Elementary

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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We Learn Everywhere!

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Fun-Schooling Happens EVERYWHERE!!!!

I was flipping through family photos and made a little collection of photos that show how my kids are learning without the traditional “Desk” approach… Sometimes they enjoy working at a desk or table, but the floor is also popular! Some kids love to be in the middle of everything and set up school at the coffee table in the family room. Others like to hangout on their beds to study.

Share your “Fun-School Everywhere” photos in the comments on this post in our Facebook group if you would like to!

My kids choose where they work. This freedom makes them so much more comfortable. One of the perks of Homeschooling!!!!

Inspiration and Resources for Your Co-Op!

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Considering trying a Fun-Schooling Co-Op? Here are some inspirational photos from our Co-Op at Olive Branch Farm:

Here is a post with some pointers on how to begin a Co-Op.

Did you know you can get sample journal pages to share? Join the main Fun-Schooling group–you’ll find them all in the Files!

Are you looking to join a Co-Op? Here is a list of Fun-Schooling Co-Ops to investigate, including the Facebook pages for each group!

Fun-Schooling + The Montessori Method

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How Does Montessori work with Fun-Schooling?

  • Montessori is hands-on and self-directed
    • Goes along perfectly with Fun-Schooling baskets!
    • Include natural material learning toys and games in your basket – there are lots on Etsy
    • Could easily set-up different Montessori-inspired Fun-Schooling stations
    • Give kids control to choose what they want to do and when they want to do it
      • Montessori students know what needs to be accomplished in a designated amount of time and are given the freedom to complete their tasks in any order they choose
  • Montessori classrooms rotate out activities/works
    • Can rotate single-subject journals and complementary materials
    • Store them on a low shelf/table for easy access
  • Nature study, Life Skills, character development, and the arts are a big part of Montessori
    • We have journals for all of those!
    • Pair them with hands-on life experience
  • Use Montessori materials like sandpaper letters, Montessori math manipulatives, and motor skills frames/toys alongside the journals
  • Wooden puzzles!
    • Popular in Montessori and go great in a Fun-Schooling basket
  • Nomenclature cards/ 3-part cards
    • These are used to introduce new words and teach different subjects
    • Would work great along with journals, especially with vocabulary building pages
  • Fun-Schooling journals can be used by a wide range of ages and Montessori classrooms are multi-age classrooms
    • Put together a multi-age group of other homeschoolers to go through a journal together
  • Montessori teens choose an area of focus and engage in hands-on in-the-field study on that area of focus
    • Just like choosing a major!
  • Montessori values teaching independence and equipping kids with skills to thrive on their own
    • Our research method and journals are set up with this same goal in mind

Watch a flip-through of some of our Montessori-friendly journals here:

The Montessori Method

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The Montessori Method was founded by Maria Montessori

  • An Italian educator in the late 1800s/early 1900s
  • She was the first female Italian doctor
  • Advocated for women’s rights and child labor laws
  • Studied child development and learning before opening her own school
  • She researched educational approaches and philosophies throughout the ages and studied children in-person to create her approach
  • Pulled heavily from the work of Jean-Marc Itard and Edouard Séguin

