Our experience with Gather Round Homeschool

    When we first moved to TX, we struggled to find our groove, homeschool-wise. We tried a few different curriculums, joined some groups, and found our way. I found Gather Round curriculum. It looked great, so I thought I would give it a try. Lily did well with it. Lily has always done better with Unit Studies, and more hands-on learning. I bought a few single units out of the first year's units. The second year, I bought the WHOLE year, which was about $500. This was not including extras-I bought a few of those on the side. We were all in! I told friends about it, and a lot of them tried it out as well. 

    With the company being new, we were dealing with a few growing pains. Updates being sent out right after we had just printed the units, the Language Arts was lacking, sensitivity updates on the continents- things like that. The company said they welcomed feedback, and were working to make things better. This curriculum is on the higher end, price-wise, but it is marketed as an all in one (except for math). The ease of use, and the fact that Lily liked it, were enough for me to look over the minor things.

    As the company grew, things started getting a little strange on the social media side. You are NOT allowed to give feedback in the Facebook group, unless it is a glowing, positive comment. You are not allowed to give constructive criticism. Simply asking "were we supposed to get ____ unit in our account yet?" was not allowed in the group. Anyone making a comment that the curriculum isn't working for them was a no-no. All of the group members would swoop in, and tell you ALL the ways it should work for you. How wonderful the curriculum is, how the creator/author is SO wonderful, etc. It was starting to feel a little Stepford-Wives in there. 

    We get to Year 3 of the curriculum. This year (2021-2022 school year). I preordered the WHOLE shebang. There was a price increase of $150 this year, due to her hiring writers and staff., so this year was over $800.  There was a schedule on the Gather Round website, listing all of the units, and what months they would be released. It looked great. I was basing the planning of my homeschool year around that schedule. The first unit (maybe the first 2) came out on time. Then, things started happening. Delays, excuses. She was behind. She lost her writers, and was having to write the units herself. A new, revised schedule was released. Instead of getting the 10 units we had preordered, we were now getting 9. Rocks and Minerals would not be releasing this year. Lily was bummed. That was the ONE unit she really was looking forward to. Not only was that not releasing, but instead of a unit per month being released, the new schedule had NO units being released in Oct or Nov. And instead of the school year ending in May, the last unit won't be released until June. At this point, I was getting a little irritated, but it is what it is. Keep in mind, you are NOT allowed to express doubt, frustrations or the like on the Gather Round social media pages. Around this time, the owner decided to start a Minecraft server for ALL of the customers kids to play with each other. This took time, and was a reason for one of the delays. Turns out, she doesn't have the staff to monitor the servers. More wasted time. 

The original schedule, and the updated schedule

  

     A few weeks go by. More delays. More excuses. The owner had a barn fire. The barn was NOT her warehouse, yet that was used as another excuse for delays. Ok. Next-"HEY guys! We are coming to the USA! For a tour! we are going to be doing meet and greets, speaking engagements, and conventions!!"  More delays. Turns out, the owner can't write units while stuck in an RV with 5 kids and a hubby. Shocker. People are getting more and more frustrated. Then, what really just threw me over the edge. The owner is posting videos "Look at our new RV!!"  "Here is a video of our first week of travel!"  "Here is a video of our second week!"  "We are at Disney!!"  Our February unit is STILL not released. She's doing videos and traveling, and going to Disney, while those of us who preordered 10 units are sitting here with only 4 units so far. 4. It's mid-March. We get an email update. The update basically says that (paying customers) are being nasty to her, and that she has come to terms with people being mad at her. The rest of the year will be delayed, and she isn't sure when the units (or IF) are going to be released. But God had given her permission, even a command, to take time off and spend it at Disney with her kids. In fact, this WHOLE time, she has been saying that she is following God's commands, wherever they lead.  I do not think that God told her to take thousands, if not millions of dollars in preorders for units, and then ignore her customers. I don't think He works like that. I feel like at this point, it is a scam, and we will be lucky if we EVER get our units. Meanwhile, the owner is at homeschool conventions, selling more curriculum and talking about year 4. YEAR 4! When we haven't gotten half of year 3!!! I tried to complain on the Facebook group, and I have been banned and blocked. Because it wasn't sunshine and rainbows. 

    I received an email from her saying that she would refund me for the units I have not yet received, BUT, not for the Lifer package that I had purchased. She said that they follow God's timing in everything. So-I won't get refunded for the portions of the Lifer package that I have not received. AND, still no idea when the units are coming out. I purchased a year bundle based on a schedule she had on her website. I did NOT purchase a year bundle that said they would be out in God's timing. No apology. No offer of a refund, other than units I haven't received (WITHOUT a refund for the Lifer package). **It's worth noting that the Lifer package that she is refusing to refund was supposed to have 6 mini units included in it this year. Of those, we have received 2!**  No offer of a discount due to to inconvenience. Customer service is definitely not her forte. In fact, you can tell by her email that she is quite irritated that I find her delays unacceptable. 

