Tell Me a Story

Once again, The Timberdoodle Company has come through with another stellar product for homeschooled and public schooled children alike!  Whether you have been blessed with an artistic kiddo that likes to draw and create stories, or have a child that just needs a little encouragement in the creativity department, 99 Stories I Could Tell, the brain child of Nathan Pyle, will fit the bill.

What is it?
99 Stories I Could Tell is a 99 page paperback book with drawing and writing prompts to help your child begin to create stories in their heads- 99 to be exact. Beginning on page one, your child is guided by the author, as a character in the book, on the rules of engagement- "user guidelines" he calls them.  The next few pages encourages doodle practice.

The rest of the book looks like this-

The left side of the page uses writing prompts to get the creative juices flowing, and the right side of the page uses doodles to create a nine block of story prompts.  Each two page spread after that is the same lay out, with new writing a doodle prompts.  On each of the nine doodle blocks is a different symbol to help you reference your story.

At the end of the book you will find spaces to list your 99 story titles, and then reference the corresponding page where you brainstormed the idea.

What it is not! 
Notice I said brainstormed the idea.  Nowhere in this book will your child actually write out any of their stories.  This is just a place to help them create those stories in their heads and have visual prompts to remind them of those stories.  From there they can either choose to write the best of the best down to share or save, or just have a neat place to go to remind them of their stories.

PROS-
This book is so open-ended and creative.  It is perfect for those kids that just need a little push to get started.  Though there are doodles provided to begin with- Nathan encourages the reader to break the rules, draw over the lines, add things and be creative- no boxes to check!


The writing prompts are fun and engaging and don't have a lot of space to write, so they will not intimidate those non writing kids out there!  They can just jot down a few sentences and move on.

CONS-
Ok, there are a few.  One, when we read through the first few pages we were seriously confused on how it all worked.  Once we figured out what Nathan was talking about with the coding system so you could reference back to what story you were talking about from your final list, we were ready to go!

If you have a kiddo who is not confident in their "art"skills, the doodle part may be a bit intimidating at first.  That being said, the author does a great job of showing ideas and allowing time for doodle practice.  Once they get started, there will be no stopping them.

My opinion?
I like the little book a lot.  The quality is great- it even has a plastic cover on it to protect it and make it a more lasting memento for your child to have. Once I got over the idea that they were not actually writing out the stories, I embraced it- see you can teach an old homeschooling mom new tricks!  What a fun idea to just have a reference point to jog your memory about a story you have to tell.  It makes me think of a time when stories were passed from one person to another, and sometimes one generation to another just through word of mouth.  What a great skill to develop!

This could also be a great way to catalog family stories that you share! Maybe have each person in your family take turns, notating family stories and memories made, so that in years to come you will remember and can easily share and pass those stories on to the next generations.

And oh my word, what stories we could tell these days, right?

99 Stories I Could Tell is recommended for 6th graders up, and is also included in the Timberdoodle  9th Grade Curriculum Kit.

Graphic Novels For The Win

Let's talk about books for a few minutes!  It is one of my favorite subjects, after all.  I can remember the excitement of each of my children reading their first word, and once they could read entire books- well, that was pure joy for me!

The power of the written word is unending.  It spurs imagination, expands vocabulary, takes you to places you will never visit, and teaches you things you can not even fathom. There is very little that compares, and I am so very thankful I have a household of book lovers!

One of the advantages of homeschooling is we are able to do literary rich learning.  Not only do our textbooks teach us, but we are often able to tie the books we are reading to our current lessons as well.  Since history is a favorite subject around here, books that have historical stories, whether fact or fiction, are a favorite.

This is why when I saw the titles A Family Secret and The Search, offered by Timberdoodle Co.,I knew I needed them in our home!  Both books, written by Eric Heuvel, are about 60 pages long and packed with excitement and suspense.  These historical fiction books for young readers (5th grade and up) are graphic novels written about World War II.   In The Family Secret, a young boy finds his grandmother's scrapbook, and learns what it was like to live in Amsterdam during the German occupation.  The Search tells the story of a young girl, Esther, who was separated from her family during the war.  As an adult, and with her grandson's help, she seeks to learn what became of her parents.  The books are tied together with a surprising twist.

Both books are captivating, and while I bought them to further enhance the learning of my 7th grade son in his studies of WWII, I found his older brother, age 18, reading them, as well as his history- loving older sister.  A book that spans the ages is indeed a keeper. 

We love that these books are told from a personal perspective.  Giving thoughts and feelings to the characters who "experience" the war brings the stories to life, and I believe help younger children better understand how wars affect people, bringing much empathy and understanding to a generation who has not experienced such hardship as of yet.  While we have used these books to support our history lessons, they would be a good addition to anyone who enjoys history and the graphic novel style.  I admit it is one that is harder for me to enjoy, but that is not the case for my kids!  They have all thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend them.

Because of the sensitive subject matter and drama that is portrayed, I suggest a parent read these books first to determine if they are appropriate for your child.  There is one use of strong language in The Search.