Main Focuses of a Montessori education

  • Very hands-on and sensory focused
    • The Montessori schoolroom engages all the senses
    • Activities are referred to as “works”
    • These works will engage multiple senses at a time
    • The environment itself is kept low-sensory and very tidy- everything has a place and is always put back in that place. Only one work out per child at a time. Known as a “prepared environment”
    • Lessons are incredibly tactile with things like sandpaper letters, counting beads, building blocks, and lots of manipulatives
    • Play is work- and children should not be interrupted while working or playing. A big focus is on letting them do things at their own pace with full concentration
  • Everything is adapted to be child-size and child-friendly
    • Works will be put out on low shelves, kid-size tools are made readily available and presented to the child from a young age, kid-size chairs, tables, etc.
    • In the kitchen, kids will have their own set of kid-size cooking items and a special stool to be able to stand up at the counter
    • Kids are given real glasses instead of plastic and “real” tools that are simply child size
    • Taught to work with careful consideration and attention to detail
  • Big focus on Life Skills
    • Taught from a very early age and children are encouraged to be independent from toddlerhood
    • Excellence in completion and attention to detail is a bit part of learning Life Skills
    • Self-care, cleaning, cooking, sewing, and other basic Life Skills are taught beginning in toddlerhood
    • Gardening and farm work are often a part of the daily school tasks
  • Natural materials
    • Plastic is almost never found in a Montessori setting
    • Wood, fabric, and glass are the primary materials found
  • The main core educational subjects are taught along with a big focus on art, citizenship, independence, nature, and engaging in the community

Other tidbits

  • In a school, children are grouped with a wide age range- usually 2-4 grades all together
  • Self-directed learning lets children progress at their own pace
    • Still guided by an adult with each work very carefully introduced in a methodical way
    • Children then can work through things at their own pace and based on their own interests
    • There’s not usually a strict schedule of X subject at X time
    • Instead, children will know what they are expected to accomplish in a day and be given the freedom to complete their tasks in the order they desire
  • No screens until at least 4th grade
  • Age 0-6 is a key age for introducing concepts, life skills, and development
  • Some similar components to Waldorf and Charlotte Mason but starts academic instruction at a much younger age and is much more methodical

Stay tuned for our next post where we will talk about integrating the Montessori Method into your Fun-Schooling!

Fun-Schooling Math for All Levels

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Let’s talk Fun-Schooling Math.

First of all, we do not have a math “curriculum.” Our math journals work best as a supplement or warm-up to your chosen curriculum. Lots of families like Life of Fred, but dozens of choices exist! Some families choose to exclusively use real-life math and no curriculum at all, along with our journals. At the bottom is a suggested order for working through our math journals.

In the early years, Math looks like learning numbers and shapes, lots of counting (count anything you can with your little ones!), hands-on materials/manipulatives, and practicing writing numbers.

Young elementary school is mainly about addition and subtraction. Kids also begin work such as skip counting, patterns, place value, and measurement. There are lots of good math games for this age! Math Craft Level A can be introduced at this age. It is excellent for helping students develop early math skills regardless of if they have Dyscalculia.

Upper elementary introduces multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, and percents. Continuing with games is a great idea too. Lots of families like to work on cooking as a way to teach math at this age too. Math Craft Level B is excellent for helping cement multiplication, regardless of if a child has Dyscalculia.

Middle and high schoolers focus on the math skills they will need to succeed in life. They also work on developing skills for their future careers and callings. For example, a student who desires to own a business will focus heavily on business math skills while a student who desires a career in science will need to study a wider range of math.

As adults, we can continue to develop our math skills and keep our brains fresh! Scientific study after study has shown how good it is for our brains to keep challenging ourselves with pencil-to-paper math as we age.

A suggested order of journals is as follows. Remember, this is a suggestion- your student(s) may or may not go in this order! Early-level learners may not need to complete all of these journals.

Teach Your Child to Count to Ten

Count & Color

Kitty Doodle Math

My First Fun-Schooling Math Workbook

Foundational Math Skills- 100 Numbers

Math Craft Series A

The Littlest Math Book OR Comic Book Math (they are the same inside)

Fun-Schooling Math Mysteries & Practice Problems with Minecraft

Fun-Schooling Math for Minecrafters

Math Craft Series B

Multiplication Games

Bible Games

All About Ocean Creatures

Pixel Art

Smoothie Time

Yum-Schooling

DIY- Make Your Own Book- Complicated Math Concepts

How to Make Money

All About Money

Are You a Math Genius?

We hope this helps break down Fun-Schooling Math. If you’re on our private Facebook group, be sure to tune in for a couple of videos to peek inside math journals!

