Hi!
My kids are in college now so I am “done” homeschooling but every year I get to work in a wonderful Christian orphanage in Zambia Africa, 20 kids now and building for 100! last year I observed how they had ZERO educational toys and games, so I sent them the Circuits kit in October (along with the Drafting program, but alas I forgot to take a picture!) and when I stayed with them in June they showed me how much they LOVED it by being able to do ANY cool experiment in any section I chose!

I’d say, “Show me # 312!!!” and they all joined in to show me how it worked!

As you can see, I also brought with me in June the GeoPuzzles and found the teens POURING over them for hours with me! We used the Africa one as a review of their capital cities of each of the countries as well as just to LOCATE some of the countries in Africa that they were unfamiliar with! And they got to see HANDS ON where I live in the US.

It was a wonderful time and Timberdoodle was a GREAT tool and blessing to them! So I am hooked! I will definitely want to bring more of your items back with me next May or June when we return, Lord willing. But I wondered if you could use these photos or could provide donations or discounts for more great things! Thought you might like to see how far reaching Timberdoodle’s great resources really went this summer! Thank you for all the years of reviewing the products for us and for this particular opportunity it gave me to bless 20 orphans in Zambia!
Blessings,
Maureen Mattiello,
Michigan

For those of you curious about our answer, we told her we would also love to be a part of blessing the kids, and we’ll work with her on that when she gets ready to return! Have you used Timberdoodle products in a unique adventure like this? We’d absolutely love to hear about it!

Reprinted from a Timberdoodle Catalog
How you spend your money reveals so much about you. Do you buy what you want or what you need? Do you scrimp on others but indulge yourself? Conversely, do you buy lavishly for others and only the dregs for yourself? Do you eat out often while paying the minimum on your credit card? Do you have a plan for getting out of debt? Well, maybe these questions are too personal, but your children are silent witnesses to your spending habits.

What is the take-home message they are receiving? Larry Burkett maintains that each one of us is living on a budget, however for many people, that budget is not a thought-out planned one. For the sake of your children and grandchildren, it is imperative that you take control of your spending habits. Once you feel your own spending method is sound, your work is not over until you have taught your children how to handle their money. We recommend that when feasible you allow your children to work and earn their own money; however, not with the goal they can spend it on their own wanton pleasures. Instead, the more they earn, the more of your support you should withdraw.

In our family, here is how it works. Each child works up to 20 hours a week for the Timberdoodle. Their jobs vary from rest-room maintenance, preparing stickers, sweeping, and garbage detail, to catalog mailings, alphabetizing checks, and even some computer work. For this they are paid slightly over minimum wage. Of this amount, three quarters is allocated to a special fund, and the other quarter is theirs to budget. They are responsible for tithing, and purchasing all their own clothes, gifts, magazine subscriptions, and special interest items. We still provide room and board, and all medical costs not associated with foolishness. Even if your children do not have access to a home-based business, it is significant that they earn their own money. How about hiring them to do the extra jobs around your home? Maybe they could shampoo your carpets, chop kindling, clean the rain gutters, or do a neighbor’s weeding.

The plus to this system is that our children have become shrewd buyers. A hole in their shoe that used to cause them great concern, now is tolerated for many months. Thrift shop clothes are a blessing and hand-me-downs are prized jewels! Last year they scrimped on their clothes and invested the bulk of their year’s wages in fruit and nut trees and berry bushes. In a few years they hope to sell produce and reinvest their money. They only purchase gifts after much pondering, and gifts received are greatly appreciated.

Because it is their money, there are still the bad investments. There is the bag of peanuts that a mouse enjoyed more than they did. There is also a pretty non-returnable outfit that was bought without much thought about size. A sibling enjoyed it, and that child now pays much more attention to detail!

How does a home teaching mom also find time to participate in a home business? More importantly, why?! Let me answer the why first.

