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.
Dyslexia Games is designed around the beautiful and creative dyslexic mind.
It uses the gift of art, the creative genius, the ability to see through the mind’s eye to complete patterns and solve puzzles. The games focus on the dyslexic gifts and talents as the symbols, letters, words and poetry are added to the activities- step by step, little by little.
The idea is to light up the dyslexic mind that the student engages in art and logic; the strongest part of the mind is activated as the symbols are reintroduced. The idea is for the stronger areas of the mind to engage in the process of symbol identification.
I would recommend reading “The Gift of Dyslexia” to really understand what people with dyslexia are brilliant and how to engage their brilliant minds while reintroducing literacy.
Many dyslexia therapies just focus on “kindergarten type phonics” over and over and over. This type of therapy offended my brilliant dyslexic daughter.
I wanted a reading program that would respect the fact that she was an artist, a thinker, a storyteller, a creative. And that is why she thrived with Dyslexia Games.
Here are some wonderful testimonials:
“We’ve almost completed series B. My sons are more confident to try spelling and for the most part I can actually figure out what they are trying to spell. These are huge steps for these boys that could barely put pencil to paper because of the stress. Our speech lady hadn’t seen us since Covid. And I know that’s long but we really haven’t done anything for spelling since that time except these books. And the speech lady was floored at how much they had improved. One of them doesn’t even qualify for speech/language right now (which was going to be for focus and help with dyslexia). These books are the only thing I can think of that have made the difference.” Tina Perez Glenn
“These books were a huge game changer for us. We went through Dyslexia Games a few years ago with my oldest and I truly believe they really helped. There was some serious struggle with the first few books while he got the hang of it, but he stuck with it and we noticed a big difference. He also built his confidence back up which was huge for us. Then we discovered their curriculum journals and have used them ever since. Both my boys enjoy them so much! I have my own books to work in alongside the kids and it really sets the tone for learning. I also love the supportive community and company itself.” Leanne Nattress
“Two of my sons and myself use the Brain Games and Dyslexia Games books. My profoundly dyslexic kiddo is reading after less than a year using these books! My dysgraphic kiddo is writing FOR FUN. And, I have noticed that if I do 2-3 pages a day, my brain fog and using the wrong words is a lot better!” Stephanie Ann Goetsch
“We have used the Dyslexia Games and it made a huge difference for my youngest son. We had tried more traditional therapy and he fought it tooth and nail, but not the dyslexia games. We are currently using Math Craft and like it as well.” Amanda Murray Griffey
“Our daughter is a high school junior. She was exasperated as we tried one thing after another, trying to find something that would click with her brain, as she deals with dyslexia and Asperger’s. Dyslexia Games was the solution. Having everything available in Dyslexie font was huge for her. As she’d faithfully do 2-3 pages a day, I began to see changes not only in her reading and writing, but also in her ability to organize and perform tasks in sequence (both are challenging for kids like her). It has boosted her self confidence so much! We love the journals generally and use not only Dyslexia Games but many, many other Fun-Schooling journals almost exclusively for her school now. I also do Brain Games Art & Logic Therapy alongside her which has helped me with Covid fog/fibro fog while inspiring her by my example. Win-win! What’s not to love???”Diane Heeney
I embrace my Asperger’s as a gift. I feel like it isn’t something I should be ashamed of–we are just wired differently, yet have so many unique gifts and talents. I was about 30 when I realized what made me different, at the time my nephew and several family members were diagnosed with Asperger’s and my daughter Anna, with Dyslexia. It was refreshing to begin to understand my quirks, gifts and reason for my struggles. All through school I mystified the teachers, they couldn’t understand how an intelligent girl with a high IQ could fail so terribly in school–and why was I such a target for the bullies?
I was very uncomfortable with conversation, and did not enjoy playing with kids my age. I liked babies, enjoyed talking to some adults, and had a strong connection with animals. I always avoided looking at people, and loved gadgets and spinning things. I was constantly counting everything and was obsessed with patterns, space travel, genealogy and genetics. I was one of those kids who could solve Rubik’s Cubes and logic puzzles in a flash, but was terrified of my classmates. I would rather eat sand than talk to the kids in the lunch room. I wore my hair over my eyes to keep out the fluorescent lights, and to keep people from seeing me. I was always designing things and drawing things and building habitats for small animals. I created a museum in my own backyard. I was a weird kid, and I knew it. I didn’t care what anyone thought of me.
