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Lindsey W. of Alaska
I'm a single mom (who was homeschooled myself!) with two kids - Jade (11) and Isaac (9). Jade is all about art and chickens, and Isaac enjoys archery and making up forest adventure stories. We have two small rat terriers named Jack and Rosie, a cat named Miss Kitty, and 13 chickens with various literary names among them.
Amber of Anchorage, Alaska
I am a children’s pastor. My husband is in the Air Force. We have 3 girls: ages 3, 6, and 7. We love all things crafty and girly.
Kathrine in Alaska
- Dad and Mom
- 3 girls
- 3 boys
- 7 ducks
- 15 chickens
We own our own business and we all work together!
Ashley L. of Wasilla, Alaska
Mom and Dad; Megan, 9; Junior, 7; Natalie, 1.5; Grandma and Grandpa; Piper the German Shepherd; Lilli the little dog.
How do you Timberdoodle?
Lindsey: I first heard about Timberdoodle from another mom whose homeschool box for her kids looked SO FUN, I knew I wanted to give it a try. I love how Timberdoodle covers every subject and makes it fun, including the importance of games and other hands-on activities. I think my favorites have been the graphic novels and Laser Maze. I love that these things don't feel like "school".
Amber: We LOVE timberdoodle! We were introduced by another family member and use it every day for our homeschool curriculum. Our favorite products are the STEM and thinking skills activities like Squirrels Go Nuts.
Kathrine: We've used Timberdoodle packages from Tiny Tots to 8th grade. I don't remember how I learned about Timberdoodle, but I loved the set-up. Timberdoodle is great for teaching children to work independently and portion out their work, so that they can be done by a set date. (They like to work towards a goal of finishing books. We give a trip to the local ice-cream store for each finished book!) My children's favorite Timberdoodle products are the hands-on brain builders and STEM projects. My Tiny Tots favorite is the Yoee Fox. The two year old love Smart Cookies.
Ashley: I heard about Timberdoodle online when first starting my homeschool endeavors. I liked their products so much I ordered a catalog. My favorite Timberdoodle products are the art kits, science projects, and preschool products so far. My kids have loved the life-size human body puzzle for years now!!
Tell us about a typical school day at your house.
Lindsey: We typically start school between 7:00 and 8:00 a.m., with a break for lunch, and finish around noon. We alternate history and science days, but the rest of the subjects are daily. Chores are done morning, after lunch, and before bed, and both kids help with preparing lunch many days.
Amber: We start about 11:00 a.m. We cover science and history twice a week. Math, Bible, STEM, language arts, art, and geography every day. We do chores in the morning before school and love crockpot meals for dinner.
Kathrine: We start late because we work evenings. The younger children work on each subject daily. The older two work in blocks, so only a few subjects for a month, then alternate to a couple other subjects for a month, and then back to first subjects. If the children are working independently, then I try to work on keeping the house clean during the school time. Otherwise, each of the oldest four children have their own responsibilities. When they need a brain-break, they tackle laundry for a spell, or start lunch. Sometimes, that's not enough break, so I have a small trampoline and a stationary bicycle in the living room that they can work out on. We eat breakfast separately, but dinner and supper together. Usually, my husband makes dinner.
Ashley: We try to start around 9:00. We do a little language arts, reading, history/geography, science, and math each day. They also go to a PE class twice a week, and attend other classes through our homeschool program like Science of Flight. They take art and music lessons from their grandma at least one a week as well. The goal is to have all "core" assignments done by lunch time, so they can finish up anything they started and get chores done before dinner. No screen time until rooms are clean and assignments are complete, and time is earned for each completed assignment and chore.
If we peeked inside your home on a random Wednesday afternoon, what would we see?
Lindsey: You would see two kids at their pink and green pop-up desks in the living room, working away with vigor at their schoolwork. You might see my daughter helping my son spell something or complete a math problem - she loves to teach. OR you might hear them arguing over who gets to use the pencil sharpener first. Isaac will be at some point talking excitedly about his archery lessons the next day. Jade will be looking forward to quiet reading time.
Amber: You would see us hurrying to get school work done before church!
Kathrine: Absolute chaos (before 12:15 p.m.). After 12:30 p.m. - there is a tornado of motion because Grandma comes over after piano lessons and it wouldn't do to have that much mess for her to witness. So, by 12:15 p.m., anyone nearby is rushing to clean and everything is spit-spot by 12:30 p.m., just in time for Grandma. Whew...
Ashley: Chaos and distruction!! I am CFO for the family aircraft repair business from home as well, so between a toddler, both students, preparing 3 meals a day, running to classes and errands, and managing the business, cleaning is always last on my list... oh yeah, and we live in Alaska, where it can be below 0° for weeks at a time so running around screaming and yelling to burn off energy is a common occurrence.