We do it not only to give our children real life skills, and to bolster confidence, but also to develop character. Our experience has shown that if our children are spending 2-3 hours a day in required schoolwork and 1-3 hours a day in required household chores, then apart from meals and other family times, our children would have anywhere from 5-8 hours of free time. While I won’t argue the educational merits of free play, I will say that we have noticed over time that too much liberty leads to a self indulgent attitude. It particularly grieves us to see teens with idle time. What a hazard in these end times! If our children are given an extended dose of free play, we see that when they are asked to do something out of the norm, they balk about giving up what they consider their rightfully earned liberty. They also tend to be more selfish in their play, more given to inappropriate behavior, and certainly more quarrelsome.

Does all this iniquity suddenly disappear with a home business? Of course not! However, by minimizing the unlimited time to cater to one’s sin nature, we have seen positive results.

So now that you can see why we do it, here is how we do it. Again, the name of the game is delegation.

I can remember watching war movies as a child and chafing whenever I saw a general and his top men going over strategy in a tent, far removed from the danger that the common men were facing. “How wrong!,” I thought. But now, as a mom and second-in-command, I can see the wisdom in that system. If the general had been in the trenches with his men, he would be unaware of the overall picture and may have won the battle, but lost the war.

Likewise, in the running of our home-based business, if we are sidetracked into jobs that others could be doing, we begin to lose ground fast. We can also be unaware of bad work habits or attitudes that may be developing. So one of our family business axioms is that Dan and I do what only we can do. In other words, anyone can cut stickers for the packages, so for Dan or myself to do that means that projects that only we can do, like reordering inventory, may not be done in a timely way.

As mentioned in a previous catalog, our children are expected to work a minimum of 20 hours a week. Joy is in training in the postal section. She not only mails out catalogs to everyone who calls or writes, but also prepares all postal packages. For foreign orders this has been a real learning adventure! She also takes care of collating bills with invoices and getting those out in the mail for us.

Hope is primarily responsible for inventory three hours a day. This is not a fun job for her because it involves a lot of decision making concerning what arrives damaged and what does not. But with time, some of the decisions will become easier as she becomes more familiar with the products. Hope was selected for this particular job because she is the family fuss-budget and has a dependable eye for observing the details.

Grace fills one of our two “floating” positions. Right now she works on inventory and on mail. Her mail responsibilities include opening the mail, and then delivering the sorted mail to the appropriate people. She sorts through the returns and ascertains which are damaged. She also makes sure stickers are ready for packers.

Abel fills the other “floating” position, helping Grace with the returns and couriering messages up and down the stairs to various people. He loves to help when our cornstarch packing peanuts arrive and delights in keeping our employee candy dish restocked. He also labels catalogs to be mailed out, but his main responsibility is making sure catalogs are ready for the packers. Other janitorial jobs such as garbage and bathroom detail are assigned as extra jobs, in much the same manner as household chores are. The only exception here is that being tardy to work is another reason to be given an extra job. Obviously, mail-order works for us, but may not suit you or your market. Still, there are unlimited options for business. Making lots of money or being nationally known is not equal to success. “Do you see a man skilled in his work…” (Proverbs 22:29). Our goal should be developing skills in both workmanship and character.

So how do we do it all in a home business? By delegation and observation with the goals of not only “marketable” skills, but also maturity.

If you have been home teaching for any length of time, friends, relatives, and strangers have undoubtedly asked you, “how do you do it all?” Oftentimes, the implication is not only why would you do it all, but can you possibly do it all properly. What is “all”? When we get this question it is referring to housework, schoolwork, and our business.

If you are new to home education, let me share some ideas that have worked for us. In the area of housework, let me share my basic rule of thumb: if I am working and nobody else is, then I have either mismanaged my time or theirs. With Children 11, 10, 8, and 5, there seems to be no reason that I should be working while others are playing.

This month, for example, Joy, 11, is responsible for cleaning both bathrooms, and for setting and clearing the table after each meal. She also deals with the compost, a necessary but very disdainful job. This is an exceedingly easy list of chores for an 11-year-old, so we rotate jobs on a monthly basis. Joy looked forward to this month’s duties.

