of the Silent Planet
Language that stretches the imagination
Meaning of the title Out of the Silent Planet
Theme of extinction in science fiction
Words you should know: amicable, apparatus, oblige, precarious, gait, ludicrous, poise, lofty, spectral, august, parmenides, Confucius, subordinate, thence, unavailing
Read Chapter 16 of Out of the Silent Planet
Symbolism: blood is a symbol for the limits of human thinking
Utopian vs. dystopian societies
Pfifltrigg
Words you should know: ochre, conflagration, precipice, inimitable, alternation, desing, uncanny, pervade, influx, conspicuous, concentric, monolith, odious, idealization
Read chapter 17 of Out of the Silent Planet
Exploring different realities
Multiverse
Words you should know: gauntlet, decorous, consistory, sultry, courteously
Read chapter 18 of Out of the Silent Planet
Allegory
Climax of a story
Superiority and self-importance
Words you should know: procession, variegated, disconcertingly, obeisance, manoeuvre, mortification, conciliating, conscientiously, sonorous raptures, bluster, perplexity, impropriety, mirth, dirge, contrived
Read chapter 19 of Out of the Silent Planet
Weston character analysis
When things start to becom more clear
Humility
Ethics
Ambition
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Words you should know: bracing, physiognomy, martyrdom, anticlimax, comupulsory, douches, imperceptible, vulgar, coracles, annihilating, supersede, taboo, maxims, posterity, metaphysician
Read chapter 20 of Out of the Silent Planet
Dramatic irony
Hope as a theme
Words you should know: expedient, obtuseness, parochial, ephemeral, infinitude, aeons, somnambulist, preternaturally, droughts
Read chapter 21 of Out of the Silent Planet
Falling action in a story
Freewrite
Stories expose tension between science and faith
Secular vs. Biblical world view and their differences
Words you should know: psychoanalytically, philological, incredulity, libel, conception
Read chapter 22 of Out of the Silent Planet
Changing how we view space and heaven
Resolution in a story
Ransom and Weston's name meanings
Science fiction explores human questions
Fiction can make complex ideas easier to examine
Stories act as mirrors for human nature, society, and culture
Identify spiritual or theological symbolism in fiction
Authors use stories to explore spiritual truths
Words you should know: Chaliapin, exigencies, homogeneous, desideratum, Ypres Salient, nocturne, zenith, solitarie
Read Postscript of Out of the Silent Planet
Freewrite
Short story or book report

History

C.S. Lewis
World War I
J.R.R. Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings trilogy
The Inklings
Leonardo Da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man"
Da Vinci's contributions to science
Age of Exploration
Jules Verne
Christopher Columbus

Social Studies

Why science fiction is important
How "fear of the unknown" is a relatable topic for science fiction
Courage
Can we retrain our response to seek and gain understanding rather than fear
Debates, conspiracy theories, etc. about intelligent alien life
Theological concerns about the theory of life on other planets
The role of media and how easy it is to believe what you see, hear, read
Protecting yourself from fake news
Extreme isolation and its effect on people
Solitude
The benefits of connection and community
The white man's burden
Communication is happening all around us all the time
Humans' affect on extinct animals
Communism
Socialism
Governments
Artificial intelligence (AI)
What can AI do better than humans
What will happen when machines replace human jobs
AI responsibilities

Art

Leonardo da Vinci
"Vitruvian Man"
Rudyard Kipling
Draw a pfifltrigg

Bible

Nothing about God is fiction
Our desire to create points to God
God has given us a sense of curiosity
Courageous overcomers in the Bible
Genesis 12
Matthew 14:22–32
Joshua 1
Genesis 2:18a
God created humans to be in fellowship with each other
God desires to have relationship with us
Romans 8:38–39
Deuteronomy 31:6
Matthew 28:20b
Samuel 16:7b
God looks at the heart
What the Bible says about understanding: Proverbs 2:2–5, Proverbs 4:7, Luke 24:45
What the Bible says about wisdom: Proverbs 1:7, James 1:5, Proberbs 3:5–7, Ecclesiastes 7:12
What the Bible says about discernment: Hebrews 5:14, Philippians 1:9–10, 1 John 4:1
What the Bible says about knowledge: Proverbs 2:6, Hosea 4:6, 1 Corinthians 8:1
Garden of Eden
Adam and Eve
Biblical view of "advanced" civilization
Lying to ouselves to justify actions
Hebrews 4:12–13
Deuteronomy 30:19–20
God's word is a guidebook for our lives
Romans 6:23
Ephesians 6:12
John 10:10
Genesis 2:15
Romans 3:23
Ephesians 6:12
Genesis 28:10–19
Numbers 22
Proverbs 16:18
Proverbs 6:9–19
Proverbs 13:12
2 Corinthians 5:7
Romans 8:7
Genesis 1:1
Colossians 1:16–17

Certificate

When you complete the unit, grab a certificate to celebrate your progress!

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Certificate

When you complete the unit, grab a certificate to celebrate your progress!

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