DoodleBlog

As is often the case when we encounter homeschoolers or other families experiencing suffering or hardship, be it the endless responsibility of caring for special needs children, suffering sickness, or any other kind of heavy burden, we often find it difficult to know how best to help the afflicted family.

If you have also wrestled with what are appropriate and helpful ways to assist these families in times of need, take a look at John Knight’s blog. Under the “Helpful Things” category is an increasing resource of different ways his church has specifically been a help to him and his wife with their special needs son and his wife’s cancer.

Very helpful, especially since it comes from the heart of someone who has experienced both suffering and the comfort of friends.

Because we were unable to post here during our travels last week, we thought some of you might enjoy seeing a quick glimpse of our adventures.

Almost there!

The Las Vegas Convention Center was HUGE. Of course we got lost.

A friendly panda at one of the booths that waved just after I shot this photo.

Golf carts that taxied attendees around the show. Yes, it was that huge!

Some scenery we Washingtonians enjoyed:

A thunder and lightning storm in action!

Layers

More layers

Trees with red (!) bark

At the Grand Canyon:

Hikers below us, braver than we.

A spotted squirrel

Fossils

The river far below!

Happy hikers

On our way home:

The 7th annual ABC Kid’s Expo starts next week, and we are attending to find all the latest and greatest baby products you need to homeschool your baby.

With two extra car keys made, new windshield wipers installed, oil changed, car parts replaced, (from the vagueness of this description you can probably tell that it is a lady writing this post…) routes mapped, fuel tanks filled, and animal care and feed lined up, we are nearing the end of preparation and beginning of a week filled with new homeschooling products, new experiences, new places, and lots of driving.

We’ll try to take pictures of our week away and post them here along the way, looking forward to all that is coming up!

While we often discuss and analyze learning styles during our child’s first few years of homeschooling, we often think less frequently about learning style differences for the older learner.

If this has been true for your family, you may find College Plus’ article on learning styles, written by Melody Dornink, especially helpful. Written to assist the college-aged student, Melody gives a concise and helpful summary of six different learning styles and how each style’s strengths will most likely portray itself.

Read the entire article here.

Dear Friends,

When we embarked on our homeschooling adventure over twenty-five years ago, we knew we wanted to invest in products that would stand the test of time, not only for our burgeoning family, but also perhaps for the generation to come. We didn’t even consider that the next generation to employ these products would be the generation that preceded us.

Six weeks ago, Dan’s eighty-eight-year-old dad suffered a stroke following minor surgery. After he was stabilized, he was transferred to an excellent rehabilitation center for follow-up treatment. As a family, we were privileged to sit in on a number of his therapy sessions and found it a great relief to see that much of this specialized care is nothing more than homeschooling for the elderly. The tools they use are the same or similar to what we used with our children, and the program is indistinguishable from what we have utilized for over twenty years.

Just like we have done for our children from the time they could crawl to the day they graduated from home school, these therapists determined what goals would be appropriate for Byron and then used his natural interests to make the work involved as palatable as possible. In one instance they used a golf club, tennis ball, and therapy dog to strengthen Byron’s weak side, which was much more fun than just lifting weights!

As we watched the therapists begin re-teaching Byron to read and write, saw them probing different options for speech development, and observed them working with him to regain both gross- and fine-motor skills, our minds raced. With our tools, experience, and great love for Byron, we feel well-prepared for this place to which God has brought our family. Over the years, Byron, a former public school teacher and principal, has progressed from tolerating homeschooling to being a faithful supporter of it. I’m sure he never dreamed that one day he would become a homeschool student himself.

Byron is home now and has made tremendous physical gains. To address the lingering mental and language difficulties, we have already deployed favorites such as Mighty Mind, Wedgits and Geopuzzles. Recently we added Rosetta Stone English to our routine and are excited to see how well it is working for him.

Is there someone in your own family or church that has suffered a stroke? If so, dust off your home school supplies and employ them with a whole new generation; you will be blessed beyond measure!

Enjoying Timberdoodle products in a whole new way,

Dan and Deb, Joy, Hope, Grace, Abel and Pearl

1) New catalog launch date – tentatively sending it to the printers the end of September.
2) ABC Kid’s Expo in 7 days, some of the Timberdoodle ladies are attending.
3) Delegating ABC Kid’s Expo attendees’ jobs for while they are gone.
4) Need pictures of new products for the new catalog
5) Contact the printer to set up print date and order catalog paper.
6) Check to see if the sequel to Jotham’s Journey is back in print yet, to carry in time for Advent.
7) And… much more!

“The sure mark of an unliterary man is that he considers ‘I’ve read it already’ to be a conclusive argument against reading a work. We have all known women who remembered a novel so dimly that they had to stand for half an hour in the library skimming through it before they were certain they had once read it. But the moment they became certain, they rejected it immediately. It was for them dead, like a burnt-out match, an old railway ticket, or yesterday’s paper; they had already used it. Those who read great works, on the other hand, will read the same work ten, twenty or thirty times during the course of their life.”

—C.S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism (Cambridge, 1961), p. 2

HT:Miscellanies. A Cross-centered blog

Photo by (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) # viewed at Boston.com’s BigPicture

Have you talked yet with your young homeschoolers about the dangers of playing with fire? Authorities have just determined that the California Station Fire was caused by arson!

Now is a great time to discuss the ramifications of careless use of fire with your homeschoolers!

Here are some phenomenal pictures of the current California fire, the Station Fire.

Whether or not you would choose to have your young daughter compete on America’s Got Talent, you will likely be able to appreciate the innocence of Kaitlyn Maher and enjoy her sweet spirit.

Why does Kaitlyn sing? She says, “It glorifies God and it makes people happy.”

According to the Washington Post, “Kaitlyn, who is home-schooled, has always been bright. She reads at the fourth-grade level, and loves playing math and spelling games with her mom.”

Nine different pictures of vibrantly colored Ice Jellies posted on BBC’s website, don’t let your homeschooled children miss out on seeing these marvelous creations!

My favorite is the large colonial physonect siphonophore Marrus orthocanna! Say that 5 times fast….say that at all….