May We Give You Something?
To enter, simply tell us which item you want to win from the Fifth Grade Curriculum Kit, and why. If you want extra entries, you can also use PunchTab. Out of all the comments and entries we receive, we will draw one name (courtesy of random.org) and award them the item they picked. Winners must have a USA shipping address, see all the rules here. Drawing ends Monday, May 21st at 10AM PST.

“I love the Fifth Grade Core Curriculum Package! This is my very first time to homeschool my kids, and I have to admit that I was VERY overwhelmed with trying to pick and choose the books and programs to use. The Fifth Grade Curriculum Package that Timberdoodle put together was such a blessing because they did all the work for me. We are completing our first month of homeschooling, and I am very pleased with the products that were in this package. My son is able to do the school work on his own with very little help from me. Each book is self-explanatory, with clear and easy instructions.
I would highly recommend this package to anyone who is working with a fifth grader.”
- Jana of Coeur ‘d Alene, ID

So What Do You Choose to Win, and Why?

May We Give You Something?
To enter, simply tell us which item you want to win from the Fourth Grade Curriculum Kit, and why. If you want extra entries, you can also use PunchTab. Out of all the comments and entries we receive, we will draw one name (courtesy of random.org) and award them the item they picked. Winners must have a USA shipping address, see all the rules here. Drawing ends Monday, May 14th at 10AM PST.

“I’ve homeschooled for 10 years, and I have finally discovered all the best in one package! The selection for every subject is fantastic! This is my first year with Timberdoodle, and I’m sticking with them! My kids LOVE it, and school is fun. The printable schedules on the website helped me organize weekly/quarterly goals and gave me a great start!”
- Michelle Greene of Fayetteville, NC

The Winner
Random.org chose Melody Willingham, who chose: “I would like to win the Teaching Textbooks math curriculum. I think it would be a good change for our math lessons.” Congratulations Melody! Thank you all for entering, watch for our next giveaway soon!

May We Give You Something?
To enter, simply tell us which item you want to win from the Third Grade Curriculum Kit, and why. If you want extra entries, you can also use PunchTab. Out of all the comments and entries we receive, we will draw one name (courtesy of random.org) and award them the item they picked. Winners must have a USA shipping address, see all the rules here. Drawing ends Monday, May 7th at 10AM PST.

“This is my first year homeschooling. I was overwhelmed looking at all the curriculum available, so was thrilled to find your core curriculum sets. My son was as excited as I was when the box of materials arrived, and he promptly sat down to look through the graphic novels that were included. I have been so pleased and impressed with all of the selections. My son actually asks to do math and typing (because those subjects are on the computer). I like it that the math program calculates his scores and puts the results on one handy sheet. Had I purchased separate curriculum items, we probably would have had just math, reading, and writing, but instead we have a much more complete curriculum which also includes geography, science, history, typing, and some fun, educational toys/games. Thank you for putting together these core curriculum sets – it has made it much easier to start homeschooling!”
Reviewer: Delene P. of Albany, OR

And the winner is
Kristina Best, you’ve won the Teaching Textbooks you chose in the 3rd grade giveaway! Congratulations! (Thank you all for participating – watch for a new giveaway tomorrow.)

May We Give You Something?
To enter, simply tell us which item you want to win from the Second Grade Curriculum Kit, and why. If you want extra entries, you can also use PunchTab. Out of all the comments and entries we receive, we will draw one name (courtesy of random.org) and award them the item they picked. Winners must have a USA shipping address, see all the rules here. Drawing ends Monday, April 30th at 10AM PST.

“After three years of trying different curriculums we finally found one we LOVE! This has everything we needed and then some! My second grader loves it and that makes for one happy Mommy! I use Timberdoodle for my first grader as well. The price is great and the products are even better – Thank you for putting together such a great Curriculum.”
Reviewer: Sammi Guajardo of San Antonio, TX

Winner
Today’s winner is Kimberly Campbell Shumaker who chose: “My son would enjoy the Electronic Learning Circuits! His grandfather is an electrical engineer. That curiosity of all things electrical runs in the family.” Sounds like a perfect fit; congratulations Kimberly!

May We Give You Something?
To enter, simply tell us which item you want to win from the First Grade Curriculum Kit, and why. If you want extra entries, you can also use PunchTab. Out of all the comments and entries we receive, we will draw one name (courtesy of random.org) and award them the item they picked. Winners must have a USA shipping address, see all the rules here. Drawing ends Monday, April 16th at 10AM PST.

“My six year old daughter loves school this year thanks to this curriculum. She is very eager to get going every morning, and I am amazed by what she has learned in just a few short weeks. Timber doodle has put together a top quality core curriculum and I am looking into purchasing the core for my high schooler next year. My first grader is a struggling reader, but slowing down and using Phonics Pathways has helped her tremendously. Her reading confidence is higher now. I have used other publisher’s complete grade curriculum for three of my children, but Timberdoodle outshines them by far. I highly recommend it for quality, ease of use, and value.”
Reviewer: F.G. from Fairport, NY

And The Winner Is
Carissa Vanagas Jones, who chose Block Builders: “We’d love the Block Builders; the other Timberdoodle-recommended logic resources we have used have been very big hits!” Congratulations Carissa!

