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Anyone looked at Gather Round yet?


ktgrok
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I do know they had some kind of fire, that I'm guessing delayed things, but I also think that she never ever should have been selling things that were not actually ready for sale. 

I am going to be doing the Creepy Crawlies unit over the summer with my kids, picking and choosing what we do in it, which is basically how we do all unit studies. I have enjoyed what we have used, but yeah...she is in over her head I think. It was a really bad idea for a busy homeschool/working mom to promise things that far in advance. 

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On 7/2/2022 at 10:23 AM, HomeschoolingHearts&Minds said:

IWe have purchased GR units here and there, but I've used it intermixed with other stuff, so I've never been "all in" on it. I would never buy a whole year on presale, though (even before the current issues) because it's too risky. I've been burned previously by another curriculum writer who didn't live up to presale promises and learned my lesson. 

I get the distinct impression that Rebecca is in over her head. I would recommend only purchasing already published units.

 

 

I agree completely!

Edited by seemesew
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  • 1 year later...
On 7/2/2022 at 11:23 AM, HomeschoolingHearts&Minds said:

I've been very quiet here lately, but I've been lurking here for years. I have no ax to grind with GR. We use the units here and there and I will probably continue to purchase from them.

Yes, they are traveling, speaking at conventions, and purchased an RV. They were scouting property with an eye towards opening a US location (they are based in Canada). I don't know if they are still doing that.

Yes, year 3 (which was supposed to be complete in May) is still incomplete. There were supposed to be 9 units (only 6 have been released) and 6 mini units (only 2 have been released and one of those is seasonal and only available seasonally).

Yes, she ran their annual sale and sold whole year packages, including selling year 3, which is still incomplete, and presales of year 4 (with 8 main units and 6 mini units planned). 

Yes, she did an online convention during their annual sale week. And she did make comments saying people were not being understanding or giving grace.

Yes, their FB group has a reputation for deleting and censoring posts/comments, to the point where someone started an "uncensored" group (which has been remarkably tame and just about sharing resources, not bashing GR). Obviously, I don't know if the pp got censored, but it would not surprise me if she had.

We have purchased GR units here and there, but I've used it intermixed with other stuff, so I've never been "all in" on it. I would never buy a whole year on presale, though (even before the current issues) because it's too risky. I've been burned previously by another curriculum writer who didn't live up to presale promises and learned my lesson. 

I get the distinct impression that Rebecca is in over her head. I would recommend only purchasing already published units.

 

 

Would you share the uncensored group name? We're looking into GR for this school year. 

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I heard her speak at the VA homeschool convention last month and was VERY disappointed. My sister and I kept looking at each other and shaking our heads. The workshop we went to was something about homeschooling high school. Her basic point was “a diploma doesn’t matter”. Being from Canada, the “rules” for achieving a high school diploma are a bit different than in the US but apparently she has no plans of helping her DC receive one. Her belief is that the only goal we, as Christian homeschooling parents, should have is being sure that our children walk with God as adults. That’s how we’ll be successful, NOT ensuring that our kids receive a good education. I’m not sure what makes her think that she has that much control over her kids’ relationship with God as adults! (I’m a devout Christian and certainly hope my children decide to be as well, but I know that I have no control over their choices.) 
 

According to what she said, she was homeschooled as a child as well. Her oldest child is 16. The curriculum can be done in an hour and a half a day if you do the basics but can take longer if high schoolers do additional research. She was VERY preachy. Almost yelling at the audience at times to convince us that her point of view was the correct one. Needless to say, my sister and I decided that we didn’t feel the need to attend any of her other sessions that weekend. 
 

I went to the vendor hall and looked at her curriculum. She had the biggest and most crowded booth there. The curriculum is absolutely beautiful. The topics look interesting. I can definitely see the appeal. I’d be tempted myself if the high school level didn’t look so incredibly weak. Maybe if we needed a jumping off point for a special interest or something….But it sure was pretty. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/10/2023 at 9:22 AM, HomeAgain said:

After reading this thread, what draws you to it?

I was planning on trying unit studies from various publishers to see what we like and dislike. After purchasing, printing, and looking through our first Campfire unit, I'm fairly certain we've found what we're looking for and then some. 

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11 hours ago, Nm. said:

I really like campfire… I haven’t bought a unit yet- but for unit studies that would be my choice as well.  We did the samples of one and really like the No worksheet emphasis.

Yes! I'm seeing critical thinking, layers to history, and challenging, open-ended discussion questions. The activities are great (just enough, not too many, meaningful, supply list included), and the optional core connections that makes it a multi subject unit are good. While it's not rigorous, the content is fabulous. I think if we did at least 7-10 or so rather than just a few during the school year, I would be happy with the amount of learning and growing that would result.

