See How We Used the Gather Round Homeschool Europe Unit!

Ok, ya’ll. Here’s my third review of a Gather Round Homeschool Unit….Europe! If you’re new here, I also have a review for Space and Oceans where I share more about our history of using Gather Round and why we ended up choosing this curriculum. So if you’re interested in that, then go check it out, too. 🙂

Currently we are in the middle of our 8th Gather Round unit (9 if you count the Christmas mini) and are still loving how it works. I’m behind on getting them reviewed, but it’s definitely my plan to do a review of each so you can see how we go about these units and what can be done with them.

I hope it can be a help to you in some way!

Gather Round Homeschool: Europe Unit Review

What we did

PREP:

Before I start any unit I spend a little time doing the following:

Order student books from Barnes and Noble Press (more about this to come in another post)
Create a YouTube playlist to go along with different topics throughout the unit (find the one I made for this unit here!)
Check out books from the library
Buy any books/games/etc. that I want to use
Scope out potential field trips
Gather ideas for enrichment activities and/or projects (often from Pinterest!)

Remember, though, that one of the beautiful things about this curriculum (and homeschooling in general!) is that you can keep it super simple or add in whatever interests you and your kiddos. All that’s necessary for this unit is the Teacher’s Guide and Student Books. If you are a busy mom or dad that doesn’t have a ton of time to add in a bunch of extra things, that’s ok! Don’t let it discourage you from doing it!

EXTRA SUPPLIES/MATERIELS:

Our book haul! Many from the library, others I already had, and a couple I purchased. Make sure to read The Sinking of the Vasa, though. So interesting!

GATHER ROUND EUROPE UNIT ACTIVITIES:

We had an official tea party the week we learned about Great Britain!

FIELD TRIPS:

Now, of course, we would have thoroughly enjoyed traveling to Europe for this unit….but this is reality….lol. 😉

Now if you happen to live in Europe yourself…then I’m sure you can have an amazing time seeing some of the sights near you!

If you’re like us, though, and can’t do that, then there are lots of great videos you can watch to see things. Google maps street view is also fun to use to get some good perspective shots of certain monuments!

Also, see what you can find in your area. Find and try some European restaurants. Visit an art museum that has displays by European artists. If you’re in Florida, head over to Epcot at Disney World and check out the French, British, German, Italian, and Norway pavilions. Get creative! 🙂

RECIPES:

One of the things we do a lot throughout the Gather Round “Connecting Continent” units is cook. We make something for almost every country we study, whether it’s a snack, dinner, or dessert.

This is something that is absolutely not necessary for a fun and interesting study of Europe, but I enjoy cooking and baking and like to teach my girls some skills along the way. It’s also fun to try new recipes!

Here are the ones we made:

What we thought

We have loved the continent studies so far. Europe was our second one and I was highly anticipating it. It absolutely did not disappoint!

For anyone that thinks the only thing you learn about in this unit is European geography and fun facts then keep reading!

Of course, the girls did learn a lot about geography and flags but that was just the surface. We also discussed and looked at several landforms, landmarks, and animals. They were introduced to Galileo Galilei (whom they already knew from the Space Unit!), Dmitri Medeleev and the Periodic Table, Marie Curie, and Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion.

We talked about currency, inventions, missionaries, and learned how to write and send postcards for the writing project.

I know some people think Gather Round isn’t enough to use on it’s own, but I’m always personally impressed with the variety of topics and ideas that are taught and discussed in each unit. Various topics are touched on in multiple units so kids can keep adding to their knowledge base. It’s such a fun way to learn in my opinion. In fact, I’m learning a lot right along with them and it’s one of the things that makes me genuinely love homeschooling!

I would definitely recommend the Gather Round Homeschool Europe Unit for your homeschool! The possibilities are endless on what you can do and learn…it’s all up to you and how much or how little works for your family.

Whenever you plan on doing this unit, make sure to check out this post for some organized resources to help you plan. There are also resources for North American Birds, Asia, Space, Europe, Africa, Earth Science, North America, Human Body, South America, and Australia & Oceania.

Have you done the Europe Unit already? What kind of activities did you do? Did you find a cool place to visit? I’d love to know!

If you’d like to follow along with what we are doing currently in our homeschool, then make sure to hop over to Instagram and follow me there or use the QR Code below!