Gather Round Homeschool: Oceans - Organization for an Amazing Unit!

Oceans will be our sixth Gather Round Homeschool Unit, and we are most definitely looking forward to it! Living in Florida, I’m hoping to make the most of the resources we have all around us!

So far, we’ve completed North American Birds, Asia, Space, the Christmas mini-unit, and are currently in the middle of Europe. I’ve loved how much the topics circle back to things we’ve discussed in previous units. The creators have done a really good job with that, in my opinion!

If you are unfamiliar with this curriculum, be sure to check out this blog post that tells more about it!

EDIT: Since completing this unit, I’ve also added a review of what we ended up doing and how we liked it. Make sure to check that out, too!

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links. If you purchase through my link, you won’t pay a penny more, however I will receive a small percentage back. Thank you for helping support my blog in this way! With that said, I only recommend products that I personally love!

The Resources:

These “extras” are the things that I love about doing unit studies! It helps make the lessons even more immersive!

I’ve also found that our lessons go so much more smoothly when I have everything that I want to introduce to my kids all organized and ready to go. Sometimes we may not get to everything or even go down a different rabbit trail of learning, but it’s so helpful to have what I want readily available.

It can take a lot of time to get all of your ideas in one place, though. I know! My hope is that by having playlists and other resources all put together in one place, that it will speed your planning along. 🙂

My playlists are mostly geared toward upper elementary and under because that is where my kids are. There are lots of other videos/books/etc you could add if you have older kids as well.

While I’ve used these resources with my kids, I always recommend that you preview them before using with your kiddos to make sure it’s a good fit for your family.

Gather Round Homeschool: Oceans – YouTube Playlist

This is the playlist I plan to use with my own kiddos. The videos go in order from Lesson 1 – 20 to make your life easier! Use what you like, leave what you don’t, add what you need.

They can be used during the lesson, after the lesson, or anytime really! How they are used is entirely up to you.

Gather Round Homeschool: Oceans – Pinterest Board

Pinterest is such a fantastic way to gather ideas for crafts, projects, games and more! I’ve been a fan for a long time. Sometimes I use the ideas that I find directly and other times scrolling pinterest inspires ideas of my own.

This is yet another thing that takes a little time, so here is your shortcut!

This board has all the ideas that I saved for the Gather Round Homeschool Oceans Unit Study.

Gather Round Homeschool: Oceans – Book Lists and More!

Book List

Rebecca Spooner, the creator of Gather Round Homeschool, has an amazing book list in the front of every unit’s teacher’s guide. It’s even divided up by levels to make it easy! I am able to get most of the ones I want from our local library and then use Amazon and Thrift Books to get any that are remaining.

I’m also hoping to use a few additional books not on that list:

Big Book of the Blue – by Yuval Zommer

See Inside Oceans (An Usborne Flap Book) – by Emily Bone

The Ocean Book: Explore the Hidden Depth of Our Blue Planet – by Lonely Planet Kids

Usborne 1001 Things to Spot in the Sea – by Katie Daynes

A must for if you have any hidden picture lovers like I do!

Usborne Lift-the-Flap: Sharks – by Phil Clarke

Secrets of the Seashore (A Shine-A-Light Book) – by Carron Brown (These have always been fun for my kids.)

This is Crab – by Harriet Evans (I already own this one and it’s super cute! My pre-schooler loves it!)

Shows and Movies

Here are some great choices for added entertainment that can further reinforce your ocean theme! Many can be found on various streaming platforms and, of course, on DVD. Sometimes your local library even has DVDs for check out, so don’t forget about that option!

Wild Kratts (PBS Kids and Amazon Prime)
- The Gather Round Homeschool Oceans Teacher’s Guide lists these episodes after the book list!
Magic School Bus (Netflix)
- “Goes to Mussel Beach” – Season 4 (Tidal Zones)
- “Takes a Dive” – Season 4 (Coral Reefs)
Magic School Bus Rides Again (Netflix)
- “In the Swim” – Season 1 (Fish Adaptations)
- “DA and the Deep Blue Sea” – Season 1 (Ocean Zones)
The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That (PBS Kids, Netflix, Amazon Prime)
- “Whale Music” – Season 1,
- “Reef Magic” – Season 1 (Distraction Techniques of Sea Creatures)
- “Digging the Deep” – Season 1 (Ocean Layers)
- “King Cecil the Seahorse” – Season 1 (Male Seahorses)
- “Manatees and Mermaids” – Season 2,
- “How Cool is Coral?” – Season 2 (Coral Reefs)
- “Anything You Can Do” – Season 2 (Mimic Octopus’s Ability to Imitate)
- “Fishy Washy” – Season 2 (The Cleaner Fish)
Curious George (PBS Kids and Amazon Prime)
- “Curious George, Sea Monkey” – Season 2 (Coral Reefs)
- “Here Comes the Tide” – Season 6
- “Submonkey” – Season 9 (Ocean Currents)
- “Four Hands, Eight Arms” – Season 10
Octonauts (Netflix…and they are great! My kids love this show.)
Octonauts and the Great Barrier Reef
Octonauts and the Ring of Fire
The Deep (Netflix Series….another fave of my kids. I can get into this one myself!)
Bubble Guppies
Disney Nature: Oceans
The Little Mermaid 1 & 2
Finding Nemo (mentioned in Teacher’s Guide!)
Finding Dory
Moana
Shark Tale
A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventure
Deep
The Reef
Dolphin Tale 1 & 2
- Bonus: If you’re in Florida, visit Clearwater Marine Aquarium and see Winter the Dolphin!
Free Willy
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Big Miracle (Older Kids)
Jaws
Moby Dick
Disney Nature: Diving with Dolphins (Disney +)
And TONS of ocean documentaries on a variety of streaming platforms!

I hope that these pre-planned resources help save you time in your unit study planning! Enjoy!

Make sure to check out my resource pages for other Gather Round Homeschool units:

If you want to see how what we did for some of these units and what we thought then don’t miss these reviews!

To take the ocean theme even farther, consider using these ocean themed morning menu calendar pages during your morning basket! They are a cute and fun way to reinforce calendar skills, teach basic like name, address, phone number, and more.

There’s also an extension pack with poems, scripture, and songs focused on this theme for memorization and/or recitation!

If you’re a fan of unit studies and thematic units, I also have non-gather round resources available in the “Thematic Units” section! I’m always working to add more as time allows around my own homeschooling adventures. 🙂

What are some of the activities you’ve done or are planning to do with this unit? I’d love to know! Please share in the comments below!

Happy Planning!