Welcome!

Featured / Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

Hi, I’m Sarah.  About 10 years ago, I designed a new style of homeschooling called Fun-Schooling.​Fun-Schooling is fun for kids, effective at helping them learn, and EASY for moms!​

Fun-Schooling is using kids’ natural talents and passions to ignite a love for learning.  Then, no more nagging and prodding is needed and homeschooling becomes fun!  Many thousands of families have Flipped to Fun-Schooling and aren’t looking back.

At the core of Fun-Schooling is the Fun-Schooling Core Journal.  We have over 50 different Core Journals based on a myriad of interests.  These journals organize the learning of all the core subjects revolving around their passions.​

Along with the Core Journals, we use books from the library or bookstores, card and board games, art supplies, internet and video games, like Minecraft and Prodigy.​

I have kids that love horses, so we do Fun-Schooling with the Horses Journals.  I have kids who love Minecraft, so we Fun-School with Minecraft Journals.  And the same with kids who love musical instruments, making money, baking, dinosaurs, and pets, etc, etc.​

We have many other add-on books in all the subjects to supplement the core journal.​ So if you want to make homeschooling fun for the kids while making sure they are learning, and you want it to be easy for moms, try Fun-Schooling!​

To get started, click over to the bookstore and watch the video about “How to choose the right books”.  You can also visit the active Facebook Group or Forum to connect with thousands of other Fun-Schooling moms.​

Blessings,

Sarah Janisse Brown

Mom of 15

Unschooling and Fun-Schooling–A Perfect Match!

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Below you’ll find some great video content from our main Mom’s Fun-Schooling Group on Facebook–be sure to join so you don’t miss any important announcements, sales, discounts and more! Click here to read about our very busy daughter, for whom Unschooling was the perfect fit!

What is Unschooling?

Unschooling + Fun-Schooling

Peek inside Unschooling-friendly journals

Let Them Dream

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Anna’s Dreams Becoming Reality

God has given each of my children an amazing set of gifts, skills, talents and experiences that shape who they are. I love watching each of them become who they were created to be. Each one has a calling, and for each one it is a unique dream for the future. Each path begins the same, here in our home, but I respect the reality that they each will pursue different futures and goals. Even in our own home, their pursuits and dreams will shape their early lives uniquely.

I pray that we would lay a sure foundation, and that our mission would be to fully equip each one to become whatever it is that they should me. They will not follow my dreams or walk long on my path, they will not hold my hand the whole way, so I pray that my life would simply be to them an example of faith, courage, and integrity.

I don’t expect them to do what I have done, I don’t want them to fall in line with my mission in this world. I want to understand what it is we can do, as parents, to catch their visions and invest what God has given, that they would each be able to shine as they walk bravely into the callings that God whispers into their hearts and minds.

I don’t want to waste a moment of their childhood on worthless things that are irrelevant to their future. So I let go, I set them free. And that looks different from the ordinary idea that each child should have a fair, equal, same, common experience and education. I pray, each day, for the wisdom it takes to let each one learn to handle the responsibilities of their liberty to become….

Come Pray

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My daughter Anna Miriam Brown is the Author of His Story the Musical. Opening Night was Thursday, May 18th! Though it’s a Broadway Team putting on this show, the message of truth is loud and clear. People are moved to tears and are gathering in the lobby and outside the tent after the shows for prayer and reflection. People are saying that they feel God’s Spirit moving in a powerful way.

Our producer felt inspired by these moments to offer a specific time for prayer and reflection after the shows this weekend.

I had a personal connection with leaders at Upperroom Church, near by, and shared the idea, they were so supportive and excited about the idea, after bringing their youth group last week. We felt moved to collaborate with their worship team to lead worship with my daughter Anna on Friday night until around midnight- we will see what God does!

We also have a very special connection with Gateway Church and Anchor Church, so they are collaborating with us to lead worship on Saturday and Sunday nights!!!! It doesn’t matter who you are, what church you are part of, or if you are still your journey of exploring your own path and just want to experience this moment with us. All are welcome!

People are feeling like revival is in the air, and we are praying for God to bring an outpouring of grace, holiness, healing, rescue, reconciliation and favor upon this movement!

Pray that this tent is filled with His glory, and the glory NEVER ceases!

Josh and I will be there! Eight of our older kids will be there too. We are willing to pray for those who come who need a touch from God. We especially need to come together to pray for favor for this musical and for wisdom and courage for all involved.

Register for the event here to get your free tickets (value $35 – $200+ on Ticket Master):

http://hisstorythemusical.com/pray

Dreams of the Future

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Here’s a poem I wrote in my Journal back in 2001, when I was 24, a busy young mom with three little children.  It’s all about the dreams in my heart, and my hopes for the future. So many of those hopes and dreams have far exceeded what I could have ever imagined.