All Math PDFs are deeply discounted this month at https://www.funschooling.com/bookstore-all-pdfs

What are your favorite books, documentaries, podcasts, tips, and resources for Fun-Schooling Math? Leave them and any questions you may have in the comments.

This post is contributed by Amanda Osenga.

Our Littlest Fun-Schoolers

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Who has a PRESCHOOLER or Kindergartner?

Let’s rethink early childhood education…

If you are home schooling a little one, ages 3 to 6, it should be all about the fun!

It’s time to play. It’s time to build. It’s time to imagine. It’s time to learn how to work together on projects that both parent and child love.

If your child is not enjoying their preschool and kindergarten experience, something is wrong. Don’t be afraid to step back relax and just enjoy your child.

They won’t be a little forever. Why push them into academics that they’re not ready for?

Here at the Thinking Tree we believe that little children are created to play. They learn almost everything they need to know through playing. They learn everything else by watching you.

So should you even use workbooks? Maybe! If they see the older people in the family enjoying books they will be excited to get some of their own!

We have a few workbooks that were created especially for ages 3 to 6. We have a few favorites on sale now for $5 to $10 each.
When you use a Fun-Schooling journal with your little child be sure to be willing to collaborate with the child on each page. Ask questions. Help answer the questions that they come up with. Color together. Write together.

Speaking of writing… If you want your little child to learn to write well they must watch an adult write, so write down their stories on the creative writing pages in the Fun-Schooling books, as they watch.

If one of the pages has a lesson that’s too hard for your child then show them how it’s done. If your child seems resistant to doing the schoolwork, you could either set it aside for a later time or say: “That looks like fun can I do that page?”

Homeschooling should never make your child cry. Learning should be fun. Early childhood education should be driven by curiosity and wonder. As children grow, you can add more difficult lessons to the curriculum, but learning should always bring joy.
If the curriculum that you’re using with your child is making them miserable, change it! If a curriculum is too much work for mom, there’s no shame in tossing it out. Throw away the curriculum that isn’t working. There are so many wonderful options available to you!

It’s OK to experiment with different learning styles.

It’s great to try out different curriculum.

But don’t homeschool through guilt! Just because you spent a lot of money on it that doesn’t mean you should stick with it.
Your child is worth the effort that it takes to fight for an education that’s going to bring the joy. The goal is to provide an education that will be relevant and delightful.

An excellent education is one they look forward to experiencing every morning when they wake up.

And remember just because you are a homeschooler your life does not need to revolve around schooling.

Don’t forget to just be mom!

Take time to play with your kids, read to your kids, have fun with your kids! Go on adventures and let learning happen in the midst of life.

Kids grow up fast so don’t miss this opportunity to treasure each moment with your little ones and enjoy life to the fullest.

To get your family started with Fun-Schooling we have marked down dozens of books to $5 – $10 each! We want you to get your Fun-Schooling curriculum at such a low price that you won’t feel guilty setting it aside if it doesn’t work. Though we have seen the results. Kids love Fun-Schooling. Moms and dads love the peace it brings into the home, because the fight to get kids to focus on learning is over.

Here’s the list of deals: https://funschoolingwithsarah.com/2023/02/07/updated-sales-and-discounts-with-a-dozen-new-books-added/

What If Middle School Looked Like This?

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Middle school is often associated with misery, drama, bullying, confusion and stress. It’s not a lot of fun. What if we were to rethink middle school?

Instead of pushing our kids into an educational mold that feels boring and irrelevant to them we could give them each a custom learning plan! What if we were to let our middle schoolers choose what they want to learn about?

Thinking Tree Books give your children the freedom, tools and opportunity to explore different career goals, dreams, hobbies, and business ideas!

If you have a child between the ages of 10 and 14, you might want to consider rethinking your goals for their education try giving them a customized education based on their personality and their passions. Middle school doesn’t have to be miserable. When we choose to homeschool our middle school kids, we help them to avoid a lot of the problems faced by kids at this sensitive age but take it one step farther don’t just homeschool… Fun-School!

