These tips are from a post back in 2016. Some truths are timeless. Scripture truth will always “age well”. These simple truths will help to keep you peaceful, joyful, and grounded as a homeschool mom.
I never set out to start a movement—I was just a mom trying to help my kids love learning again.
One of my daughters struggled with dyslexia. Traditional workbooks drained her confidence and made her hate reading. So, I created hand-drawn journals—full of coloring pages, storytelling, and creative prompts—and suddenly, she thrived!
Other moms started asking for copies, and before I knew it, Fun-Schooling was born! Families around the world—especially those with dyslexia, ADHD, and creative learners—discovered a better way to homeschool: interest-led, joyful, and stress-free.
Now, with over 300 books and a global community of families, Fun-Schooling is helping kids fall in love with learning again.
If homeschooling feels boring, stressful, or rigid—maybe it’s time to Fun-School!
Have you tried Fun-Schooling? Share in the comments! Ready to get started? Visit funschooling.com
Thirteen years ago, all the kids were 12 and under and I organized EVERYTHING. Now that they are all ten and up I organize very little moment by moment activity, I just make sure the basics are covered. Running a home with 8 kids under 12 was a very different season. Above is our “chore chart” for that season (see others below!). It was a great way to motivate and keep things on somewhat of a schedule. So funny that Esther at age 10 was going to the coffee shop for two hours a day. We lived on Main Street and she loved having her chill time there.
This was my actual Home-Learning Plan five years ago. It is simple for parents and delightful to kids!
Logic Games
Read Favorite Books
YouTube Tutorials
Nature Time
Online Math Games or Serious Stuff
Kitchen Time
Spelling Games
Complete 5 Workbook Pages or 5 Fun-Schooling Journal Pages
Play Outside
Art & Drawing
Just Dance
Chores
Online Games (a reward for chores and school)
Family Time and Board Games
Movie Time
Music Practice
Dyslexia Games You can do these activities in any order, but Movies and Online Games should be close to last.
For chores, we would create new schedule once every 3 or 4 months. Everyone liked knowing exactly what areas of the house they were responsible for.
Chores are largely about teaching life skills and serving others. This journal can help!
Why do little children do the opposite of what you say? Why do preschoolers reject new foods and green leafy foods? Why do toddlers refuse to share? Why do preschoolers always want what the other child has? Why do preschoolers fight bedtime? How can I help my child to have a good attitude when cleaning up? What can I do to help my child to behave, listen and obey?
A little over a decade ago, a friend of mine asked me to make a video about “Toddler and Preschool Behavior Problems” for her MOPS group. Here it is, featuring a tiny Ember Brown:
In our family of 15, we don’t view k-12 education merely as a stepping stone to college. Our kids don’t even know what “grade” they are in half the time.
Instead of focusing on traditional academics, we see childhood as an exciting opportunity for our kids to begin crafting real-world skills centered around their passions.
As a homeschooling mom I get to create an environment for learning that inspires each child in the pursuit of their unique dream or calling, while exploring fulfilling options for a career.
Ages 2-5 From the outset, we introduce our kids to stories of passionate people who never give up, do great things and solve problems in the world. We are laying the groundwork for a life where work and calling intertwine. We love to read about people and find out about the jobs of the people we meet, from the high call of being a mommy or daddy, to the world-shaping influence of authors, political figures, heroes, artists and inventors.
I remember when my son Joseph was five, when he would meet someone new he would say “Hi, my name’s Joseph, I’m a scientist. What are you?”
Isaac’s bracelet-making and sword crafting were not just about making money but about igniting his creative and business acumen.
Leah, Ember, and Lilly’s craft sales at festivals were lessons in art, economics, and teamwork.
Rachel’s book reselling taught her about value, negotiation, and her love for literature.
Esther’s bath salts business combined chemistry with marketing, all while following her interests.
Ages 9-12 We deepen their engagement with their passions:
Providing resources like an aviary for Laura who is passionate about birds or a piano for Joseph who is gifted in music – these gifts allow them to live their passions daily.
We emphasize learning by doing, ensuring that education is not abstract but connected to real-life applications. Why learn something from a book when you can do it in real life? As homeschoolers we are not limited by the walls of a classroom!
Ages 13-20 Here, we move from exploration to mastery:
Investing in their vision on their 13th birthday We provide them with real tools to build their dreams, whether they lead to a career or a calling.
Skills taught are those they’ll use in their chosen paths, like marketing, leadership, or specialized knowledge.