Edited by IfIOnly
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Which ones did you get?  The only thing with unit studies is I tend to feel like it’s information overload.   Cool information but also like being on a roller coaster all day everyday 😂. Is that a thing or is it just me?

Edited by Nm.
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  • 5 weeks later...
On 7/10/2023 at 4:13 PM, 2ndGenHomeschooler said:

I heard her speak at the VA homeschool convention last month and was VERY disappointed. My sister and I kept looking at each other and shaking our heads. The workshop we went to was something about homeschooling high school. Her basic point was “a diploma doesn’t matter”. Being from Canada, the “rules” for achieving a high school diploma are a bit different than in the US but apparently she has no plans of helping her DC receive one. Her belief is that the only goal we, as Christian homeschooling parents, should have is being sure that our children walk with God as adults. That’s how we’ll be successful, NOT ensuring that our kids receive a good education. I’m not sure what makes her think that she has that much control over her kids’ relationship with God as adults!

There are several curricula companies that preach this. Maybe it’s a becoming a trend? Although, there’s an infamous curriculum that has already done this. Think Shiny Happy People. 

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3 hours ago, AnneGG said:

There are several curricula companies that preach this. Maybe it’s a becoming a trend? Although, there’s an infamous curriculum that has already done this. Think Shiny Happy People. 

I’m all too familiar with that other curriculum, unfortunately. You’d think other companies and organizations would learn from the massive failures of the ones who’ve gone before. 

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12 hours ago, AnneGG said:

There are several curricula companies that preach this. Maybe it’s a becoming a trend? Although, there’s an infamous curriculum that has already done this. Think Shiny Happy People. 

Curriculum companies have ALWAYS done this.  I cannot remember which major one it was, A Beka or Bob Jones, but there was a caveat in the back of their books that basically it was just an attempt to teach science but they were teaching God's word instead, so if things were wrong, it was okay because they had God.

There was the brief fad in the 80s/early 90s of teaching all subjects with the bible, and the bible only, since that was the most important book in their lives.

There was the Generation Joshua 'warriors for Christ' fad that believes rapture is imminent and it was more important to teach their children to be good and holy than it was to teach them to question.

There are the Facebook memes of a child playing quietly and words superimposed over them "It doesn't matter if your child is the smartest.  It matters if they are the kindest.  It matters if they love God"

There is the rise in unschooling for younger years and getting lost for older years, and using the "well, at least they're good people' as a way to justify not actually giving a child an education.

And now we are seeing it playing out in public schools, where it doesn't matter if the kids receive an education, what matters is that they conform to the requirements of "Christian" adults making the decisions: Florida's loss of AP classes, book bans, and things like teaching kids that Moses was a founding father (Texas).

None of this is new.  We're just seeing the first and second generations of adults who didn't get an education and have no idea what they missed out on as they make the decisions for the next generation.

 

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On 8/20/2023 at 10:21 PM, 2ndGenHomeschooler said:

I’m all too familiar with that other curriculum, unfortunately. You’d think other companies and organizations would learn from the massive failures of the ones who’ve gone before. 

For real.
 

Max Lucado talked a little bit about this in his podcast this week. I don’t usually listen to it, but it just happened to pop up in my queue this morning. I’m like this is good! Preach! 

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On 8/21/2023 at 7:23 AM, HomeAgain said:

Curriculum companies have ALWAYS done this.  I cannot remember which major one it was, A Beka or Bob Jones, but there was a caveat in the back of their books that basically it was just an attempt to teach science but they were teaching God's word instead, so if things were wrong, it was okay because they had God.

There was the brief fad in the 80s/early 90s of teaching all subjects with the bible, and the bible only, since that was the most important book in their lives.

There was the Generation Joshua 'warriors for Christ' fad that believes rapture is imminent and it was more important to teach their children to be good and holy than it was to teach them to question.

There are the Facebook memes of a child playing quietly and words superimposed over them "It doesn't matter if your child is the smartest.  It matters if they are the kindest.  It matters if they love God"

There is the rise in unschooling for younger years and getting lost for older years, and using the "well, at least they're good people' as a way to justify not actually giving a child an education.

And now we are seeing it playing out in public schools, where it doesn't matter if the kids receive an education, what matters is that they conform to the requirements of "Christian" adults making the decisions: Florida's loss of AP classes, book bans, and things like teaching kids that Moses was a founding father (Texas).

None of this is new.  We're just seeing the first and second generations of adults who didn't get an education and have no idea what they missed out on as they make the decisions for the next generation.

 

Wow! This would make an interesting case study. (IMO 😂

I wonder if it’s rooted in fear? I somehow became to subscribed to a certain curricula company’s emails. Every subject line started with something dramatic like THESE CLASSIC BOOKS WILL RUIN YOUR CHILD’S BELIEF IN GOD. 😳 Then I’d read the list and it was like Aesop and Little House. 

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