Hope, 10, is in charge of all the linoleum floors. This means that they are swept at least once a day and the kitchen and entry floors are also scrubbed once a day, usually in the afternoon while everyone else is at the warehouse. Hope is also responsible for maintaining the childrens’ bedrooms. This is often the dreaded job because the bedrooms in our mobile are exceedingly small and it does not take too much activity in them for them to look trashed. Abel’s bedroom right now is doing triple duty, not only as a bedroom, but also as a toy room and a pantry. Organization in there is critical, and will be more so when his room acquires yet another title this winter of nursery! Hope’s final job this month is garbage. In our small mobile, if this is not done on a daily basis, we really know it!

Grace, 8, has kitchen duty this month. Though a relatively simple assignment, it is probably the most time-consuming. It entails cleaning all the dishes, pots, and pans. It also involves cleaning the counters, sinks, and all appliances. She is also depended on to keep all our carpets vacuumed. This is the first time in our married life that we have so much carpeting, so we have made Grace’s job easier by instigating a “no shoes in the house” policy. Therefore, for the most part it is just lint that she is vacuuming and can be maintained with a once a week vacuuming.

Abel, 5, is in charge of laundry. Because of his age and size there are certain limitations, but he can do the bulk of the job. He sorts the laundry, loads the washer, unloads the dryer, and changes the dryer lint trap. Because his head barely reaches over the top of the washer, I empty the clean clothes into the dryer. I also add the soap because I am a little concerned about someone that small lifting something that caustic over his head. Abel also deals with all towels and foldable laundry. He sorts each person’s clothes and couriers them to their rooms. For Dan and myself, he puts away all our folded laundry, but for the girls he just deposits it into a bin in their room for them to sort. He sorts all clothes that need to be hung and he places them in the right room. Because he cannot reach the clothes rods and there is not enough room in our tight mobile for him to haul a chair from room to room, each person is responsible to hang their own hangables.

As you can see, the bulk of the housework is done by the children.The unassigned jobs, like window washing, car cleaning, gardening, and dusting, are distributed as “extra jobs” earned by bad attitudes to regular tasks, by dawdling, or by jobs sloppily done. I suppose it is to our shame that this happens enough that all extra jobs do get done in a timely way. I am in charge of meals, relying on homemade, pre-made meals stored in the freezer. I also undertake the fussier jobs like waxing the floors and removing stains, but for the most part, with regards to housework, I truly lead a life of leisure. So, how do I get housework done? I delegate!

How do you teach your children and maintain the rest of your responsibilities? It is not as hard as some might think. First of all, we are very content with being homebodies, so we do not spend huge amounts of time on field trips or on other activities that pull us in too many directions. Second of all, as soon as our children can read, they assume a large measure of the responsibility of getting their school work done. So our first priority is to develop adequate reading skills in each of our youngsters. Some of our children were reading as toddlers, others as preschoolers, but none under duress as some “experts” claim. We don’t profess to be authorities on early childhood learning, but we don’t hesitate to claim expertise in knowing our own children and knowing when they are feeling that learning is no longer a blessing, but instead a burden.

But reading or not, we sit down individually with each child and map out a program of learning for the year. Besides reading, our basic requirements include math, thinking skills, science, geography, art, history, and 2-5 electives. For the older children, history and reading are often combined into one requirement, and there are unlimited other combinations that we have made in the past. Currently the hot electives are French, Sign Language, and What is Electronics?, but there are no limitations on what they choose.

Unit studies work well for electives, and we have had loads of fun hatching quail, raising guinea fowl, and planting an orchard. After determining our long range goals, we set some short term targets. Right now we are planning around our baby’s birth. After so many years of waiting for this blessing, it would be unreasonable for us to expect that the children will want to do anything but be with the baby. So we have planned that most of the year’s requirements are accomplished before December 1. After the first of the year we will spend a portion of each day on drill work so that they will be prepared for our state’s yearly test. The body of the school time will be spent on frills like sewing, quilting, and testing some new products we want to preview before adding to our catalog. I know that I will be still getting my “sea-legs” after the birth of the baby, so I will be doing what I can to minimize my stress level during this time.

After setting these short term goals, we go a step further and break down each topic to what is required on a weekly basis. Because we are so computer dependent, all our lists are maintained on our computers and are printed out once a week for each child’s reference. They are required to finish each item on their list every week.

