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A Day in the Life of New Hampshire Timberdoodlers

By Karla
In A Day in the Life
3 Min Read
A

My name is Lauren. I’m a mother of 3. My husband works nights, so we have an unusual schedule. We have a 4 1/2 year old boy, who loves to learn, and loves to talk. We also have a 2 1/2 year old girl, who loves to be girly and dress up, and also loves to fight her older brother. Both of them love to hug and kiss their new brother who is almost 2 months old. We live in New Hampshire.

Our Morning:

My oldest is always the first one up, he comes and wakes me up when his clock turns green, at 7:00. Then we go find breakfast and wait for Sister to wake up. I feed the baby. We close Dad’s door, so he can sleep in.

The kids and I watch a show while we eat breakfast.

Then we sit down at the table and work on some school. We love the kits Timberdoodle has put together. We get the paper work and workbooks done as quick as we can and use the games and toys and Legos as rewards for getting the boring stuff done. All the while hoping the baby is peaceful enough to let us finish.

After that, we start making lunch. We eat our big meal at lunch time, so we can have a nice family meal every day, because that is when Dad is home.

The kids wake Dad up, and we tell him about our day.

Our Afternoon:

After lunch is over the kids nap. Mom and Dad get to spend some time together before Dad goes to work.

When the kids wake up we try to clean the house a little bit and do some laundry.

Sometimes Grandma will come over and play. Sometimes we will go for a walk. And sometimes we go to the grocery store.

Today we just played more with our school toys and built some monsters. The kids ran around and chased each other, while Mom tried to get the baby to sleep a little because he was grouchy.

Our Evening:

For dinner today we had turkey sandwiches and oranges.

Then, since it cooled down outside, we went out to play in the new sandbox that Grandma and Grandpa bought for the kids.

After that it was definitely bath time. We had to wash our hair twice to get all the same out of it.

In order to relax we watched a show and enjoyed some cuddles on the couch. Then it was off to bed.

I get to stay up with the baby for one more feeding. I’ll put him to bed, and hope that he sleeps 8 hours again like he did last night.

Dad will come home around 1:00 in the morning so I get to watch whatever I want on Netflix while I’m cuddling the baby.

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A Day in the Life of Colorado Timberdoodlers

By Karla
In A Day in the Life
3 Min Read
A

Hi! We are the Muller family from Colorado! I am Lacee a homeschooling mom to Cash, 6 and Vida, 2. Dad, Nate, is a firefighter and on his off days we work together to run a family window coverings and home decor business. We are always about knee deep in projects of our own around the home and full of dreams. We walk by faith and run on Starbucks!

Our Morning:

A typical morning around here begins with our up-with-the-sun big one, Cash. Every day since forever, he has been up at 6:00 am. No clock necessary… bright-eyed and ready for the world. Cash typically makes his bed, dresses himself while I get ready for the day and then I follow Cash downstairs, and begin a load of laundry on my way to the kitchen.

We make breakfast and Cash helps to unload the dishwasher.

Once breakfast is complete our little ball of fire, Vida is ready to tackle the day and is waking. We go to get Vida, change her clothes and head to breakfast.

After breakfast, we sweep the floor and head to Starbucks … a short distance from our home. Sometimes during our drive Cash likes to visit our local airport and check out the sights.

We head home and, in the summer, hit the trails for a good walk and follow that with tending to and watering our garden with some outside play.

During school times we gather for reading time and do some daily chores around the house. We switch loads of laundry and get lunch started by 11:30.

Our Afternoon:

We make lunch together or the kiddos are playing while I make lunch. If Dad is home he is a particularly good lunch maker :).

While eating we dive into the Bible for whichever study and or lesson we are doing at the time.

Lunch ends and Vida heads up for her nap.

I pick up and sweep the kitchen and tackle a few more quick chores and Cash and I head out for some yard work and play during the summer months.

During our school time, he and I would enjoy an afternoon of school.