Until I was 14 years old I refused to make eye contact and my symptoms of Autism were much more severe than they are now. Something changed. People with Asperger’s tend to have very intense special interests. My interest was drawing people’s eyes and doing makeup. I became fascinated by the human face. Once I began to get comfortable looking at faces I quickly began to overcome many symptoms related to socializing.
I started with magazine tutorials teaching step by step how to apply make up. Looking at models on a page wasn’t as uncomfortable as looking at people in real life. I even took acting, photography, and modeling classes. I worked specifically on becoming comfortable with eye contact and began doing makeup on myself and others.
Once I was comfortable with looking at faces, I began to get curious about the color of everyone’s eyes. So I would look at people. I also began to draw pictures of people in magazines and would focus on eyes and expressions.
I didn’t know that I was overcoming a lot of social anxiety in the process.
Once I was willing to look at people’s faces, and even study people’s faces, I started to understand the connection between their words, tone of voice, feelings and facial expression. I didn’t have feelings of empathy until I started reading faces.
Getting over the discomfort of looking at a person’s face was incredibly hard. When I would make eye contact as a young child I felt like I could see down into the soul. It was too much.
The goal of this book is to gently help the student to study faces, color the eyes, trace the faces and expressions, and identify the emotions of the person or animal in each picture. As the student engages in these activities they subconsciously begin to work through the feelings of resistance and anxiety that often accompany eye contact. Once the student becomes more familiar with faces they may begin to experience stronger empathy and feel more comfortable while engaging with others.
I can’t promise or claim that this book will help your loved one, but it’s worth a try. I’m releasing it for less than $10 so you can easily become part of this research experiment if you would like to. I know that my Dyslexia Therapy has been incredibly successful, and our Dyscalculia Games have made an amazing difference in the lives of struggling learners. So far I’ve seen positive results using these activities with children who are on the spectrum. So if you are willing, give it a try!
I know that there will be people who are skeptical and will want to tell me why this is not the professional way to help people with Autism. If you are that person, please wait at least one month before judging the program. Thanks!
For those who prefer not to have the word “Autism” on the cover, this option is now available.
I’ve put my Brain Games books at the lowest possible price, Amazon will earn their penny, and will also give everyone with Prime free shipping. I won’t earn much, maybe a few cents, but you all will have the opportunity to get our therapy books as a “loss leader” to help us get back on our feet and get these books back up into their “bestseller” rating. I just think we all should get a blessing out of this opportunity.
Last time I offered these books for less they $5 we hit #185 of all books on Amazon! We’ve already hit the Best Seller list again with several of these journals!
Since we got canceled and reinstated things turned upside-down, this boost will help.
Who else is homeschooling a child with symptoms of ASD, ADHD or Dyslexia? Did you know that the whole idea of Fun-Schooling was started to make homeschooling work for these kids? Kids who learn differently are the driving force behind all our books. I started designing “Do-It-Yourself Homeschooling Journals” because my kids could not do traditional schoolwork.
ASD kids love the built in schedule provided by the Core Journal. They LOVE how they get to study their special interests. They love the look and feel of the Journals. They love how the journals are logic based, and include puzzle type activities. They often want to work independently and focus on their “research”. Thinking Tree Books encourage this depth of learning.
ADHD kids love how they get to move from one activity to the next with lots of variety. Our journals are designed to rotate activities: Academic – Creative – Academic – Passive – Academic – Active – Academic – Playful! ADHD kids are not bored when Fun-schooling! They get to learn about things they love, and when ADHD kids focus on what they LOVE they are so much easier to homeschool.
Kids with Dyslexia thrive because the books are created with the Dyslexie Font and include games that help with dyslexia. Thinking Tree Books include a lot of room for creativity and imagination, and they have just enough structure to keep kids learning without squelching their drive to learn through play, curiosity and adventure. We also don’t teach through memorization, but through meaningful experience and research. It’s so hard for dyslexic kids to memorize information. There is a better way!
