Budget Friendly Tips from Real Fun-Schooling Moms!

May 9, 2023May 12, 2023 / Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

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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21 Thoughts About Core Journals

March 10, 2023March 10, 2023 / Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

1. I originally created the Core Journal so I could take a break from customizing each child’s curriculum around their interest, while making sure we included copywork, nature study, logic, film study, math time… I wanted a way to document internet based learning, library based learning, and include the Charlotte Mason goodies into each day without searching for the individual notebooks.

(View the Core Journals Here: https://www.funschooling.com/homschooling-bookstore-core…)

2. I was about to have our tenth baby and wanted to take time off, but keep learning going, according to the daily structure that works for my kids.

3. They need to have a balanced plan that covers the basics, while allowing them to dig deep into the topics they love.

4. We were also about to move from Florida to Ukraine and I wanted a way for each child to have all their work in one portfolio.

5. My kids were already studying their interests, doing copywork, nature study, logic games, drawing, reading and watching documentaries… But nothing was being documented. Sometimes I would be busy or sick and they would watch YouTube and read all day and not remember to do the simple things like nature study.

6. I only planned to use the Core Journal for 6 weeks, but found it to be wonderful long-term for some of the kids.

7. My Detective and Explorer kids really thrive with them.

8. My Friend learners enjoy them when doing it with others, but like the smaller themed journals best.

9. Followers who are motivated to study a topic like the routine, but they find the journals to be too open-ended and they may try to just get by with whatever is the minimum to move on. With Followers, a strong example is needed, this we have Mom-School.

10. Creators like a lot of variety, and in some stages of life really need to learn to have more structure, for them the journals are not open-ended enough and they may feel limited… So they skip pages or repurpose them. Not all children have the drive, skills or personality to really embrace to potential of the core journals. They don’t work for everyone.

11. Many kids are okay with a system that doesn’t require them to use a lot of research, creativity or thought. These books are designed to be a launch pad for learning.

12. Kids who are in a rush to move on to play, chores, gaming, social media, or personal projects may feel that the core journals are just something that should be rushed through so they can do what they love.

13. It’s okay for a child to not use any system of learning that doesn’t work. For the many kids who have a Follower Learning Style they will actually do better with some classroom style learning, fill in the blank, memorize and test methods.

14. For the Super-Creators the core journals may feel boring and limiting. You need to know your child.

15. My Detectives and Explorers do especially well, but work in different ways.

16. The Detectives need quiet and focus, while the Explorers move from place to place all over the house and yard, and need to be told that chores come after they finish their work in the core journal, so they don’t rush. They really learn to look forward to the activities they love in the daily routine of the book.

17. For kids who thrive on structure they enjoy using a core journal daily, but really need to know what is expected. I suggest doing the first 20 pages together to teach the child how to do copywork, a nature study, or creative writing. It’s so important to be an example.

18. In most cases, don’t say “when you finish you can play Xbox” — they will rush. It works much better if the next activity is something they don’t mind putting off while they focus on their work, like cleaning a bathroom. For example say: “You can take as much time as you need to finish five pages, then show me your work and I’ll show you how to clean out the oven.”

You will be amazed at how much detail they pour into their work.

19. It’s also very important to be available to your child to help them find the right documentaries and books to study their topic. Most of the actual learning isn’t in the journal, it’s what the journal reminds them to do.

20. So know your child. If they don’t put their heart into learning with a core journal, what will they put their heart into? Starting a business? An online course? A textbook? A series of Documentaries? A boxed curriculum that tells them exactly what to memorize? A classical education? Dance school? An internship? Volunteer work? Building a fort? Sewing a dress? Baking? Full-on Unschooling?

21. Some kids are like, “I don’t care… Whatever!” Then they get on their phones and post 80 selfies, and play games until midnight, and complain about everything that requires any effort at all. In that case you just need to pull the plug and light a fire under the child.

I hope that helps someone out there! Let me know if there is a specific example of a child’s struggle that I can help with.

What is your child like? Of these 21 thoughts what stood out to you and why?

See a Flip-Through of the core journals here:

Sarah’s Mom Tips: Two Questions to Jump Start Your Fun-Schooling

December 31, 2022December 29, 2022 / Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

Do you have kids who don’t want anything to do with “FUN-school”?

MOM TIP: Some kids blank out, show resistance and roll their eyes when you say “What do you want to learn about?”

I have found that you will get a lot farther with a difficult child when you ask these 2 questions instead:

1. What do you want to DO?

2. What do you want to KNOW?

Learning is just the journey to reach the end goals of “knowing and doing.” Kids WANT to DO and KNOW.

To learn is HOW we find out the way to DO & to KNOW.

The idea of learning makes kids miserable because so much of traditional learning is irrelevant to their goals of DOING and KNOWING.

Every child wants to KNOW STUFF.

Every Child wants to DO STUFF.