This last school season we used BJU Bible Truths, Spelling You See, Saxon Math, Heritage Studies and Geography Unit Studies, Spanish, and Storytime Treasures. There are usually snacks involved here. 🙂

Vida wakes around 3:30 or 4:00 and we get her and have a healthy snack together.

We then head upstairs to finish some of the laundry and upstairs chores during the heat of the day.

We may then head outside to play until dinner.

Our Evening:

Dinner is most often by 6:00 and we follow with bath time and bed time. 7:00 for Vida and 7:30 for Cash.

If Dad is home, he handles the bath and bedtime and I clean up the kitchen and start the dishwasher so we are prepared for another day.

I read or enjoy time with Nate and we head to bed embarrassingly early.

Just for Fun:

During the school season Cash is involved in a home school PE group on Tuesday afternoons.

I also volunteer at our local CHEC office once a week.

Our daily routine is fairly solid and we try to work in only minimal outside activities to ensure we are doing our best to keep everyone healthy and well rested.

Follow Us on Social Media:

@lacemuller

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A Day in the Life of Arizona Timberdoodlers

By Karla
In A Day in the Life
3 Min Read
A

Hi! My name is Tina and I am a homeschooling mom. My husband Dan is a Pediatric Neurology Nurse Practitioner and a Doctoral of Nursing Practice Professor at ASU. We have 4 children. Madison – age 16, Nolan – age 13, Kaitlin – age 7, and Cal – age 5.

Madison loves learning new languages, singing and playing volleyball.

Nolan was recently awarded his black belt in karate, loves being creative and playing sports.

Kaitlin is our singing, dancing, acting, drama child who is full of spunk and joy.

Cal is just getting into playing sports and he loves painting and crafting.

Our family as a whole loves to venture out on long road trips, camp, sightsee and visit as many presidential libraries as we can!

Our Morning:

We are not early risers, so most morning our day starts around 8:30 am. Cal is usually up first and gets the day rolling with a yelling wake call. “It’s morning!”

Mom makes breakfast or else all the kids get their own cereal.

School starts at the same time as breakfast because we start our mornings with Bible class first thing.

We have a curriculum that is completely hand picked by Mom and Dad. We use Apologia, Math U See, critical thinking books, games, Rosetta Stone, and many others. We love the books and games we have gotten from Timberdoodle. They are always easy to follow and keep our family’s attention.

Mom usually needs help with chores so we have a family chore jar. Each day we blindly pick out a chore and then get paid the amount listed on the back. They are color coded to be age appropriate. It works great for us!

Our Afternoon:

Once we finish up our main studies, it’s time for lunch. This is usually about 12:15-ish. We eat lots of sandwiches and fruit around here. We have a budget that we stick to every month and so we joke that meal times are like a puzzle we have to solve.

Our afternoons are usually filled with fun activities because our school is finished in the mornings (besides teenagers having “homework” in the evenings).

Around 3:00 we head out for activities, running around and dropping everyone either here or there.

If it’s a free day we usually get together with other neighborhood families and go for bike rides, swim, play games or barbecue.

Our Evening:

Dinner responsibilities are shared by Mom, Dad and Madison. Our favorite meal as a family is tacos. We all love tacos.

Sunday nights are family game night. I would have to say that is the highlight of the week. Relaxing, fun down time to unwind and catch up from a busy week of work and fun.

At night the littles go to bed about 8:00 pm after story time, Nolan around 9:00 pm after his time with Mom and Dad, and then Madison at 10:00 pm. This makes it so that all our age groups get our undivided attention at least once during a busy chaotic, fun filled, learning day.

Just for Fun:

We have a lot of outside activities that we are involved in as well. Basketball, baseball, softball, dance, gymnastics, church youth group, women’s bible study, choir and Mondays we go to a homeschool school in Mesa, Arizona. Our activities don’t mess up our daily routine because Mom always makes sure our activities are in the afternoons so that mornings are dedicated to school.