To make it easier for your family to make the transition to Fun-Schooling we’re having a giant sale! All the books in this picture gonna be hot on sale for over 50% off. Imagine an entire year of homeschooling curriculum for less than $100 today were offering most of these books for $5, $10 or $15 each.

Check out all the books that are on sale right now for sale in February 14 here at this blog post.

When Your Children Love the Sea…

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When you visit the ocean you can try to understand your place in a bigger story.

The waves keep rolling in, washing away my footprints. The sun rises higher, like it does every day. The tide comes in as usual. The heat rises and falls. The shadows lengthen and shrink.

Are your kids in love with the ocean? You’re in luck! Look at all these beautiful books you can choose from!

See a flip through of our All About Oceans Marine Biology Handbook here:

Sarah’s Mom Tips: Reluctant Writers

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / 1 Comment

Don’t worry about having children write before they are ready. The Thinking Tree spelling books are really good for children who are not ready for writing, they color the words and write the specific words and they also do a lot of drawing. As the books advance some of them give the child an opportunity to do creative writing. If your child is not ready for the writing the BEST BEST BEST thing to do is ask the child what YOU should write for him. When the child sees you writing it stirs something up in their minds and they begin to develop the ability and desire to write.

If I am writing a story for my child (think 3 sentences) and I arrive at a word that I know that they know, I would say, “How do you spell cat?” They giggle and are happy to tell me how to spell. Next I will stop writing when I get to a word that they can write, and just say “Your turn!” and hand them the pencil so they can add a simple word. One nice thing about this method is that the child will try to mimic your letter size and style. Another fun way to get a child writing is to have the child DRAW a small picture of the nouns in the sentence.

If you do get to a place in any of the Thinking Tree Spelling books Or Dyslexia Games where the exercise is too advanced (for example the spaghetti lady causes dread) I would be an example and say, “You don’t want to do the spaghetti lady? That’s GREAT because I WANTED to do that one! Can I PLEASE do your spaghetti lady?”

This advice may go against everything you have learned from being in school yourself. If your child complains that something is too hard or too boring – DARE to do it yourself. Say, “Oh really? Can I give it a try? It looks interesting to me!” But if it is super boring, agree with the child, give it a try, and have fun. It’s okay to say, “You are right this is SOOOO boring. Let’s have a snack, and turn on some music! Don’t you think that music will make this more fun?” Now, if the schoolwork is totally irrelevant, and you are unwilling to do that kind of work yourself, maybe you should pitch it. I know we worry about the money we spent on nice curriculum – so put it on the shelf and tell your children they can use those books to “play school” with their friends or stuffed animals. If you are trying to FLIP to FUN-Schooling and spent all you had on something boring, and it’s not in your budget to buy a homeschooling journal – let me know. I can help you with a PDF version of a journal.

When I was a kid in 1st to 5th grade I HATED spelling tests. I got Ds and Fs on my report card in Spelling. No one knew it was dyslexia. I could not memorize; but when I would take a spelling test I would forever remember the spelling that I came up with on the test – WRONG or RIGHT. I was so emotional while being tested that the negative feelings burned the misspelled word into my brain. I would have 45% correct on the test, and the teachers NEVER worked with me to correct the mistakes. That is why I now create spelling books that work for visual thinkers. I would advise you not to give spelling tests to a dyslexic child. Just look at their creative writing projects when they are 11 years old – and take notes of all the words that they need to learn. If they write, color, trace and say the letters WITH the correct spelling SEVEN times they will remember the correct spelling…by the time they are 14 years old. Most spelling problems do self-correct by age 14 if the child does a lot of reading. That’s why we have just a few spelling books that cover the words that are foundational to learning to spell – AND are commonly confused or misspelled.

Take a look at some of our beautiful journals, sure to inspire your child to write: