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Terri W. from Austin, Texas
I live with my boyfriend and our two dogs, Roman and Rello. I work in education, I am the coordinator of an Afterschool Program.
Laura of Dallas, Texas
Mom, dad, and 6 wonderful kids.
Stephanie G. of Fort Worth, Texas
Bug is 10 months old and loves chewing on a good book! Bean is 5 and is the coolest kid I know. I am a ER nurse who works at night so I can be with/ teach my little minions during the day.
Jessica of Texas
We are a family of 5 . I currently homeschool Princess, Ninja and Butterfly. We also have two awesome Devon Rex cats.
How do you Timberdoodle?
Terri: I came across your website in doing a search for health/medical science activities I could do with my students. College and Career Readiness is one of our components in the program and I was looking to dive deeper into the medical career fields and was searching for curriculum, kits, and ideas. One of the websites I came across had your website listed.
Laura: I found Timberdoodle about 3 years ago doing a curriculum search online. We use games, history and workbooks throughout the year from Timberdoodle.
Stephanie: I found Timberdoodle online and then YouTubed a bunch of videos to see if maybe it was the right fit for us. (It was.) We love Math U See and All About Reading. We use Timberdoodle curriculum every day and watching my son learn math and then to read .... because of my teaching? It's so incredible!
Jessica: I first heard about you from a homeschooling friend. We have really enjoyed the custom curriculum kits as we can tailor them to our needs.
Tell us about a typical school day at your house.
Terri: We have a snack 3:00 - 3:30 and then break out into our sessions. Homework help and recess fall within one hour and then one hour of enrichment time based on the activity of our choosing.
Laura: Each day of the week looks a little different for us. Some days we start with school and others we start with piano, art lessons or gymnastics. We, for sure, cover math, reading and writing each day and then do history, science and others each week. We mainly work off a checklist system. Once each child has completed items on their daily list they have free play. Each list has things like: chores, school work, service etc...
Stephanie: We start at noon because we are not morning people and I work night shift. We always do math, reading, spelling and handwriting. I do chores... when I can... We eat at the table together for every meal.
Jessica: We typically start our school work after gym time, usually around 10:30. We usually finish around noon sometimes 1:00. We often have apple slices and popcorn as a snack. We also take time to attend music lessons, Tae Kwon Do, and Cub Scouts during the week.
If we peeked inside your home on a random Wednesday afternoon, what would we see?
Terri: On Wednesdays we have Cheer, CSI Forensics, Sports, Animal Science, Healthy Cooking, and Music.
Laura: A lot of kids, mess, playing, and probably all kids of different projects in various stages. With 6 kids there is always a certain level of chaos.
Stephanie: Us in the classroom working hard. Listen to relaxing music and taking lots of breaks to play.
Jessica: The kiddos running around our yard, while I prepare dinner.
If you could take your family anywhere you wanted for vacation where would you go?
Terri: Greece, London, Europe, Australia, Egypt.
Laura: Any country!! But top of our list is Costa Rica.
Stephanie: Ocean beach, probably Puerto Rico.
Jessica: We have enjoyed Hill Country Park. I would love to take them camping in Yellowstone and Sequoia National Forest
What books have you read over and over?
Terri: Jon Gordon's books.
Laura:
- Name of the Wind
- Teaching from Rest
- Harry Potter
- Breaking Free by Beth Moore
Stephanie:
- The Pigeon Needs a Bath
- anything by Mo Williams
- Captain Underpants
- Hello Farm
- Green Eggs and Ham
- Please Mr. Panda
- Pout Pout Fish
- The Book With No Pictures complete with crazy voices and nonsense ❤
Jessica:
- Pride and Prejudice
- The Chronicles of Narnia
- many of Brandon Sanderson's novels
What dietary challenges does your family face?
Terri: Eating healthy, cooking more at home and not eating out so much. Also packing lunch and healthy snacks for throughout the day.