Follow My  Blog:

My Penned Heart

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A Day in Your Life

By Karla
In Current News
2 Min Read
A

How was your day today?

We all want to know! Who made what for meals? Did you follow a daily routine, or does your family thrive on spontaneity? Where do you do school work? We’re collecting “A Day in the Life Of…” entries to add to our blog over the next year and will be posting as many as our schedule allows.

Everyone wins prizes!

Share your stories, add your pictures, and you’ll be entered to win a $250 Timberdoodle Gift Certificate via a drawing. Every family that enters a qualified* survey is automatically awarded 100 Doodle Dollar reward points, equal to $5 off your next order. Plus, your story will inspire families around the world to look at school in a fresh new light.

The kids could do this!

Don’t have time to enter? We’d love to hear your child’s perspective! Just make sure you approve the final submission, including pictures. We will be using these on our blog etc. so you’ll want to share only those things you’re comfortable having be public. (If you’re a writing family, know that we’d love as many perspectives as your household would like to share. Reward points are earned once per family, but each child’s submission is an entry for the $250 gift certificate.)

Enter now, ends next week.

All entries must be received by Wednesday, June 28th, at midnight PDT. The winner of the $250 gift certificate will be selected at random from among all eligible entries and announced on Thursday, June 29th, at noon PDT.

*A qualified entry provides detailed information in each section of the survey and at least one interesting picture. We can’t wait to hear about your day!

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You’re Invited: Blog for Timberdoodle in 2017-2018!

By Joy D.
In Timberdoodle
3 Min Read
Y

Have you ever wondered what it would take to blog for Timberdoodle? Or why exactly people do it? Then this is the blog post for you!

Benefits to reviewing for Timberdoodle:

  1. Be part of a team of bloggers to learn and grow.
    Members of our blog team will be invited to join a closed Facebook group for the purpose of networking with other bloggers. We can share tips and ideas as well as cross-promote one another’s blogs.
  2. Free product
    As items are available for review we will let you know via the Facebook group, then choose a blogger from among those of you who offer to review the item. You’ll never be sent an item you didn’t request. (Review products will be individual items not full curriculum kits.)
  3. Get promoted
    Your review posts will be cross-promoted on the Timberdoodle blog, Timberdoodle’s Facebook page, and Timberdoodle’s Pinterest boards. Links to your posts will also be shared with the publisher or vendor and sometimes they even cross-promote them. This is a great way to drive traffic to your blog.

Please note that being added to the team does not guarantee that you will be chosen for a specific number of reviews.
We anticipate having a handful of review items available every few weeks through the summer.

What we expect from our bloggers:

  1. Respond to emails in a timely manner.
    We won’t be nagging you, but if you have an item out for review we need to be able to contact you.
  2. Let us know when you will post your review.
    Life happens. We understand that. You may need to reschedule a review. No problem! Just be sure to let us know.
  3. Post a review of every item received even if it turns out to not be a good fit.
    We want honest reviews, not necessarily positive reviews. Of course, we would expect you to be gracious. You can say something like, “While this wasn’t a good fit for my family, it might work well for yours.”
  4. When mentioning the product, please use the coded link we provide so we can track the traffic your post brings to our site.
  5. When mentioning the product, only link to Timberdoodle, even if you mention the product in a non-review post later.
    Sometimes the products we carry are available at Amazon, and a lot of bloggers use Amazon affiliate links to help monetize their blogs. We understand that. However, if we have provided the product to you for free we would expect that you will help promote our site, not Amazon’s, for that particular product.

How to increase your likelihood of being chosen for review products:

  • Fulfill the above expectations.
  • Have great pictures. Show your children using the product. (You could show their hands or the backs of their heads if you are concerned about privacy.)
  • Share links to your review on social media.
  • Participate in the Facebook group by helping cross-promote others’ blog posts on social media.

Would you like to join us?

