Dreams of the Future

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!

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!

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!

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!

Summer Holiday School!

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!

(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

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.

The Clean House Diet

Managing house for a big family is not an easy task! Losing the baby fat is something we would rather not talk about. But let’s talk. I want to tell you about a weight loss and house cleaning experiment I learned about after the birth of my 7th child. I always gain two things with every baby – 40 pounds and an even MESSIER house. I know I’m not alone.

I know that this may seem odd, but I believe that the answer to perfect housekeeping is also the answer to losing the extra pounds! That’s why I call this method “The Clean House Diet”!

Here’s the KEY: Just do what comes naturally – to someone else.
You have to think like the “naturally” skinny girl with a “naturally” clean house.

Okay, Okay, you think this woman doesn’t have any babies, and certainly not 5 or 10 of them… but honestly the clean house diet works for anyone. The Skinny Girl knows how to stay fit naturally, what’s her secret? The Tidy Girl with the clean house, seems to be a natural too.

What do they know that you don’t? I bet Skinny Girl learned to say “pass the carrots” when she was two, and Tidy Girl never had to be told to clean up her toys. Is it too late for the rest of us to learn their tricks?

You see, the best way to lose the extra pounds is very simple! You just follow Skinny Girl everywhere she goes, and do exactly what she does. Eat only what she eats. No more, no less. In a matter of time you will also be a Skinny Girl (unless you are a guy–in which case you would not be a “Skinny Girl”– you would be a weirdo and a stalker!).

Most American women have two BIG obstacles in life: The messy house that won’t stay clean and the extra 10 (or 20 or 40) pounds that won’t stay off.

Well, I have had an excuse for being chubby at times, and I have had an excuse for having a messy house at times. It’s a very legitimate excuse… when I’ve had a new baby, and the other six kids are really “crafty” and “playful”.

When I was a teen my parents were always trying out some new diet… “Summer’s coming–we need to look good, so let’s all lose some weight!” So my parents would buy the latest dieting book, and work really hard for three months, and quickly return to old habits.

Housekeeping was just the same…“Company is coming–the house needs to look good, so let’s clean the house!” Then we would all spend three hours cleaning, and after the company left, the house would quickly return to the former condition.

My parents eventually found a diet they could live with called “The Rotation Diet”. It was much more fun than “The Grapefruit Diet” and the “Cabbage Diet” and the “Protein Diet”!

The Rotation Diet went something like this:

Eat like you are on a diet for a few days. That means check labels for fat and calories. Then eat whatever you want for a few days without looking at labels. Wait a few days and eat the low calorie diet food again, and then the yummy food, then the diet food, and then the yummy stuff, yummy stuff, yummy stuff. Continue the pattern until you are skinny… but most people never get skinny or stay skinny for long. We all loved the diet – it was fun and easy. It made us feel good. But when it was time to go to the beach in the summer we were not happy with the results.

I eventually got married and moved out of my parents house (I highly recommend this! ). For years my house keeping methods resembled “The Rotation Diet!” Clean house, messy house, clean house, messy house, messy house, messy house! I wasn’t happy with the results.

When we don’t like the results we say the method or the diets didn’t work. So we give up dieting and just try to dress in such a way as to hide the fat. It’s all about wearing carefully designed clothing to give us girls the appearance of looking skinnier than we really are. HIDE the FAT! It’s about hiding some areas, drawing attention to others and using colors, patterns and deceptive techniques to reduce the appearance of the problem areas. This technique ALSO comes in handy when you want to pretend like you have a clean house! HIDE the MESS. It’s all about having a carefully designed house complete with many junk drawers, closets full of hidden junk, and entire rooms that company will never see.

You see, I have always enjoyed the liberty that came with having a messy house, much like I enjoy the benefits of apple pies, ice cream, steak, fries, and buttery pastries. I like the freedom to be creative, do projects, make big meals, and let the kids play freely all over the house, and I liked to clean up the grand old mess when I felt like it (and I don’t often feel like it!). So I would clean up when we knew that company was coming and I would try to make the place “look clean and pretty” at the end of the day. The kids and I would have a least one cleaning frenzy per day at about 5pm, right before dinner. We were masters of the “Ten Minute Tidy” in much the same way that some girls are masters of the “lose 5 pounds of water weight by Friday”. And then after tucking in the kids I would finish cleaning the kitchen and livingroom before bed.

Recently my parents finally discovered The Skinny Girl’s natural secret to fitness. They lost the weight and they are keeping it off! The greatest part? They have not eliminated the need for hot apple pie, or ice-cream. It’s like a dream. It seems that they found out about a lady who followed a skinny girl around for a week or so and did all the things she did, ate all the things she ate and learned how to think like a skinny girl. You see being skinny comes naturally to some people. The rest of us have to find out the skinny girl’s secrets and put the plan into action. The real way to stay skinny is to live like the people who are naturally skinny!

Here is Skinny Girl’s Diet secret. She does these three things and stays skinny:

  1. She eats ONLY when she is hungry. (Not when she is bored, lonely, or passing by a Girl Scout with Thin Mints)
  2. She stops as soon as she FEELS satisfied, not stuffed. (Her mom didn’t force her to clean her plate, she doesn’t feel the need to eat the whole candy bar, but saves some for later).
  3. She listens to her body, she eats what she is in the MOOD for. (Yes, even if she want ice-cream!)