Tomorrow I want to paint my walls with hills and trees, butterflies and clouds, and sing the songs from “The Sound of Music”. Tomorrow I want to ignore the laundry and play outside with my toddlers. I want to be close to creation. I want to feel the wind and the rain and watch the sky.

Tomorrow I want to wake up in my husband’s arms, and listen as he prays for our family.  And I really want to live my life like I was designed to live it.  I want music, purity, sunlight and the laughter of children. I want to know the one who made me, yes, I want to make God smile.

Tomorrow I want to bring fresh milk from the barn, bring fresh flowers to the table, and let my little son feel the joy of gathering a basket of fresh eggs. I want to look out the window and watch the neighbor’s horses run.  I want to share my two-year-old’s amazement as we examine the beans spouting in a jar on the windowsill. I want to build Lego towers, block towers, and couch pillow towers… again and again and again.  I want to watch with wonder as my baby girl falls asleep to Mozart.

Tomorrow I want to drink a cup of loose leaf tea, and share a cup with a friend as we talk about the treasures we found at garage sales. 

I want to fill my house with used books and take time to read them.  I want to learn all about the way my great grandmothers lived, and teach those skills to others. I want to make things I couldn’t buy, and make other things anyway. I want to make my home an expression of creativity, discovery and faith and I want my heart to be an expression of Jesus.

Tomorrow I want to listen to the hearts of my children and be the one who nurtures them from sunrise and sunset and all through the night. I want to giggle with my daughters and read about tractors with my son. I want to smile when people tell me that  I must have my hands full, smile, knowing that my hands are full of blessings.

Tomorrow I want my husband to come home to joy, to peace and to unconditional love.  I want to kiss him and rub his back if he’s achy.  I want him to enjoy a meal seasoned with herbs from our garden.  I want to sit on the porch swing with him and watch the sun set and seasons change. I want to listen as he talks about his computer business and all the new people he meets, then talk about making plans to go to Austria again, or drive down the west coast.

Tomorrow I want to say yes to the things that matter most, and say no to the things that stand in the way of peace.  I want simplicity. I want to live by faith. I want my neighbors to see a candle burning in the window, but never the blue glow of a television set.  I want to be thankful and content with what I have and when I have more than what I need, I want to give.  I want to give even when I must sacrifice.

Tomorrow evening I want to put on my shoes and jacket and go out to the barn.  I want to pass the chicken coop and peek in at the hens as they huddle close, dozing on their roost.  I want to sing quietly as I milk my goat by lantern light, then take a little time just to look up at the stars, and say a few words to the one who made them. 

Tomorrow night I want to fall asleep in a room with wood floors and soft yellow walls as my husband reads the bible to me. I want to dream big dreams, and then make them come true… in my own back yard.

I guess what I really want is for tomorrow to be… a lot like today.

Delight Directed Learning, the Fun-Schooling Way!

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What is Delight Directed Learning?

  • The name gives us a good hint
    • Letting kids follow their interests and learn what they’re delighted/ interested in
  • Many call it the most natural way of learning
    • As adults, we are free to pursue learning whatever sparks our interest
  • Is it the same as Unschooling?
    • Not quite
    • Delight Directed homeschools typically use more formal lessons
    • Most Delight Directed homes teach core subjects with formal lessons and curriculum as well
    • Still can use the unschooling concept of strewing to spark ideas and introduce new concepts
    • Very relaxed and follows children’s interests, generally a bit more structured and may follow more of a schedule than Unschooling
  • What does Delight Directed learning look like?
    • Working with the child’s unique learning needs, learning language, and style
    • Children applying interests to real-life and learning real-life research skills
    • Choosing a subject they want to learn about and doing a deep dive
    • May include- books, documentaries, podcasts, field-trip, crafts, curriculum, visiting with experts on the subject, research, art, and more
    • Often begins as a spark of interest from something else covered in school or discovered in life
      • Begins spontaneous and then may progress into something more structured
    • May last only a day or may last months!
  • How does Delight Directed Learning work with Fun-Schooling?
  • Fun-Schooling is the perfect combination with the Delight Directed (DD) approach!
  • Students can easily study anything they want with our journals
    • Single-subject journals give students a guided deep-dive into dozens of topics
    • Or students can choose a core journal and library books, documentaries, podcasts, interviews with experts, hands-on projects, etc. to study anything they can.
  • Aligns with the idea Delight Directed learning teaches of following the natural learning process
    • As adults, we decide what we want to, or need to know, and dive in!
    • A relaxed, fun, and encouraging learning process like DD focuses on
  • Students can cover all the main subjects like math, language arts, history, science, social studies in alignment with their interests.
  • Sets students up to dive deep into the skills, knowledge, and tools they will need to have for their future callings and careers

Be sure to join the main Fun-Schooling Moms group on Facebook, and then click below to watch a video on Fun-Schooling journals that are Delight Directed-Friendly!