Back in 2018, four of my kids (ages 9-12) were using Spelling Time – Master the top 150 misspelled words. They had so much fun with the silly sentence sections. I was reading their stories and was laughing so hard. The funny thing is that the prompt asks for a silly sentence and my kids are writing as tiny as they can to make really long silly stories. A couple of these kids were my biggest “do-nothing-whiners-i-hate-writing-can’t-think-of-anything” kids.
When Susie and Laura were 8 and 9 they really froze up when asked to write creatively or do copywork. But I just kept up, knowing that it is normal at those ages to not want to write. Since they are dyslexic they really needed to master reading before writing. Now they are having so much fun writing.
It was exciting to see the transformation. If your 8-10 year old is resistant to writing, just be patient. I actually focused on things they loved and didn’t push writing when they were really fighting it. I did require minimal copywork. I would often repurpose writing prompt pages in their journals.
Both girls finished Dyslexia Games B for the second time. They are both dyslexic, and their writing abilities have really jumped. The first time they did Series B they got good at reading, now after doing it twice their writing abilities are moving forward. I was going to give them Series C after finishing B the first time, but they wanted to repeat B because their new sisters were using B.
This is what spelling strategy has looked like at our house. What has worked best for you?
These little books help so much because they give you a realistic perspective on how to accomplish the most meaningful things. We grow to be intentional about how we spend our precious time. We learn to invest in the things that make a lasting difference and make everyday life sweet and memorable. These little books help you let go of the things that hold you back, while seeking what truly matters. You will learn to evaluate the demands upon your life, and take a simple, yet mighty step into your dreams, purpose and passion.
As women we feel like we can’t give in to the joys of life if the demands of life are screaming at us. We deny ourselves fun, joy, peace and harmony in life because we are focused on our failures… and the failures of the people around us.
We have to learn to give up on the things that steal our joy, those thoughts that tell us we are falling behind. We need to set aside that vision of what everyone else thinks we ought to be, and be who we were born to be. We need to find true joy in serving others, in caring for our homes, in bringing laughter and smiles to the table… even when things are far from perfect.
We need to learn to find joy in the mud puddles of life. Raising a child is hard. Homeschooling is demanding. Meeting the needs of a husband is challenging. Putting away leftovers and remembering to eat them… ugh who really cares, when what is really needed is more smiles and hugs and passion.
How do we focus on the important things without neglecting the rest? I made these little books to help you discover how. And it only takes 4 minutes a day. You can just keep this book, and a pen, by the toilet, if nothing else.
Need some specific encouragement from other moms? Aside from joining our Facebook support group (and there is also this group if you are new to homeschooling!), grab a copy of The Homeschool Letters! In this book over 35 homeschooling moms share their hearts, explaining what they wish they knew when they first started. The art and logic activities in this book are borrowed from the book “Lost & Found” it’s a brain fog therapy for women who need to sharpen their minds.
Or maybe you need a secret weapon for the “littles” in your life?
The Littlest Kindergarten Workbook is all about animals, and its 4.5″ x 6″ size is perfect for tiny hands.
It has over 100 pages of do-it-yourself beginner learning, covering everything from letters, numbers, weather, shapes, colors, poetry, animals, handwriting and more. Includes a poem that talks about God’s gifts to us.
Just a “little” encouragement to help you begin the new year well!
Are you afraid of failing? Don’t be. There are some amazing examples of “beauty for ashes” throughout history–Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein!
You are going to enjoy life and homeschooling so much more if “fear of failure” isn’t such a big deal. It’s totally fine if you fail. It’s really not a big deal if you try something and it doesn’t work. It’s fine if you take a risk and the results are messy. It’s okay to do something that is less than perfect. It’s fine to not be that girl who seems to have it all together. Fear of failure is just going to hold you back from living life to the fullest.
Why do we think it’s a big deal to make mistakes? Because we went to school, and we were shamed by our poor grades and our misspelled words and our test scores. We were taught that the worst thing you can do is…. try and fail. I fail at stuff all the time, but I’m over it. I don’t like messing up, but I try and sometimes things do turn out wonderful.