Aside from activities that we do together, the readers are on their own as to when and where they actually do their schoolwork. When we moved out to a mobile adjacent to our warehouse, we knew that we would never have enough room in the mobile to do school work. So we transformed a loft above our warehouse bathroom into a schoolroom, complete with bookshelves, small file cabinets for each child, and a lovely table Dan and his father spent a lot of time making. So where do the children do their schoolwork? In the car, at doctor offices, on cleared inventory shelves, in the guinea house, in cardboard boxes, and everywhere else imaginable! That’s OK, we are not as fussy about where it is done as we are about how it is done.

For Abel, whose reading skills are still shaky, we are a little more involved. He likewise gets a checklist every week, but I coach him through a fair number of the activities. He works on them in the afternoons, asking questions between phone calls, and generally paces himself so that he is not working very long without a break. He dearly loves to be first to finish his weekly assignments, and generally drives his sisters to distraction by giving them his daily countdown, “Only 10 more pages and I’ll be done for the week!”

So how do we do it all in schoolwork? By insisting on a system of accountability for each child. We have found that children will accomplish far more and learn far better when we stop hovering over them. Children sincerely desire to have as much control as possible over their lives, and this is a wonderful way to introduce them to the adult world of responsibilities and consequences.

Added in 2010
We have now added free downloadable scheduling PDFs at http://www.timberdoodle.com/schedule. These work particularly well with our Core Curriculum Bundles, but can be easily adapted for almost any curriculum.

Whatever your reason for undertaking a task of this great magnitude, the relevant question to consider is how you see your decision to homeschool altering with time? In your wildest dreams, do you think that in years to come government schools will adopt a curriculum that teaches core subjects without promoting hedonistic lifestyles? Do you think it will be as acceptable to have a nine-year-old who does not read as it will be to have an eighteen-month-old who does? Or do you think that private school tuition costs will actually drop? If you share our view that public education is on a downward spiral, then one of your obligations as homeschooling parents is to ensure that your children will know how to teach their children.

The easiest way to accomplish this is to surround your children with teaching opportunities. Because it is easy for children to confuse teaching with bossiness, initially it is helpful to formalize the course of action. Just like you, your teaching children need to see that what they are teaching has value; they need to know that there is a need to know. And your children need a method of accountability, which is best realized by measurable goals. Whether it is teaching the new puppy to come when called or teaching a younger sibling multiplication, be alert to both natural and created opportunities that demand more instructive effort on the part of your children. As your children’s teaching abilities increase, they will discover that teaching others can be a natural part of daily life.

So why not make 2010 the year of learning to teach? Set some concrete goals and enjoy the exciting adventure of raising young teachers!

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

P.S. As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts. How are you cultivating your childrens’ teaching abilities? Join the discussion on Facebook here.

What if you discovered, quite by accident, that your married daughter was flirting with the UPS man? Would you not beg her to remember the vows she made before God and man? And wouldn’t you feel sick if she laughed and continued to engage in such destructive behavior?

Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians implored “…I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” If your children are to spend eternity with Christ, as a godly parent, don’t you see a need to train your children to treasure Him above everything else?

For all the warmth and joy that the Christmas season can bring, it can also become a cesspool of impulsive passions. Or it can be a season of opportunities, uniquely designed to sanctify your family. The caroling missed because of the flu, the must-have toy not purchased because of a scaled back budget, the annual Christmas pie tossed because the cat sampled it, are all occasions to take a peek into where your child’s affections are. For all the hoopla surrounding Christmas, there is disturbingly little emphasis placed on pleasing the One whose birth we are celebrating, and wholly too much importance placed on making ourselves happy

Samuel Rutherford, a Scottish Presbyterian theologian (1600-1661), wrote “… if you see a man shut up in a closed room, idolizing a set of lamps and rejoicing in their light, and you wish to make him truly happy, you would begin by blowing out all his lamps; and then throw open the shutters to let in the light of heaven.”

This Christmas, may we all remember to whom we are betrothed and set our affections fully on Him,

Enjoying Timberdoodle products in a whole new way,
Dan, Deb, Joy, Hope, Grace, Abel, and Pearl
www.timberdoodle.com

P.S. Throughout December we plan to be posting old family Christmas videos, details on our favorite Christmas traditions (including camel bags!) and even a Christmas recipe on our Facebook/blog. If that interests you, become Facebook fans and follow Doodleblog to stay in the loop!