May We Give You Something?
To enter, simply tell us which item you want to win from the Kindergarten Curriculum Kit, and why. If you want extra entries, you can also use PunchTab. Out of all the comments and entries we receive, we will draw one name (courtesy of random.org) and award them the item they picked. Winners must have a USA shipping address, see all the rules here. Drawing ends Monday, April 16th at 10AM PST.

“Thank you so much for putting together the BEST Kindergarten Complete Curriculum ever! I am confident this is the best money I have ever spent on my kids, and this package was well worth it! I can’t believe how many materials you get! My son is so excited everyday to start school. His favorite parts are the Smencil and the Stepping into Science kit. My favorite is EVERYTHING. Thank you so much! Can’t wait to order the first grade curriculum! I would recommend this Kindergarten curriculum to everyone!”
Reviewer: F.G. from Fairport, NY

Winner
Our winner was Christine Jelinek who said, “I would love to win the Developing the Early Learner books. My daughter is almost 5 and would love these.” Congratulations Christine! (Winner chosen by random.org, thank you all for entering!)

To enter, simply tell us which item you want to win from the PreK Curriculum Kit, and why. If you want extra entries, you can also use PunchTab. Out of all the comments and entries we receive, we will draw one name (courtesy of random.org) and award them the item they picked. Winners must have a USA shipping address, see all the rules here. Drawing ends Monday, April 9th at 10AM PST.

“What better way could you introduce your little one to school??? I used the Timberdoodle (PreK) last year. It is chock full of fun and educational products. This is a great way to get your child started with a love for learning and the realization that school and learning really can be fun. Timberdoodle has done a great job of compiling everything that you need for a successful school year. This year, my daughter just couldn’t wait to start school again. She begs to learn! Thanks Timberdoodle!”
Reviewer: Misty Marr from Buckeye, AZ United States

And the Winner Is:
Phyllis Daniels, who chose the Djeco Finger Tracks as her prize from our Pre-K Core Curriculum. “I’d love for my kids to have the Djeco Finger Tracks!  I’m not super-creative on a little kid level, so this would be great!” Thanks for entering, and watch for Week 4 of our Spring Giveaways to be posted soon!

Each Core Curriculum Kit comes with its very own Scheduling Helps Folder. We are still in the midst of revising them for the 2012-2013 school year, but this link to first grade will let you know roughly what to expect: http://www.timberdoodle.com/v/pdf/2011/2012TimberdoodleFirstGradeCurriculum.pdf

Since you’ll want to know right away what was supposed to be in your box, we start with a list of everything in this year’s curriculum.

Go to the next pages and you’ll find we’ve included a quick overview of each of the items in your kit with just enough information to wow Dad and excite your child. We’ve also noted on each item scheduling tips, including how much to do a week if you would like to complete the entire coursework over a typical 36-week school year.

Continue on past the book by book summaries and you’ll find 2 important schedules. One is an annual planner which includes each book and kit included in your core curriculum and how many lessons or pages or chapters or… are in each. We’ve already filled it out for a typical 36-week school year but you’ll be able to easily refigure it if you like. We’ve chosen this approach so that you can have an entire school year at a glance in a simple fashion.

The second schedule page is a simple weekly checklist so that your students can check off their work as they accomplish it each week. This takes you away from micromanaging your students and lets them be responsible for their own work. In our family we had a family night every Friday. Those with their lists done were welcome to be a part. I think we each had to have at least one week where the realization would sink in that all we’d done Monday-Thursday was play, and we would have to be doing math while everyone else was having fun. But in the long-run learning to be an independent learner is an invaluable lesson itself.

All of this is included with a full-color standard-sized (so it holds ordinary papers easily) heavy folder with two deep pockets. We suggest using it to store your weekly checklists for the entire year, making your record keeping easy, or put it to work wherever it will be most useful!

Of course, you’ll also find all of the important teachers’ manuals and program-specific resources you need included in each Homeschool Curriculum Kit. Our Scheduling Helps Folder is not meant as a substitute for those manuals, but rather as a helpful summary and scheduling guide.

Unlike virtually every other curriculum kit we’ve ever seen, these entire folders are available as free downloads. This is for two reasons. First, we want you to be really excited about what you are buying and to know for sure that it will work for your family before your purchase (although we do have a 60-day return policy, just in case). Secondly, we really want your family to succeed at homeschooling and we know that purchasing an entire kit is not possible for everyone. Perhaps you are economizing by purchasing used curriculum or using your local library. We applaud you for the extra effort you are undertaking and are delighted to help in a small way! Hopefully when you do have to purchase items you’ll remember us, but if not we at least have been able to fulfill our ultimate goal – helping your family homeschool! For your convenience, here are the links to those guides which have already been revised for 2012, this list will be growing, of course.