Laura: I have one child with several allergies, one of which is a strong peanut allergy. We teach the children what it is, why their brother can't have it and then we monitor the others and provide alternative food options for the allergy child. He still has to learn to live in a world with those foods, so we do not ban them in our home for everyone.
Stephanie: We eat out a lot and recently have been making a serious effort to eat at home and make healthy choices.
Jessica: Most days we simply aim to eat our fruits and veggies. We limit our refined processed foods
What tips do you have for surviving a hard day?
Terri: Mindfulness, taking moments to focus on breathing. Walking away and taking a walk.
Laura: Deep breathing and realizing that it is ok to let it go and have an off day. If we just aren't feeling it we can start over the next day.
Stephanie: Go at you own pace. Don't stress out if you can't accomplish everything. You can always catch up on a better day. Love on your babies and enjoy your time together. Make happy memories.
Jessica: Exercise and a chocolate stash.
What’s something your child has done that thrilled your soul?
Terri: Never giving up even with something is hard. Also being very nice and considerate of others. They love to help.
Laura: Told me she knows she is having a wonderful childhood
Stephanie: When he just started reading signs on the road and at the store I was floored. I couldn't believe my Beanie was reading and I got to be a part of it!
Jessica: Made me a valentine all on his own. He even had someone else help him make it so it could be a surprise.
How does your family celebrate birthdays?
Terri: Singing, cake, gifts, parties, the whole sha-bang.
Laura: Oh, this one is fun! We do family Jeopardy all about the birthday person. Then we do family gifts and my husband and I take the birthday person out to a meal and do some one-on-one activities picked just for them while the others stay home with a babysitter or family. Every now and then we do a friend party year but most of the time it is all family and memories.
Stephanie: With lots of friends and family!
Jessica: We have a birthday dinner and go on a special family activity.
What have you done recently for the first time?
Terri: Played golf.
Laura: Had a baby in a birth center, my other 5 kids were born in a hospital.
Jessica: Started a family Christmas Lego village.
What’s your favorite school day lunch?
Terri: Lasagna or spaghetti.
Laura: Mini pizzas made with English muffins, and various toppings. Easy, the kids love picking what goes on top and no one complains!
Jessica: Leftovers!
How would you manage if you had to homeschool without the internet?
Terri: It would be hard but as long as it was fun I'd be okay.
Laura: Oh man parts would be harder and other parts would be easier because kids would not have the screen time to fight about. We would definitely be at the library more!
Jessica: I'd be mostly ok. I'd have to get the CD player out so we could continue to listen to our music.
What tips do you have for other families?
Terri: Make it fun and engaging, allow students to help, find ways to make everything educational (math when cooking, reading while riding in the car, cleaning up (life skills),etc.
Laura: Experiment, try samples, each family and each child is different. Don't be afraid to mix it up so things work better for you. Homeschooling is not one-size-fits-all, which is why there are so many options, so don't try to push you, your family, or your child into one box.
Jessica: Enjoy the stage you are in. Time flies.
What is something you appreciate about each of your kids?
Terri: Willingness to learn and be open to new things. Take ownership when they make a mistake
Laura:
- very responsible, does what is asked of him without too much complaining
- such a kind heart and making friends everywhere
- loves to clean and serve
- a ball of laughs and overall very patient
- only two but he is sweet and wants to be included in everything, pretty easy-going
- he is only 2 days old but he is adorable and adjusting to the crazy well
Jessica:
- Princess is very helpful
- Ninja is creative and mixes it up
- Butterfly is fiercely independent.
What song is currently in your head?
Terri: Baby Shark
Laura: Some different songs by JJ Heller about Motherhood
Jessica: I'm On My Way
Tell us about your family’s favorite games.
Terri: Trouble, Connect Four, Uno, Pitty Pat
Laura: We love Colorku, Skip-bo, Kerplunk, Guess Who, etc. Just fun games that can be played over and over. We also like Risk, Ticket to Ride, Chess, Checkers and the Sequence games.
Jessica: We love to play Seven Wonders and Terraforming Mars.