Moving out at eighteen is a fairly recent, definitely cultural idea, one which regardless of the spiritual implications makes no economic or ecological sense. Does every eighteen-year-old need his own stove and refrigerator? How many square feet of housing are wasted on a solitary individual when the more prudent solution is to share? Why are some people getting their knickers in a knot over the emissions of cows while ignoring the massive impact this exodus of young people has on carbon footprints?

There seems to be a campaign afoot among relatives and friends to boot our adult children out of our home. Apparently living at home makes them half child, half adult. Forget that these same “quasi-adults” have been working for Timberdoodle since they were old enough to toddle down the aisle and stock the shelves. With those Timberdoodle paychecks, they have engaged in some very adult-like behavior, such as purchasing all their clothes, sports equipment, and gifts. They have managed a mini-farm and funded the construction of several outbuildings and the installation of chain-link fencing. They have paid their share of every family vacation, bought their own furniture, contributed to numerous family projects, financed the building of fresh water wells overseas, and purchased and given us over five acres of timbered land. They have bought cars, managed their own cell phones, invested in CDs and stocks, and even bankrolled the family food budget. Aside from their jobs at Timberdoodle they are also trained EMTs and respond to over 400 emergency calls a year, ranging from false alarms and fall injuries to amputations and gunshot wounds. These are not coddled kids.

But unlike many of their peers who are living away from home, these adults are kept accountable. Our opinion is that young adults who spend huge amounts of time living alone tend to cater to the flesh, and those who cut off family accountability will have a harder time serving a spouse when the time comes. On the other hand, those adults who choose to remain in the home will always have more than enough opportunities for sanctification.

Because we are so clearly made for community, David, in Psalm 68, celebrates that “God settles the solitary in a home.” We love our kids and know that our responsibility before God does not end when they turn eighteen. As we rub shoulders at the warehouse and share laughter at the office, we know we are blessed to have the opportunity to enjoy each other every day. This Thanksgiving, may your family enjoy the richness of a community life that is unique to families.

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

P.S. Not surprisingly, this is an issue that can raise a very good discussion. For instance, we all know adults who live at home simply to avoid responsibility and sponge off Mom and Dad. (I hope it’s obvious that we are not advocating that!) But what do you think? What is your family’s approach? If you haven’t faced this situation yet, what are your plans? We encourage you to comment below and join the discussion!

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

There is more to being vendors at a homeschool conference than loading trailers, matching shirts and sore feet. For Timberdoodle there is also the quirky ritual of choosing a theme song. The chosen song must wake us up for some very early commutes, and underscore the reason we do what we do.

This year’s selection, (Wherever We Go by Newsboys)  is a bit edgier than previous choices, but the words are a wake-up call to all Christ-followers. If we are indeed spreading a message of life to the dead, if we are joyously revealing the gospel wherever we go, then everywhere we go should reflect our festivity.

No, our family is not living in La La land. We have tightened our belts like nearly every other American family, and we have anguished over the unrelenting physical deterioration of loved ones. But we have a hope that does not disappoint and that is why we believe that wherever we go we should invite others to join us in our celebration of salvation.

America’s unemployment is nearing record highs but no matter what your earthly employment is, be it as a business executive or dishwasher, in God’s economy there is no such thing as unemployment. From the moment you become His, He has a unique, specific job that does not require a W2 form and will never result in pink slip. And when your heart explodes with the knowledge of what He has done for you, you can’t help but love your job!

If your family is adverse to contemporary music, Wherever We Go will never be your family’s anthem, but with the black cloud that hovers over much of our nation, its rousing lyrics never failed to put smiles on our faces.

Partying on – with eternity in mind,
Dan, Deb, Joy, Hope, Grace, Abel and Pearl

P.S.

If you have not heard Wherever We Go by Newsboys before here are the lyrics in video format (a bit cheesy but gives you the content).

If you would like to watch the Newsboys perform it live, here it is.