    At this point, I have reported the company to the BBB for unethical business practices. I have also filed a complaint with the Attorney General. I have called my bank, and they are doing a fraud investigation, as I purchased based on a schedule, and I have not received my items based on that schedule. I have tried to share my experience online, but since the Gather Round pages are so heavily censored, my experience cannot be shared. I am not the only one. There are over 30,000 members in her FB group. There are thousands of us. She has probably taken in millions of dollars in preorders, and now we just have to wait for God's timing as to when or if we get our product. I think that is one of the things that bothers me the most. She uses God as an excuse to treat her customers poorly and have unethical business practices. She has a predominately Christian customer base, so she uses God so her customers will accept the delays.  

    I am putting this out there in case others are looking at the curriculum and thinking of preordering. I would think twice. You may or may not get the items. You certainly won't get them when she says you will. You will have no where to complain publicly, because she declines, deletes and bans you when you try to comment on her pages and group. I'm sorry, but if the company's intentions were pure, and they were truly doing things on God's timing, they would say that up front. They would not wait until they are so far behind they will never catch up, and then start saying that when the complaints start coming in. You would be allowed to comment on their pages publicly without being deleted and banned. I do not feel like this company has pure intentions. At this point, I don't feel like the owner knows how to run a business, and I feel like she is getting VERY close to taking preorders and running with the money.

***UPDATE***  Since I published this blog, we STILL do not have any more of our year 3 units, but the owner of Gather Round is on her app, advertising that she is planning year 4. SO-we don't even have half of year 3 yet, but she has time to plan next year?? Does this woman have no shame? 

***Update. Today (03/22/2022), our unit that was due in Feb released. The rest of the year is still up in the air***

***Update. The website has been updated with a new release schedule AGAIN, and she has added that the dates are just an estimate. (That was never there before). Also, the owner posted on April 6th that she is now working on a magazine and bible reading plan.***

 

Update***  It's May 4th, and we have not received the Chemistry unit that was due out in April. The owner did a live video yesterday about all her conventions and her back to school sale. She is still allowing pre-orders! 

****Update****It's May 13th and we have not received the Chemistry unit that was due out in April. Which means the unit that is due out in May will be delayed. As it stands, the schedule has us receiving units into Aug, which is when the year 4 units are supposed to start releasing. So, we are either NOT going to get all the year 3 units, or Year 4 will start out delayed. Also, the owner is putting together an online Homeschool Convention. WHILE she is still severely behind on releasing the units.*******

***Update. The afternoon of May 13th, we received the Chemistry unit. But not the experiments book that will be going with it. No date on that one. On May 19th, the owners did a video, and basically said that there are no dates for future units. We will get them when they are done. And they spent a good amount of time saying that the customers that are complaining are being childish and spiteful. Which seems to be the way this whole year has gone. They are late. There is always a reason., But those of us who paid money for a product we are still waiting on are mean and spiteful, and now, childish.  And they always say that it is a SMALL handful of people that are upset. If it was really a small handful, why is every video focusing on those complaints? I feel like there are more than a small handful of people that are getting tired of the delays. I know I would never purchase from this company again. The fact that the customers are the bad guys was enough to tell me that I don't want to give them any more support.***

****Update. It is June 19th. Gather Round is now having an online convention to sell for next year, and we are STILL missing 3 full and 4 mini units. No dates are being given as to when we will receive them. Just whenever she gets around to it. Year 4 units are supposed to release beginning in Sept. I don't foresee that happening. At this point, I just want my units, and Gather Round will never get another penny of my money. I have been banned and blocked from all their social media platforms, and they even deleted me from their newsletter that gives updates. Any friends of mine who have asked about the units on Instagram have been blocked. How this company is touting themselves as a Christian company at this point is mind boggling. They say they follow God in all things, but it looks to me as if they are following the money. GOD doesn't tell you to treat your customers in the way this company has treated their customers this year.****

****Update. Today is July 1st, and we have not received any more units since the May 13th release of the Chemistry unit. But, the owner of Gather Round has been putting on an an online convention and taking pre-orders for next year, that will probably end up being delayed as well. To say I am BEYOND frustrated is an understatement. I would tell anyone considering this curriculum to be very wary of giving them your money.***

****Sept 1-The Middle Ages unit released. There are STILL 2 more units to go, plus the lifer mini units. The owner of the company is doing Podcasts and planning an in person fall retreat. She now says that she isn't behind, because she took the release dates off the website! So, you will get them when you get them. Maybe. *****

****Update. I received a refund for the 3 units that had not yet released. I did not ask for the refund. I wanted my products. Also, I got NO refund for my Lifer package, yet my access to all items I have paid for has been revoked! So, now I cannot even access the items I paid for, and I am not getting the mini units in the lifer that I paid for. Because I went public about my experience with the company. Please think twice before giving Gather around Homeschool your money. You might not get your items, and they might revoke access to items you have paid for!*******

