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The Feature Friday Homeschool Business for November 10 is Knowledge Box Central.

Why Me, God?  (Oh…NOW I get it…!)

By Cyndi Kinney

 

I know we’ve all felt like this from time to time.  For some…..those times are more frequent than others.  After several years of this being the most common phrase spinning around in my head, I finally figured out that I should be listening instead of doing so much whining, complaining, and asking questions.  I should be doing more obeying than resisting.  This discovery led to Knowledge Box Central!

 

Now…….a little history is required for that to make much sense.

 

Over the years, there have been many trials in my life and that of my family...as I am sure there has been in yours as well.  As a Registered Nurse, I was very proud of my profession and became very focused on the monetary gains that came from that profession….I am sad to say that I became quite materialistic.  God started calling me to mission work, but I “didn’t have time,” which really meant, “I don’t want to take off work and miss my paycheck.”  So…..He allowed an accident to happen that forced me to be off work for QUITE a long time.  During that time, our church mission team approached me about going to Romania.  I did NOT want to go.  However, God is God.  I went on 3 separate trips to Romania….  I no longer valued material things because I had seen people who were so grateful for dirt streets, outdoor plumbing, and raising their own food….and realized how selfish and prideful I had been. 

 

When it came time for my daughter to begin school, I felt that God wanted me to homeschool her.  BUT, I was afraid.  About that time, I was diagnosed with M.S. (Multiple Sclerosis), and that gave me another excuse not to follow God’s lead.  So, I sent her to public school.  God’s voice was SO LOUD!! Needless to say, she soon became homeschooled.  God helped me to realize that even if we had to have school in my bed, she would get a far better education than she was getting in public school.  So, once again, God got his point across.

 

Then, I began to feel sorry for myself because I couldn’t “work” outside the home.  I KNEW that God wanted me to be home.  But why did he let me get my education….and let me have all of these ideas running around in my head all the time if I wasn’t supposed to do anything with it?  Physically, I could NOT work.  How fair was that?  (This was when I was going through one of those phases when I thought life was SUPPOSED to be fair..LOL). 

 

About this time, my medication was changed to a daily injection, and my symptoms improved.  I began to be more active in co-ops.  Others knew that I had done some lapbooks with my daughter and asked me to be in charge of lapbooks in the co-op.  After several co-op classes involving lapbooks, I began having parents ask me to show them how to create lapbooks.  In our Tapestry of Grace (a great Christian Classical Education curriculum) co-op, someone suggested that I put a note on the Tapestry of Grace forum and let the users know that I had made some lapbooks to go along with a couple of the units.  These well-meaning parents seemed to think that someone out there might want to buy them from me. 

 

So, I created a very small, cheap website and put 2 lapbooks on it.  I posted a note on the Tapestry of Grace forum, letting them know about it.  Before I knew it, I had orders coming out of my ears!!!  You would think that this would be a good thing, right???  Wrong…I was totally unprepared!!  I didn’t think anyone would REALLY want my lapbooks…..let alone want to BUY them!!  As I was scrambling to figure out how I was going to make this “new business” work, I received a call from the owner of Tapestry of Grace.  Thank God she GAVE ME GRACE!  It seems that I had crossed some important lines when I posted my advertisement on the forum.  She politely said, “You can’t advertise on the forum.  I’ll have to remove your posts.”  Then, she added, “but we’d love to talk with you about having you design lapbooks for all 16 of our units.”

 

………………………………..  (That’s me…speechless….doesn’t happen often)

 

And so…….there was born Knowledge Box Central.  We were now a full-blown home-based business.  I no longer had anything to whine about…I had plenty to keep my brain busy!  God gave me a way to use my brain, even when my body didn’t want to cooperate with me much.  Isn’t he good?

 

The business took off….to the point that my husband came home full-time in July.  He felt God calling him to make the sacrifice to leave his job and give his support to the ministry that I had begun.  He has been the biggest blessing for this business!  It is still a struggle, but we are finally “breaking even.”  I guess that’s not bad, since we started this business officially in February, and it’s now November.  We don’t have a storefront or big cars, and we haven’t gone on any vacations……and I still wear old clothes from years ago.  We are a long way from what I would really call “profiting,” but we are making something that is OURS…TOGETHER.  It’s a true family business.  I think God is pleased. 