Celebrating with Mom-School Bundles!

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

A BIG “Thank You!” to Amanda Osenga for putting together these Mom School bundles!!

These bundles are on a launch special for 20% off to celebrate all of our moms! Happy Mother’s Day! We hope these are a blessing for you on your Mom School journey.

Here are the new bundles-

🌸PDF Mom School Bundle- Code pdfMomBundle

🌹 Mom School- Paperback- Secular- Code SecularMomBundle

🌺 Mom School- Paperback- Christian- Code FaithMomBundle

Apply 20% off if you’d like to purchase multiple Mom-Schooling Bundles with the promo code “MomSchool2023”.

Click the images below for details on what is included in each bundle. Click here to see all of our Mom-School products and Sarah’s Teas!

Budget Friendly Tips from Real Fun-Schooling Moms!

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Recently in our main Fun-Schooling Mom Support Group we asked these questions:

How does your family Fun-School on a budget?

What are your favorite free and cheap resources to use with Fun-Schooling Journals?

Here are some great responses from our some of our Fun-Schooling Moms!

I have a few ideas on how to Fun-School on a budget.

Resources at the library free.

YouTube videos are free.

Streaming on most devices are free and you can get a lot of documentaries.

Having each child just pick out a core journal and using the free resources above would be very affordable.

A.M.B.

Library books, YouTube and streaming services for videos, “buy nothing” Facebook pages, public access parks/nature centers, Teachers Pay Teachers.

J.C.

Definitely the library is resource number one. Then “buy nothing” groups, yard sales, thrift stores, and eBay.

A.S.M.

Crash Courses on YouTube.

S.B.

We have 5 kiddos, and we love to visit our local library for free resources in the community! We love checking out documentaries, living books, handicraft themed magazines! We also love the Life Skills Fun-Schooling books to learn with what we have at home.

L.S.

Library and online resources: Britannica, BrainPOP, BrainPOP Jr, Trueflix

J.B.

We go to the civil war reinactments for history and also the cemetery, and for math we count train cars as they go by our house, and of course the library. Another great way learn is reading signs like historical landmark signs. We love our Fun-Schooling books. It’s not every day you get a kid who asks “Can we learn about something?” on a weekend, but we always try to say yes.

L.R.

Public library for switching out books as interests change. Thrift books for books they love or if you don’t have a library close. Jesse Robertson Keep it Colorful painting tutorials for the artists (2 free a week on her site). Pizazz Art tutorials with watercolors on You tube and other videos and documentaries on the topic of choice. Free printables from Teachers Pay Teachers or any google search of “free printables” including the topic in the search bar, buying when there is a sale to prepare for future studies. Also, The Good and the Beautiful has free Language Arts and Math curriculum for download on their website. Oklahoma School for the Deaf offers 2 free sign language courses(prerecorded at your own leisure). Sorry for the jumbled and unorganized thoughts, just typing as it comes to me. Hope this helps someone!!

K.A.

Epic book app for books on the go, this way I don’t have to run to the library to check out when we change it up last minute.

Pinterest for craft ideas. We tend to craft and art with every thing. So I keep cardboard tubes, egg cartons, pipe cleaners and so much more in bins and then when we do a new topic like different fish or animals we look up crafts for them and make them.

A.U.

Click here to read more great tips!

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Summer Holiday School!

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

For those of us who tend to follow a public school system-type schedule, school is nearly out for the summer! Let’s talk about Holiday School and how we might incorporate it into our summer months. These ideas below were originally put together for Christmas break, but can also be applied to Thanksgiving, Easter/Spring break, or summer vacation!

-Holiday School is a break from the “normal” rhythm of school to enjoy the summer break

-There’s no wrong way to do Holiday School- just take time to enjoy time w/ your family and enjoy this special season

-Time to enjoy cooking, baking, learning a new craft, learning to play or sing a hymn, play games and make puzzles, listen to music, create art, watch movies, etc

-Enjoy summer activity books like hidden pictures, vacation-theme word searches, crossword puzzles, and lots of coloring pages

-Try to learn a hymn in another language

-Lots of families read a book per day

-Some families keep the “core subjects” or do one main journal per day and lots of extra fun vacation activities

-Do summer themed copywork, recitation, and dictation

-Memorize a passage of a famous book

-Create a play

-Also a great time to relax and refresh after a busy year!

-All ages can enjoy Holiday School. Tap into what your kids are interested in and see where it leads

-Some families choose to do a special unit study

-Teens are often really tired by the end of the year and may need extra time to just REST

Below is a peek inside our Holiday-themed journals (if you’d like to do “Christmas in July”)! 😉 We have so many journals that could be adapted to a summer holiday:

Mom-Schooling Encouragement!