We limit distractions to keep their focus on what truly excites and fulfills them. No phones until they are ready to run a business that requires it. They have to pay for their own phone, and we parents put filters on the device to keep the kids safe and productive.
I believe it is so important to understand how to nurture a child’s growing mind. I have a passion to teach them to be curious, to love learning, to research wisely and to grow in wisdom, understanding and knowledge. It’s been my lifework to understand why some children struggle to learn, read, and focus, and I dig deep into these matters sorting through vast amounts of research on the human mind to understand how to unlock the potential of each child. I work hard to find the answers and tap into the child’s gifts, no matter what their natural strengths and weaknesses may be. And I test these ideas and solutions and share them with the world, and many thousands of children have been able to overcome struggles related to ADHD, Autism and Dyslexia.
I also believe that it’s vastly important to nurture the child’s growing body, to give the child the best foods, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and the right balance of proteins, fats and carbs. I research and learn what is good and what is poison and ensure the child has sunshine and exercise. Because what good is a strong mind inside a weak and sick body? You can not care for one and neglect the other. Mothers and fathers everywhere make it a priority to care for the mind and body of the child, hoping that the child will grow, thrive and be strong and wise.
But this is not enough. We must also nourish the soul and spirit and character of the child as well–and even more so. How often is the care of the spirit the last thing we even consider at the end of the day? To nourish the spirit of the child is of greater value than all other efforts we could ever make to feed the mind and the body. How many of us have children who are starving spiritually?
Parent, you reap what you sow. If you plant in your child the seeds of the Spirit your child will grow in the Spirit. If you build him up in character, he will become a man of honor. If your daughter is nurtured in the things of the Spirit she will grow in grace, glory and faith. But if a parent neglects the nourishment of the spirit, the soul and the character of the child, the impact in the life of the child will be more devastating than if you failed to nourish the body and the mind. So I ask you, loving mother, faithful father? How will you tend to the garden of your child’s soul today?
A Simple Plan
Here is something simple to begin with. Make each child a cup of tea and make one for yourself and then you all go to your quiet spots with a Bible and Journal. Tell them that when they are done with “Bible Time” it will be “serving time” where each person helps someone else in the family with their chores. Turn on some peaceful music during Quiet Time.
In short, you begin by demonstrating what this looks like.
For younger children, you can have them listen to a Bible audio book. Get a children’s Bible and use Bible coloring pages. We have a number of journals that will help!
Find many more journals for Fun-Schooling moms and kids of all ages here!
I want the share inspiration and encouragement that is helping me.
Here’s a talk from Nancy Campbell at Above Rubies, that explains the hormone Oxytocin, the “peace hormone” and how to tap into its power to reduce stress and anxiety, and give you a feeling of peace!
Click here for a post on “Tips for Reducing Stress, Media, and Clutter”!
Parenting is hard. Parents have to choose their battles. Here are 8 fights worth picking with your kids:
The Reading Fight:
Make your kids read. Because reading is tied to everything from cognitive development to the ability to focus.
The Outside Fight:
Make your kids go outside. The natural world teaches us things. Plus, outside there’s sunshine, fresh air, and exercise waiting for them. Most importantly, nature is full of things in short supply in our world: Discovery, wonder, peace, joy.
The Work Fight:
Make your kids work. I’m saddened by how many parents don’t require their kids to lift a finger at home. There are priceless life principles you can only learn with a mop in your hand. Let sweat be their teacher.
The Meal Fight:
Make your kids eat as a family. Our lives are a blur of incessant activity. Meals together are a physical pause to recover a truth so easily sacrificed at the altar of busyness. Nothing’s more important than family.
The Boredom Fight:
Make your kids live with boredom. Don’t show a DVD on each car ride. Kids need unscheduled time. And, odd as it sounds, boredom is a skill. It’s hard as a parent to deal with the assault of boredom complaints. But if you give in and fill up their time with external stimuli, you’ll raise an activity addict. Make them learn how to be.
The “Me First” Fight:
Make your kids go last. Not every time for everything. But enough to remember that the world doesn’t revolve around them. Take the smallest piece. Give up the remote. Do someone else’s chores. Get their least favorite choice. They won’t like it, but they need it.
The Awkward Conversation Fight:
Make your kids have uncomfortable conversations with you. Sex, dating, body image, values…Your kids will roll their eyes and resist. You will stumble and stutter. They need and want your perspective, lessons learned, and wisdom.