*****Update. It is now 01/18/2023. 10 MONTHS since I wrote this original post, and we STILL do not have all of year 3! Meanwhile, the owner is planning another big U.S. tour, she's podcasting, she's planning and having retreats. She has time to do all of these things, and we are still waiting for units that we paid for 18 months ago*****

Five in a Row-Miss Rumphius

     Well, it's Spring, and here in Texas, this is the perfect time of year to row Miss Rumphius. :) We did a LOT of things relating to plants with this one. The first thing we did was to go strawberry picking. That doesn't really relate to the book, but it is strawberry season, we love strawberries, and they are beautiful plants. So, off we went!

We definitely wanted to plant something during this row, so we went to the nursery, and grabbed some seeds, dirt and flowers. We spent a morning planting some flowers for our front porch area. We discussed the difference between perennials and annuals. The ones we planted are annuals, so we will need to plant more next year.

Since Lily is almost nine, I have her read the book to me some of the time. She really enjoyed the story illustrations. 

After she read the story, we discussed the location. We decided that Miss Rumphius might have lived in Maine, based on the clues in the book. We talked about the different oceans. We talked about how Miss Rumphius probably lived more North, since there was snow on the roofs. We discussed the weather in different parts of the country. After that, Lily put together a Geo-Puzzle, and located the 5 oceans on a map.

We talked about the different far-away places that Miss Rumphius visited. We talked about where she may have tried the coconuts, and where she may have seen kangaroos. We talked about the deserts where Miss Rumphius rode a camel. Lily has actually ridden a camel before, and she thought it was funny that Miss Rumphius did, too. We got some coconut water at the store, and Lily tried it. She loved it! It is now her new favorite drink. 

One morning, I made Lily some oatmeal for breakfast, and we talked about how it is like the porridge that Miss Rumphius ate as a little girl. Lily wasn't too sure about the oatmeal. She decided that it was ok. I don't think she will be asking for it every day. 

We talked about how Miss Rumphius made the world more beautiful, and talked about ways that we could make the world more beautiful. Lily's Girl Scout troop had JUST gone on a field trip to clean trash up at a local park. Lily said that was one thing she could do.

We downloaded a unit from Teachers Pay Teachers, and there were a TON of great things in there. One of them was this little Earth, and a place to write down what we can do to make the world more beautiful.

The unit also had some great vocabulary and parts of speech activities. We worked on those while we listened to Calypso music. (Still going with the tropical island theme)

If you want to download the unit, it is here: Miss Rumphius Unit

We talked about Bushels and Pecks. I couldn't find  a bushel basket, so I tried to give Lily an idea of the sizes of bushels and pecks, but without the visual, I am not sure how much she got from that. 

We talked a LOT about seeds. We watched the Magic School Bus Goes to Seed, and Rock N Learn Life Science videos. We learned about photosynthesis, and the life cycle of a seed. We even planted seeds in a baggie and put it on the window so we could watch them sprout.

We downloaded another packet from Teachers Pay Teachers, and it had a TON of seed/plant activities in it.  You can find that one here: Seed Unit

We collected leaves and made Chlorophyll rubbings.

We also did an experiment to see how the plants absorb water and take it up to the leaves.

We talked about the different shapes of leaves, and how their shape determines how well they soak up energy from the sun. We did an experiment with hand positions to see which shape gets the most sun. 

For art, we branched off from what was in the manual. Lily goes to an art class weekly, and we decided to paint Lupines on some pots.

After we painted the pots, we decided to plant some Lupines in them. 

We talked about Miss Rumphius being a librarian, and about the Dewey Decimal System. We took a trip to the library to look a little further into that. We also needed to grab some books for our next row. :) 

We discussed how people used the sun to determine direction. We talked about the sun rising in the east and setting in the west. This led to a discussion of people using the sun to tell time, so we made a sun dial. It was fun, but it blew away not long after we got it outside. If you make one, make sure you weigh it down! 

Our last activity was to go out and find some Lupines! The Bluebonnet is the Texas state flower, and it happens to be a lupine! We read about lupines, and the Legend of the Bluebonnet. Then, we headed about an hour away to the bluebonnet fields. 

While we were in Brenham, we headed for the Blue Bell Creamery. That had absolutely nothing to do with the row, but-Ice cream! We HAD to go! We went upstairs to the observatory, and watched them make ice cream. The day we went, they were making strawberry, vanilla and rainbow sherbet. Lily wanted to try the rainbow sherbet. It was yummy!

And that was our row of Miss Rumphius! It was a fabulous couple of weeks. Lily had a lot of fun with it, and said she was having "Fun lupine days."  I'm still trying to decide on our next row. Too many choices! See you soon!