Just fill out the short application here and we’d be thrilled to consider you for the team. This year Timberdoodle has an open blog team, meaning new bloggers may be added to the team all year long. If you are chosen for the team you’ll receive an email from us with details, including how to join the official Facebook Group. We look forward to working with you!

Regrettably, due to the cost of international shipping, we will need to limit our team to those with US mailing addresses. Thank you for understanding.

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Homeschool Curriculum Summit

By Karla
In Conferences, Current News, Timberdoodle
3 Min Read
H

Hope and Grace are two of the original Timberdoodlers! Only toddlers when Timberdoodle launched, they have grown up in the company and have much to share with you. We are confident that you will find their interview helpful and encouraging.

We are pleased to be featured speakers at the Homeschool Curriculum Summit, a free event hosted online May 3-10. Our featured video, where we dialogue with hosts Todd and Jessie in a session titled “Hands-On Learning: How It Can Enhance A Child’s Education” launched on Tuesday, May 9th at 2:00 pm CST. If you missed it, you can still access it for free until the end of tomorrow, Wednesday the 10th. You can register now at www.HomeschoolSummits.com.

FYI, if you decide to upgrade to an “all-access pass” to better fit your schedule this becomes our affiliate link – so feel free to share!

But first, here’s a little about the purpose and the perks of the event.

The Homeschool Curriculum Summit team’s purpose is to bring Christian families the resources and encouragement they need to homeschool with confidence and pass on the faith to their children.

Where does that confidence come from? It’s a promise found throughout Scripture for those who build on the foundation of God’s truth; in Psalm 1, we read that “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord…. In all that he does, he prospers.” When families begin their home education journey by centering it on Christ and His Word, they can have assurance that their investment will last into eternity.

The Homeschool Curriculum Summit brings that truth right down to the basics of how to decide which curriculum to use. Attendees will learn to evaluate curriculum options from a Christian worldview, identify the right fit for every subject, for every child, and therefore – homeschool with confidence built on the foundation of God’s truth.

All of the video interviews with speakers (like myself) bring a Christ-centered focus to these topics:

  • Math
  • Science
  • Language Arts
  • History & Social Studies
  • Finding the Right Tools for You

Sign up now to learn how to choose your educational tools with wisdom and a biblical perspective, so that you can have confidence in the Lord as you raise up the next generation of Christians.

We sincerely hope you will join us!

Learn more and register for free (for a limited time only!) at www.HomeschoolSummits.com.

Great news! Timberdoodle’s coupon has now been extended until midnight on Friday, May 12th, PDT. For complete details, register (free!) and visit Timberdoodle in the virtual vendor hall.

For those of you who have been asking, Custom Curriculum Kits apply, as long as they are of equal or greater value than the Complete Level Kit (for the $25 Gift Certificate) or the Elite Level Kit (for the $50 Gift Certificate) of the same grade level. Charter School/Secular Kits are also eligible.

 

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Doodle Timberdoodle’s 2017 Catalog!

By Joy D.
In Timberdoodle News
3 Min Read
D

Would you like your family’s artistry featured in a Timberdoodle catalog? Or perhaps you’re more interested in winning one of the 3 amazing prizes or taking up to $5 off your next Timberdoodle order?

We’re collecting doodles for consideration in our 2017 Curriculum Catalog and Curriculum Handbooks, and we would love to consider your doodles! Entries of all skill levels are welcome; we find the toddler’s “bug” as appealing as the teenager’s B-17 or Dad’s beehive.

If you or your child aren’t sure where to start, take a look at this PDF packed with suggestions!

To Enter:

1. Doodle
Use a black marker for the best results. We are looking for simple graphics which can be printed easily, so a fine-point pen or pencil is not advisable. No color please; for best print quality we need to start with simple black & white sketches.