The Limitation Fight:
Learning to live within limits is a valuable life skill. In fact, many adult problems arise from an inability to accept them. Screen time limits, dietary limits, activity limits, and schedule limits are all good.
As a parent, you have to pick your battles. They’re not easy, but they’re worth the fight.
It’s Tuesday, June 14th, 1994. We arrived in Virginia Beach earlier today and are staying in a motel apartment just half a block from the beach. It’s pretty nice.
Mom and Dad just got back from shopping at the commissary. I can hear the others in the living room and kitchen. They’re all excited because they saw on C-SPAN that the Senate is in session. We visited that room yesterday when we went to Washington, D.C. We even took some pictures while we were there.
My favorite part of the trip was the art museum. I love Mary Cassatt’s paintings and Gainsborough’s. I could imagine them, hundreds of years ago, stepping back to critique their finished work, having no idea that in 1994, a young lady named Sarah Janisse would also be stepping back to admire their wonderful masterpiece.
At the Museum of National History, I found myself dreaming of watching the First Ladies and their dresses dancing with the President at the Inaugural Ball 200 years ago.
Something really pierced my heart as I walked past the Vietnam War Memorial, with its wall engraved with the names of thousands of men who died. My dad said his name could have very well been on that wall too. It was the first time he saw it, and he was really touched. He looked like he might cry.
A Conversation on the Subway
On the subway back to the parking lot, I sat beside a lady named Joyce. She was a small Black woman in her early 30s—very sweet—and we talked. She had lived in Washington, D.C. her whole life. She asked where I was from and where I was going, so I told her.
She asked me about college, and I told her I planned to go to art school and Bible college. She asked a few more questions, and I was able to share a little about how I’m a Christian and how believing in the Bible is so important in life. I didn’t say much, but I pray the Lord will use my witness to inspire her to read the Bible and come to know Jesus.
A Prayer for Provision and Blessing
I hope and pray that this will be a very successful art show. Lord, bring people to buy more paintings. Please provide for our needs. But I don’t ever have to ask—you always provide, so I’ll just thank you instead.
Father, I thank you now for abundantly meeting all of our needs. You are so faithful. Thank you that I can trust in you to give me all that I need. Thank you for caring. I will lack nothing.
A Prayer for Josh and His Family
I’m going to call Josh sometime and give him the number here. Lord, work it out and make a perfect time for me to call him. Pour your blessings on him and his family. Give them joy. Show his dad where to go on vacation—you know just what would be best—so let your will be done.
Thank you for working everything out. I’m not quite sure how Josh’s parents expect me to act, but I want to please them as I please you. Work it out. Let it come naturally for me to be a blessing to them. Please, Jesus, don’t allow me to be a burden.
I want to be helpful, not in the way. I want them to be happy to have me with them. Let me be someone they enjoy, not just someone they tolerate. I love Josh, and it’s important that his family loves me.
Let them see that it’s your plan that Josh and I are together. Let them accept the fact joyfully and receive me as I am, in your time.
A Prayer for Josh’s Sisters Becky and E (E is his foster sister). The are both young teens.
Use me in the lives of Becky and E to draw them closer to you. Let me be an encouragement to them to follow you with all their hearts. These girls will be part of my life forever—let us love now.
I know that you love Becky and E so much, just as you love me. Use me to show them your love. Work in their hearts. Use me.
Bless Josh now with your peace.
Be glorified. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Click here for a free Mary Cassatt picture study for homeschoolers.
Today I took an hour To rearrange my things To think about my goals And to reignite my dreams I went from shelf to shelf To gaze upon each book As if to stop and ask myself To take a deeper look To think of who I want to be The skills I hope to learn To set imagination free To love, to grow, to yearn. I found my favorite basket Full of other people’s things I dumped it out, and asked it To be the keeper of new dreams. I start fresh from empty And held it with one hand Without hesitation we Set off to make new plans. I found my favorite books again And promised to begin To treat them as my dear friends, And then I found some pens I found my father’s Bible Filled with his notes and lines I’ll take his thoughts once more to heart and try to make them mine. I have a little journal for each and every child I fill the pages with my prayers Through times of tears and smiles I have some colored pencils Some photos and memories I’ll add a story book of course For my little girls to read. My basket is almost ready My heart and mind feel full Now I just need a cup of tea And a journal for my soul Today I took an hour To rearrange my things I’m ready now to grow and learn And to reignite my dreams. ~Sarah Janisse Brown
Have you tried Fun-Schooling? Share in the comments! Ready to get started? Visit 