• Baby & Toddler Timberdoodle Core Curriculum Scheduling Helps Folder
• Preschool Timberdoodle Core Curriculum Scheduling Helps Folder
• PreK Timberdoodle Core Curriculum Scheduling Helps Folder
• Kindergarten Timberdoodle Core Curriculum Scheduling Helps Folder
• First Grade Timberdoodle Core Curriculum Scheduling Helps Folder
• Second Grade Timberdoodle Core Curriculum Scheduling Helps Folder
• Third Grade Timberdoodle Core Curriculum Scheduling Helps Folder
• Fourth Grade Timberdoodle Core Curriculum Scheduling Helps Folder

Does this help? Do you have more questions? Don’t hesitate to leave us a comment or email us: mailbag@timberdoodle.com

To enter, simply tell us which item you want to win from the Preschool Curriculum Kit, and why. If you want extra entries, you can also use PunchTab. Out of all the comments and entries we receive, we will draw one name (courtesy of random.org) and award them the item they picked. Winners must have a USA shipping address, see all the rules here. Drawing ends Monday, April 2nd at 9AM PST.

“Our first impression of the Timberdoodle Company is that we are absolutely blown away by the quality of the products and materials as well as the variety of items provided.
The ‘Preschool Timberdoodle Homeschool Curriculum 2012‘ package provided a wide array of items covering everything from math to science, fine and gross motor skills, & critical thinking and reasoning skills. It is obvious that every item was carefully reviewed and tested before being included in the kit. We are looking forward to engaging in every activity with our toddler!
So far the biggest hit has been the Wedgits. Our son can’t seem to get enough time with these awesome building “blocks”!
Thanks so much Timberdoodle for your careful consideration and high quality curriculum kit!
We will definitely recommend this curriculum package to other parents/caregivers looking to start homeschooling activities with their toddler.”
Reviewer: Mary K Mora from Ocoee, FL

Winner:
Penny Woods won the Preschool Giveaway and chose the Music Box as her prize! (winner chosen compliments of random.org) Thank you all for entering, watch for a new giveaway soon!

As a teaching mom, my first assignment is to study my baby and learn how he learns best. Keep in mind that many babies are a blend of styles, but all babies will have a decided preference.

When you are the parent of a visual baby, the road ahead of you will be fairly smooth. For whatever reason, nearly all canned curriculum is geared to the visual learner. Moreover, visual children who attend school have the greatest opportunity for success because most of their teachers will not only use a visual curriculum, but are visual learners themselves. Visual babies study the details in the world around them. These are the babies that become the children that seem to teach themselves to read. Our Joy was reading words at 18 months and loving it! Because we know Pearl is likewise a visual baby, we will work to surround her with lots of visual stimulation. The easiest way for me to do this is through brightly colored picture books, but other ideas are posters, mirrors, and toys, even a fish tank! My goal is to nourish the visual ability of my baby, to allow her to excel in an area God has made her capable.

Our auditory babies have also picked up academic skills readily. The advantage that they have had is that nearly all my teaching is given orally first. This has given them at least one opportunity to master what is expected, and because auditory learners are so experienced at processing what they hear, they tend to be very successful. We have found that our auditory babies are ideal candidates for music training and foreign languages. An environment with good music will begin a lifetime love for music. If we were bilingual we would have capitalized on that skill while they were still infants. Instead we did the next best thing and let them listen in while we played foreign language tapes. A lesson we learned the hard way was to spend as much time talking to our babies while there was still time. Before we knew it, they were talking, talking, talking… And that will continue throughout their childhood as they sing while they work, chant out their math facts, and yodel for the sheer pleasure of it. If it seems to you that their mouths are always in gear, keep in mind they truly do need to hear themselves think.

In the academic world, our hands-on babies are at a disadvantage. These children learn best by doing, but apart from some preschool/kindergarten activities, most curriculum is geared for visual learners. Our Hope needed an environment full of action. Hope was not content to sit and watch the action flow around her. As soon as possible, she hurled herself into that action. Hands-on babies learn by feeling and doing, so give them every opportunity to push, pull, squeeze, squish, dig, and dump. When Hope was a little older and involved in “hard-core academics” like puzzles and coloring, it amused us to no end to notice that she spent the entire morning standing at her child-size table. To ask her to sit to work on a puzzle would have bewildered her. How can you possibly do a puzzle without hopping, wiggling, and at the very least marching in place?! We could have forced her to sit quietly in a chair for schoolwork, but she would have been so engrossed in the labor of sitting still, that there would have been no brain power left to solve puzzles. We saved the training of sitting still for when sitting still was the only goal. Keep in mind that God put those wiggles in your baby. When you think you just cannot clean up one more mess, tell yourself that to excel academically your baby needs as much active time as possible. I like to think that the more weary I am, the brighter my hands-on baby is becoming.

Once more, we are not addressing conduct here. We do not think we should abdicate our throne to a 15-pound tyrant. We do, however, have the intent of making our babies our course of intense study. What makes him sad, what makes him happy? What challenges him and what does he find boring? The more I know about my baby, the easier and more pleasant my career as a teaching parent will be.