Since dieting and housekeeping have so much in common I decided to try the Skinny Girl method on my house, before trying it on my body. I decided that in order to keep my whole house clean I would need to find a “Tidy Girl” who keeps her whole house clean ALL THE TIME. I would learn her secret and do what she does. Just like my parents followed the example of the Skinny Girl.

Guess what? I couldn’t find a “Tidy Girl” with my personality, with seven children, and a house with twelve rooms! So I chose an older “Tidy Gal” lady whose house always looks beautiful! She’s retired, has a large home, one cat, one gold fish, one husband, and one cleaning lady. Nothing is ever out of place in that house, ever. She can make a meal for a dozen people and her kitchen stays spotless the entire time.

When I visit her with all seven kids there is still no mess! But there are no art projects, no games with lots of pieces, and the kids stay out of the kitchen unless they are washing their hands. When we visit, the kids sit quietly in front of the TV, or they play in the backyard. Wherever the children go she follows and picks up the crumbs. She never stops moving, cleaning and picking up little things – she even picks up tiny things like pebbles on the doorstep. She lines up the kids to wash hands before and after every snack time. Tidy Gal keeps everything that looks messy or fun out of reach! I watched. I learned. I tried this at home.

Here are my “Tidy Gal” observations. She naturally does three things:

  1. She has a place for everything, everything stays in it’s place.
  2. She cleans up immediately and she doesn’t move on to a new activity if the other one is not cleaned up.
  3. If she sees something out of place, or notices “a yucky” on the floor she deals with it at that EXACT moment.

Tidy Girls naturally do these things and wonder why the rest of us don’t. They wonder why we don’t teach these three simple steps to our children.

Now I understand. When it comes to dieting and keeping the house clean you can’t always do what you feel like doing. You must create new habits. Click here to find out what happened when I tried it!

Start With the End Goal

Think about this… what is the END goal for having kids strong in Math and Language Arts? These skills are not an end in themselves, but tools to be successful in other things. With Fun-Schooling you often start with the end goal, you don’t just teach Language Arts and Math, you USE it doing meaningful projects.

What do you want your children to be able to do with Language Arts NOW?

What do you want them to be able to do with Math NOW?

What are they capable of TODAY?

We are not talking about filling out endless worksheets. Those worksheets do not relate to real life (and kids KNOW it). They only prepare kids for successful test taking, so they can move onto the next level of education.

Kids learn when they USE their skills in a meaningful way.

We only remember what we love, what we need and what we use in a meaningful way. All real learning is driven by curiosity and need.

What do you want your children to be able to DO with their language skills when they are finished with ALL formal education? Imagine all the things that can be done when someone is awesome with written and spoken language!

Consider my 18 year old daughter, Anna, she published a dozen bestsellers and wrote His Story: The Musical, which premiers next month! She has never used tests or traditional workbooks, and has been declared by some of the world’s great musicians (Dove Award Winners) to be on track to be among them. She is a Fun-Schooler all the way.

I have another daughter, who as a teen booked 2 or 3 photo-shoots almost every day back in 2019, where she usually earned $300+ on each one. She was more of an unschooler, she had to turn down jobs.

My oldest son was able to move into his own home, build his business, work part time in missions,and get married and support his household by age 19, and he manages his own taxes and business investments.He didn’t ONLY learn to do the fun stuff.

Fun-Schoolers don’t wait to start life and work after their education is over. They live life to the fullest and are PRODUCTIVE in the NOW.

What do you want them to DO with their calculating skills once they are finished with all formal education? We often think that our productive life starts after education, but most kids really want to start doing REAL stuff NOW. It’s why we focus on determining a major.

Start with the END GOAL, and begin with the ending.

You’re Invited to Tea Time with Sarah

In previous blog posts, I’ve shared about how “Tea Therapy” has been healthy for me and our children. I’ve also written about our Poetry Tea Time together.

In February, we hosted our first Medicinal Tea Workshop at Olive Branch Farm. Click here if you’d like details about attending our upcoming event: Creative Retreat – Tea Time, Gardening, Foraging, Pottery, Jewelry Making and More! The date is June 3, at Olive Branch Farm.

Since then, I’ve started a new Facebook group entitled Tea Time with Sarah Janisse Brown. I’d love for you to come join me! I’ve just put together 19 tea boxes, and am in the process of compiling orders for 15 more. Come to the group for details, and click here to order your box!

Disclaimer: Although we are firm believers in the benefits of herbal teas and herbal products, we are not medical practitioners and cannot diagnose or treat any disease.

Statements made on this website regarding the herbal and natural products offered on this website have not been evaluated by the food and drug administration as the FDA does not evaluate or test herbs.

The information presented on this site is provided for informational purposes only, it is not meant to substitute for medical advice or diagnosis provided by your physician or other medical professionals. Do not use this information to diagnose, treat or cure any illness or health condition.

If you have or suspect that you have a medical problem, consult with your physician for diagnosis or treatment. Use herbs as per instructions and always watch for any allergic reactions.

You should always carefully read all product packaging and labels. Always consult your physician or health care provider before using any herbal products, especially if you have a medical problem.

We assume no liability for any injury, illness, or adverse effects caused by the misuse and/or use of the information or products presented on this website.

Please visit this FDA website to clear any confusions you have about food and dietary products and their ingredients: https://www.fda.gov/Food/DietarySupplements/default.htm