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

(Guest post by Amanda Osenga)

Let’s talk about Mom School.

We often hear moms saying they don’t have the time. Moms are busy. We get that! Which is why we think Mom School is especially important. It’s an opportunity for you to feed your mind, set an example for your kids, and unwind.

Consider this- even one page per day is enough for you to fill multiple Mom School journals in a year. Stop scrolling- you have time for one page a day. Even if you only get one page for 180 days- that’s a full Mom School journal.

There is also a big mental impact of “should-ing” yourself and feeling like you’re not accomplishing something. Think about how great you’ll feel at the end of the year when you’ve filled a journal or two with only one page per day! 15 minutes or so is all you need. You’ll have learned new things, helped your brain think in new ways, and balance your thoughts.

Our journals are designed to help decrease stress and bring more ease to your days. Give yourself permission to take time for yourself. Moms struggle with this.

We suggest 4-6 pages per day most days of the week for full Mom School. Working up incrementally is the easiest way to build a habit. Start with one page. In 6 weeks, start doing two; 6 weeks after that add a 3rd- no need to jump all in right away.

If you can get someone to hang with the kids or a program for them to go to a few hours once a week, give yourself a regular Mom School date! Pull out your secret stash of snacks, make your favorite drink, and spend time learning something new. It’s tempting to binge-watch your favorite shows when you get a moment alone- there’s nothing wrong with that- try starting with a bit of Mom School first.

🌸ALL Mom School PDFs are 50% off!
– INCLUDING Brain Games and the Bird Watching Journal 🐣
😍 Mom School Handbook Paperbacks are $15.75
🦆Bird Watching Paperback is $12.50 🦉
☕ Coffee Time Paperback is $17.50
🌺 Homeschooling Handbook Paperback is $17.50
🤩 All Brain Games Paperbacks are $10 or less
🌹 90-day Pocket Planners are all $5 or less
We hope this helps you on your Mom School journey!

Peek inside all of these and more next week- RSVP here https://www.facebook.com/events/641466461327932/

May is Mom School Month, and we are excited to share more tips, resources, and ideas with you. Make sure and join us at our main Fun-Schooling group for great content, giveaways and discounts, and encouraging discussions! And our Mom-specific Fun-Schooling group has a regular giveaway each week! Hope to see you there!

Using Fun-Schooling Books to Develop a Complete Curriculum

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

Guest Post by Gina Phillips

I would like to share with you how I am using the Fun-Schooling books by Sarah Janisse Brown to create a complete curriculum for my 5th grade (working at a 3-5th grade level) son.

I first purchased the Do-It-Yourself Curriculum Fun-Schooling with Minecraft journal. Then I just took each section and figured out what I wanted to use to cover it. My son needs a little more structure with his learning so not everything is just him choosing what he wants to use. I let him choose topics and extra books but the core is chosen by me. Then, we added in items to cover Math and Language Arts.

Here is a list of what we do:

For the Geography pages we use: The Children’s Atlas of God’s World and The Not-For-Parents Travel Book

For the Design Your Own Animal pages we use: Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas

For Reading Time and Core Subject Pages, he has decided to study Chemistry and Middle Ages: Amish Pathway readers, The Story of the World Vol. 2 (we also do the color pages associated with this book), Usborne Look Inside a Castle, Fizz, Bubble & Flash, God’s Design For Chemistry and Ecology: Properties of Atoms and Molecules, Usborne Medieval World. We are also reading Robin Hood and The Knights of the Round Table.

News, Movie Time and Nature Study are not planned out I just help him find good quality things to cover these areas that we find online or outside! Some we like are the Wordup! DVD, Drive Through History and Horrible History.

For the Math Time pages we will use the Bedtime Math App. because we have a separate Math program

For the Copywork pages, I decided to use Draw-Write-Now and let him choose which book he wanted to use.

For Listening Time we are going through the Usborne Famous Composers Reference Book. (It has QR links to listen to music from the composers!)

Then for the Vocabulary pages we are using English from the Roots Up Vol. 1. We write the word root at the top of the page and I let him select from the included words which ones he wants to write down and define.

For our remaining subjects we use the following:

Math: Comic Book Math and Learn Math Fast Books

Spelling/Phonics: Explode the Code and Teach Your Child 100 Words to Read, Write,Spell and Draw

Thinking Skills: Thinking Skills from plainandnotsoplain.com

Grammar: we are reading Simply Grammar, Usborne Illustrated Grammar and Punctuation and we use the Mad Libs Game.

I hope this helps give you an idea of what we are doing in our homeschool using the Fun-Schooling books. Click here to see how this looks on a daily schedule.

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