2. Label it
Include the name of each doodle, as well as the artist’s name and age; this may be included on the same page as the doodle or in your email entry. (Parents, your doodles are welcome too, and no age is required! Do feel free to add in Mom of 7, Homeschool Dad, Lawyer, New Homeschooler…)

3. Please Doodle Anything!
The ideas provided are just to jump-start your creativity. We look forward to seeing what you come up with!

4. Send Us Your Entries
Take a picture of the doodle or scan it for us and send it to doodles@timberdoodle.com or enter using this form. (Do take a moment to be sure the art is in focus and the light is bright enough for us to see it. Every year we have a few that are too dark or blurry to use.)

That’s all there is to it!

5. Each doodle will be entered in a drawing to win:
$125 Timberdoodle Gift Certificate (1st Winner)
$75 Timberdoodle Gift Certificate (2nd Winner)
$50 Timberdoodle Gift Certificate (3rd Winner)

There are no limits on how many doodles your family can enter, so doodle away!

Contest closes Tuesday, February 28th, at midnight PST.

Details
All entered works of art become the property of Timberdoodle and will be used at our discretion, including being considered for the 2017 Timberdoodle Curriculum Catalog and Handbooks.

Artistically gifted or not, your creative designs are very much appreciated! Of course any unmistakably slipshod work or careless scribbles will not be awarded points or entered to win the amazing prizes. And I’m sure it won’t surprise you to learn that ALL entries must be family friendly!

We will credit your family’s Timberdoodle.com account 20 Doodle Dollar Reward Points for each qualified doodle, up to $5 worth (100 points) per family. These points do not expire and may be redeemed on any future online order.

Looking for ideas? Check out our PDF of ideas:

How Your Doodles Are Processed:


First we ooh and aaah over the original doodle.

Next we clean up the doodle and convert it to bitmap for easy insertion into the catalog.

Now it is ready to use in whatever format we may need. Subtle accent? Colorful hero? Ad copy? Catalog page? We find ourselves reaching for your doodles for all these options and more!

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The Damaged Sale Catastrophe – We’re Sorry!

By Joy D.
In Timberdoodle News
3 Min Read
T

Dear Friends,

We are SO sorry for the nightmare on our website this morning! Seriously.

Here’s what happened: When our sale launched this morning, we were overwhelmed with the response and received an unprecedented spike in our traffic. We anticipated some slowing but expected our host to keep it running like last year. Instead, they set a limit for our site, kicking a third of you off immediately and sending the other two-thirds of you into crawling speed. They did not contact us at that point, and it took us a while to figure out what happened. (Our own connections initially appeared unaffected.)

By the time we were able to get them on the phone and determine what had happened, enough of you had (understandably!) given up and left, so that those of you who were persistent were able to finally complete your orders.

Meanwhile, items were continuing to sell out rapidly as those of you who were still on the site were able to drag yourselves through check out. Of course that meant that those of you who waited your turn to shop finally arrived to find the sale shelves relatively bare.

We’re SO sorry!

Next year we will be discussing this sale with our host before launch and ensuring that they are fully prepared to handle ALL of you without crashing.

While we have already sold through many of the damaged items, we would love to at least offer you a discount off of purchases you’ve been waiting to place. So, for example, even if we are sold out of damaged copies of Mystery of History, you can still pick up a perfectly new copy for a discounted price. We hope this takes a little of the sting out of your experience today. (Please note, damaged and closeout items, curriculum kits, and manufacturer-excluded items such as Teaching Textbooks and Rosetta Stone will not be discounted further.) This discount is already live on our website now, and all orders placed between 7AM this morning and noon tomorrow (12:00 noon 2/14/17 PST) will qualify for the discount. If you already ordered, just contact us and we will be thrilled to issue you the appropriate refund. As a side-note, we cannot recall the last time in Timberdoodle history that we have offered such a global sale.

You guys alerted us to the problems first, and bore with us while we worked through them. Over and over again today we’ve been impressed by our kind and caring customers/friends. Thank you so much! And let’s never meet like this again!