Both The Family Secret and The Search are part of the Timberdoodle 6th grade Curriculum kit.  A downloadable study guide is also available.

Chroma Cube Fun

Do you remember as a kid doing those puzzles that required you to actually think?  You know, "Mom had twelve sons, if the 3rd son sat beside the 8th son and the 2nd son sat two rows up..." type things.  And yes, I totally made that up.  I always was intrigued by them but never very good at it honestly.

As it would turn out years later, I have a few kids that not only like those kinds of puzzles but are actually pretty good at them.  They enjoy being challenged and can get in some pretty serious competitions at times.  I knew when we saw Chroma Cube in the newest Timberdoodle Co. catalog it was time to add a new puzzle to our growing list!

You can tell when something is a hit in our house when you always find it sitting out on the counter, and always on TOP of the other games.  (Did I mention games are big in our house?)

Chroma Cube is that kind of hit.  This brain teasing puzzle is made of 12 wooden blocks and a 3X4 wood grid base that holds them.  In a handy little cubbie on the side you will find the directions and 25 puzzle cards.  These cards go from simple to difficult, but unlike other puzzle games, need to be done in order.  They not only progress in difficulty, but some of the later puzzles rely on the earlier knowledge gained from the simpler cards.  No skipping around here.

Each card gives you a picture of how the grid should be set up before you begin.
 

Then following the clues at the bottom of the card, you begin to place the remaining colored cubes in the empty slots.  Once you think you have them all positioned correctly, you can check yourself with the answer key on the back of the card.

As with most new things that come into our house to review, we were eager to try this one out.  Our 12 year old who is our puzzle master had the first go at it.  He quickly went from "this is easy" to "oh, wow!"  After doing a few by himself he decided to challenge other family members to see who could also solve them.  That soon became a game of who could solve them the fastest.  While we have not completed all of the levels we are slowly working our way through them and recently even had our company in on the fun.

It is fun to see how different people process the information and solve the puzzles, especially at different ages and different learning styles.

Reasons to love Chroma Cube-

•  Quick to set up

• Challenging for all ages

• Good for visual and hands on learners

• Family fun

• Sturdy construction

• Easy to transport for on-the-go fun

• Pretty enough to leave sitting out

Chroma Cube is part of Timerdoodle's 11th grade curriculun kit.  Have you seen these kits?  They are simply amazing and offer some of the best products out there in one simple kit.  You can also personalize them according to your specific needs.

Looking for a new challenge in your day?  Or maybe a quiet activity that will engage your child's mind and keep there fingers busy?  Of  a new addition to a Logic Basket, filled with logic activities for your older teens?  Chroma Cube may be your answer!

True Stories of War

I wish I had paid more attention in History class as a kid.  Really, I do!  But all those names and dates went in one ear and out the other.  It didn't help that my cute boyfriend (now my husband) sat across the row from me in optimal note passing distance. Plus, I could never quite figure out how all those random facts were supposed to be important to me anyway.

Fast forward many years and I now know why those dates and names are important.  Now, as I am teaching my kids, I am trying to find better ways to show THEM why those things are important.  One of the ways I have found that works is by trying to make it more personal- let them see the stories and the people that often get lost behind just the facts.

Enter True Stories of War set from Timberdoodle!  This set of four books has been a hit already and have been read and re-read several times.  Each can be bought separately, but the set includes-

• True Story of World War I
• True Stories of World War II
• True Stories of the Revolutionary Way
• True Stories of the Civil War

Each full color, paperback book is seven chapters long.  The first chapter of each book covers "just the facts" of that particular war, to include an overview summary, key dates, and a map.  The following six chapters each tell a side of the story from a particular person's point of view.  A few names you will recognize, but many you may not.  They are ordinary people like you and me who happened to find themselves in the middle of the war.  From doctors, to wives, to spies, you get to hear their views of the events that happened.

The most engaging part of this series is the fact that they are graphic novels.  Honestly, that is not particularly my favorite genre, but my 7th grader loves it so it is a great fit for him.  Only a few pages long each, a simple scene is portrayed and you get a first hand account of a moment in history.

 These are NOT events you might read about in most History books.  Instead they are very personal, behind the scenes accounts.  They make you feel as if you are there, seeing it all first hand.  That being said, some are pretty intense and I would read them ahead of time if you have a child sensitive  to that type of thing.  I would say they are most appropriate for middle scoolers and above due to the nature of their content.

So how are we using these books for school?  Well, as soon as they arrived my son confiscated them and read them one after another.  Since then, they have been used for car trips and free time reading on multiple occasions.   I asked him which was his favorite and he said- "World War II was my favorite but the Civil War one was also really good.  The Flag Over Iwo Jima was my favorite story.  The picture of the flag being raised is so cool."
 

For the record, I finally got a hold of the set last week and read through them myself.  As we continue to study the specific wars in our history curriculum I intend to have him go back to each of the books, pick a story, and do some research to see if he can find out more about that person or event.  Yep, the learning never stops when you are a homeschooler!

Thankfully, books like True Stories from War makes learning a whole lot more fun while giving you a front row seat to the action!

Blessings,