If you want peace in your mothering- live your life from a place of grace and courage, with love! You don’t need to be driven by fear of failure because failure is totally okay. That’s how we learn! So be okay, don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s better to erase fear of failure from your motivations. Keep trying, pursuing, dreaming!
“If you hear a voice within you saying ‘you cannot paint’ then by all means paint,
and that voice will be silenced.” ~Vincent Van Gogh
When you are feeling stuck because you are afraid to fail, just tell yourself that it’s actually not that big of a deal. You are resilient. Your kids are resilient. Everyone will be fine, and you will be a better example to your children if you are motivated by things like love, curiosity, faith or creativity… even if you don’t like the result EVERY TIME.
Everyone fails…it’s important to show our kids an example of what it looks like to fail well. When something doesn’t work out, it becomes either a stumbling block or a stepping stone. Show them how to step up and forward with courage and grace!
Time for a refreshing reboot? Grab your favorite relaxing drink, one of our Art Logic Therapy journals, and find a cozy corner for a little while. It will do wonders for refocusing your perspective!
We all have moments and seasons that we look back on and wonder how we made it through. Enjoy one of my Facebook posts from a decade ago…
I found a journal from 2004 – Moms – you need a laugh… I had a made a list of all the “toddler trouble” Anna got into in one week.
The Setting: Rachel is one month old. Estera is 1 1/2, Anna is 3, and Isaac is 5.
Anna’s Top 20 for the Week of May 5th 2004:
1. Anna mixes ice-cream, sprinkles, popcorn and cat food.
2. Anna plays with a slug until she kills it.
3. Anna gets baby out of swing all by herself.
4. Anna glues paper to the floor.
5. Popcorn dumped all over floor.
6. Anna & Estera put celery in the potty.
7. Anna dumps Wheat Chex into bath tub.
8. Anna makes art with peanut butter.
9. Anna cuts her hair.
Remnants of an experiment…
10. Anna spreads glue stick all over.
11. Anna dumps the chalk twice and eats it.
12. Anna paints and colors everything but the paper.
13. Anna sprinkles poppy seeds all over the house.
14. Anna goes bug hunting.
15. Anna sneaks off with a plate of spaghetti, and decorates house with it.
16. I look out the upstairs window to see diapers scattered all over the roof – Anna?
17. Anna sneaks away with the popcorn popper and knocks over a large glass container, shattering it all over the laundry room.
18. Anna removes ink stick from a red marker. Anna fills a container with water, adds the red ink stick, makes red water.
19. Anna spills red water all over the house.
20. Anna gets the ice cream, all by herself.
What was I doing while Anna was making all these messes? I was nursing baby, homeschooling Isaac, recovering from birth, and cleaning up glass, wheat Chex, peanut butter, glue stick, chalk…
The saying is so true…”The days are long, but the years are short!” Cherish each moment you can. Today, Anna is a beautiful, talented, inspiring young woman. You will survive, and they will thrive. Stay faithful, mom friends!
Here are some ideas for how I try to turn a bad day into a good day.
1. Turn on “Just Dance” for the kids on YouTube.
2. Don’t try to do school as planned. Find a funny way to repurpose a page in a workbook or Fun-Schooling Journal. Let your kids turn the Nature Study page into a Zombie Study page.
3. Take a break from everything that is stressing anyone out.
4. Get out of the house, with or without kids. Preferably without. Haha!
5. Get out a board game or UNO. If you want the older kids to be busy for a long time offer a nice prize to the winner of the Monopoly game.
13. Ask husband to take a bunch of kids to a park. (If you are a single mom, reach out to grandparents or fellow mom friends for a swap play date…and then return the favor!)
14. Get everyone outside for Nature Study.
15. Make an early dinner.
16. Tell the kids that we will have a movie night if they get the house clean, and turn on the happy music while they work.
18. Send a group of older kids to the corner market to get ice cream for everyone.
19. Figure out how to turn tonight into a date night.
20. If all else fails, ask husband to put the kids to bed early. Then clean your room really nice, set out a treat, light a candle, turn on peaceful music, ask husband to bring the wine, lattes, or fresh squeezed orange juice. Be sure to sweetly ask husband to get the kids to bed while while you take a long hot shower. In this case HE WILL do what it takes to get the kids to bed early!
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