Joy for the Timberdoodle Team

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What Do Your Family Devotions Really Look Like?

By Joy D.
In Bible, God and Homeschooling, Timberdoodle News
2 Min Read
W

As a foster family with little ones 1-4 years old, devotion time has radically changed from previous years, when we were a family of grown ups!

Our morning devotion routine starts with gathering the family and getting the little ones seated quietly on the couch. Honestly, this is probably the most difficult part! Some mornings are finally almost effortless, but some mornings way more time is spent on obedience than on devotions. Not to worry, this is both normal and extraordinarily valuable for the children. In fact, the toddlers probably benefit more from that training than from the actual contents of devotion time.

Once everyone is seated, we briefly review yesterday’s lesson and read a new page from Everything a Child Should Know About God. We’re loving this book for our current little ones as it covers the basics in a paragraph or two every day. Perfect for tiny attention spans!

We then do our memory verse of the week. Right now we’re using Foundation Fighter Verses to help us select meaningful texts, and we’re setting every verse to ASL sign. We’re all learning and signing it together, keeping everyone engaged.

Finally, we end with a simple song, again with sign language. On occasion we’ve found a youtube video showing other kids singing and signing and that’s always a bonus. But we’ve found that just learning it together works well also, and gives us a much broader selection of songs to pick from.

All told, this is probably a 5-10 minute process. While more could be added (I’m eager to add more catechism components as one of our kids loves those) we’re very excited to see our little ones learning the story line and theology of the Bible in a way that they enjoy.

In the evening we watch another chapter from The Jesus Storybook Bible DVDs together just before tucking them in for the night. Much of it goes over their heads but it is a wonderful way to end the day for all of us.

How about your family? What is your routine? Any tips for families new to devotion time?

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May We Quote Your Child?

By Karla
In Timberdoodle News
3 Min Read
M

Wouldn’t you love to know what actual students thought of Timberdoodle’s products? We would too! Have your child fill out the following survey and he or she will be entered to win a $150 Timberdoodle Gift Certificate. What will he buy? The long-desired robot kit? An art kit worth framing? We’ll also add a special prize for him or her in your next order – think Extreme Dot-to-Dot book, Max Axiom Graphic Novel, or Pizza Pirates Create Your Own Adventure book! Order must be placed within six weeks to redeem this prize. Perhaps best of all, these reviews still qualify for your typical Doodle Dollar reward points!

Enter Now!
Giveaway ends Friday, January 20th, 2017 at noon PST. Reviews are appreciated any time, but if you’d like to win a prize, start reviewing now!

Can Parents Review Too?
Absolutely! However, the extra prizes are for the kids only. Your review will still receive Doodle Dollar reward points and our unending appreciation though!

Eligible Reviews
An eligible review is of a current Timberdoodle item purchased here and includes enough information to be helpful for someone considering this item.

My Child Can’t Write Yet!
No problem. Just have him dictate his review to you and send it our way. (And yes, we will totally understand if you fine-tune his answers for readability.)

How Many Entries May We Have?
Submit as many unique reviews as you like! You may also choose to add a photo for an extra entry, doubling your chance at prizes.

What About Reward Points?
Every unique, qualified review will also receive the usual Doodle Dollar reward points. That’s 20-50 points, or $1-$2.50 off your next order, for each item reviewed! (If multiple family members review the same item, each child will receive an entry but only one will receive reward points.)

We Didn’t Like Everything
As much as we love positive reviews, we love honest ones better – no review will be disqualified for being negative! (As long as it is civil.)

I Don’t Want to Share My Child’s Name
We want you to do what you are most comfortable with for your child’s security. Some families may wish to use their child’s middle name or nickname rather than a first name. Please make the choice that’s best for your family.

I Didn’t Buy It From You
Only reviews of items you purchased from Timberdoodle qualify for prizes and points, but we always enjoy hearing your thoughts, so still feel free to share away!

Fill out the survey here!

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