 

So……what is Knowledge Box Central?  We specialize in Lapbooks, CopyWork Notebooks, Notebooking Pages, Activity Books, and Republishing of Antique Books.

Currently, we design lapbooks for Tapestry of Grace.  We are in the process of designing lapbooks for Jeannie Fulbright (Elementary Science series from Apologia), Geography Matters (Geography Matters and Cantering the Country), and possibly a few others. 

 

Here is some information about Lapbooks and CopyWork:

 

v    What is a Lapbook?  A Lapbook is a way of displaying a summary of what a student has learned and accomplished during a particular unit of study.  Technically, it’s nothing more than some folders and paper booklets (but arranged and folded in unique ways)!  The first time I saw one, it reminded me of the old “pop-up” books from my childhood!   It may include maps, vocabulary, creative writing, coloring/drawing, questions & answers, reports, and so much more. 

Lapbooks can be done for any subject:  Science, History, Grammar,   Music, Art, Math, ANYTHING!!!

v   Why Use Lapbooking?  Lapbooking appeals to all ages/grade levels.  It improves retention of materials learned and reinforces topics.  It allows for creative students to be motivated, and for “creatively-challenged” students to accomplish tasks in exciting ways! Lapbooking motivates reluctant writers and budding artists.  It allows for a “fun” way of studying an otherwise challenging topic. It reinforces the connection between writing and reading.  Lapbooks can even replace testing, as it is a display of what was learned!  It’s a GREAT evaluation tool!  One of the best parts of lapbooking is having it for years to come for display or showing to family and friends.

 

**What is “copywork,” and how do I use it in my child’s education?

Copywork is a great way to teach your children.  By copying passages from Great Works or historical documents, children learn many areas of Language Arts.  Children have the opportunity to be exposed to great writers and/or facts, while learning Spelling, Punctuation, Grammar, Vocabulary, and Creative Writing from the “Masters.”  Most Classical Education programs recommend copywork as an intricate part of educating your children, and many actually use copywork in place of traditional Language Arts programs.

By copying passages 2-3 days per week (or more), your children will come to learn and possibly even memorize some of the greatest literature from our history.  While penmanship is important, the knowledge that they are gaining through the copywork is what is most important.  

However, do encourage your children to take pride in their penmanship. Also, instruct them in the importance of the “art” of Spelling, Punctuation, Grammar, Vocabulary, and Creative Writing.  With some practice, they will begin to “imitate” these in their own personal writing.

 

 

We have a Newsletter called Knowledge Box Knews, and it quite often features special discounts for our subscribers ONLY! 

We also have a special Yahoo E-Group called Lapbooking_Made_Simple, where we chat about lapbooking techniques and ideas.

 

If you like Notebooking, we have a Yahoo E-Group called Notebooking_3Dimensional, where we plan to talk about using lapbooking folds in notebooks to create a 3-dimensional notebook!  We just started this group!

 

Lastly, we have a Yahoo E-Group called Homeschool_Funnies, where we encourage our friends to send in humorous stories about their homeschool adventures.  We plan to compile these and others into a book someday.  Any submissions that are used in the book will receive a free copy of the book when it is published!

 

If you like contests, watch our website.  We currently have a Christmas Coloring Contest, and the winners in the 2 categories win a FREE E-book and a $25.00 gift card to Target!

 

If you have read this far, you deserve a special offer!!!  Here is a special discount code for you.  It will give you 25% off ALL items on the site.  It will be active NOW through November 30, 2006.  Here’s the code:  PRMama25  Enter it at checkout!

 

We have a Representative Program and also provide Workshops/Seminars…so let us know if you are interested!

 

Our goal is to provide “Adventures in Learning” by strengthening EVERY learning style, while giving God the glory.

 

Blessings,

Cyndi Kinney

Knowledge Box Central

www.knowledgeboxcentral.com

Cyndi@knowledgeboxcentral.com

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Lapbooking_Made_Simple/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Notebooking_3Dimensional/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homeschool_Funnies/

 

Comments

Wow!

8:18 PM, Nov. 26, 2006, posted by jaminacema

What an awesome story! I am a big fan of Knowlege Box Central, knowing this makes the company even more special! Way to go Cyndi!

Jamin

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