Even my five new kids who spent 4 years in an orphanage want to KNOW and DO… but ask them what they want to “Learn for School” and they meltdown or shutdown or reject the whole idea of learning. They were so excited to talk about what they want to KNOW and DO.

Once I knew what they were interested in actually accomplishing, I started giving them tools to reach their goals, and they don’t even think it is “education” because this looks nothing like the “school” they had in mind.

Sarah’s Mom Tips: Don’t Fear a “Learning Gap”

September 5, 2022September 5, 2022 / Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

Don’t be afraid of learning gaps.

Kids don’t need to learn everything.

Kids need to know HOW to learn what they need when they need it.

Sometimes we fear learning gaps, but if a child knows HOW to research there will be no permanent holes because the child will be capable of learning on the go.

There is no way to prepare a child for what life and the economy will look like when they are adults.

Today’s standardized education is already behind.

It is research skills, creativity, character and resourcefulness that will insure potential for successful adult life.

Thinking Tree focuses on life skills, thinking skills, planning skills, being innovative, being creative, being resourceful, great character development, having excellent research skills, reading and writing skills and a strong work ethic. These things are NOT usually part of a standardized curriculum plan. You may worry that your kids will not be on grade level; but the skills that matter most are often overlooked and undervalued.

Sarah’s Mom Tips: How to Triage

August 29, 2022August 27, 2022 / Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

Triage: A process in which things are ranked in terms of importance or priority.

Being a mom of 15, I’ve learned a thing or two about triaging life for our kids. Play, chores, reading, quiet time, research, exploration…all of them are rearranged pretty fluidly for each child. Just as medical professionals triage their patients, evaluating their needs in terms of urgency and precedence, so we homeschooling moms are continually evaluating our kids and what their needs are not only educationally, but also emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Here are some tips that have worked well for us.

As you plan to Fun-School a child under 10, don’t feel like you need to do everything on your list every day.

Listen to your child and watch for what brings them joy -You will learn what subjects and topics your child is passionate about, and those are the ones you should do every day and spend more time on (if the child wants to spend extra time researching their favorite topics).

Many teachers focus the most on the child’s weakness and problem areas. I do not focus more than 20 minutes a day on the problem areas if the lesson or activity burns them out. If reading is a struggle, I use Dyslexia Games, but only 15 minutes a day – unless they want to do more. Usually they like Dyslexia Games, so it isn’t a struggle.

If math is a struggle, use games and calculators, and our book 100 Numbers.

If they seem confused when trying to learn math – stop using a memory approach and teach them the WHY and HOW of numbers. They may need time to mature to be able to grasp new concepts. Children need to understand, not just memorize.

Make a lot of time for play, curiosity and discovery.

Children who are entertained constantly, over scheduled, or are addicted to gaming have a lot of issues. You can avoid MANY problems by making sure your child has time to use their imagination and PLAY without constant electronic stimulation. Kids often opt to be entertained. Boredom is okay and leads to innovation!

Healthy children often can’t sit still for more than 20 minutes at a time. They are wiggly by design, children need to move their bodies while learning.

If there is a topic or book that you want to use that they don’t enjoy, you can let it go OR do the work together OR you do it while the child watches you do it.

Make sure your child watches you write – in print and cursive. That’s what the Mom-School books are for.

Feel free to use audio books in place of reading, so the child can learn on a higher level.

Throw out anything that makes your child miserable when trying to learn. Try the fun and joyful methods. If there is no fun and joyful way to learn, you may be dealing with a maturity issue.

Kids on sugar may seem crazy and out of control.

Kids who do not sleep enough may seem moody and out of control.

Kids who see adults fighting or are exposed to violence on games and movies may seem depressed and unmotivated to learn.

Kids who text all night are often lazy all day. Is your child sleeping with a phone?

Find your child’s passion, and feed it.

It is good for kids to learn to research. Research is an awesome skill, that is learned best when a child studies their passion.

Some of most important things to teach your children involve:

1. Reading

2. Research

3. Relationships

4. Responsibility

5. Resourcefulness

6. Rest & Reflection

Put first things first. Outline your goals for each child and help them grow in the things that really matter.

Sarah’s Mom Tips: Is Math Your Homeschool Nemesis?

August 24, 2022August 22, 2022 / Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

The PROBLEM with math is that the way it is normally taught! Conventional math lessons are boring, hard to understand, seem irrelevant to real life, and are no fun.

My books are like a reset button, kind of like comfort therapy.

My math books are not designed to prepare your child to take a standardized test. Instead they bring math concepts down to earth.

My books make math practical, fun, creative, useful, and easy to apply to real life problems and projects.

What I do is have my children learn basic math with Fun-Schooling Books, and real life projects involving MONEY, time, calculating, and measurements. They become very confident and unintimidated by math. They don’t see it as a subject, but as a super valuable skill for getting things done.

If I were you and wanted to raise kids to be able to confidently use real math in real life… Work through the Thinking Tree Books, then add the math you need for testing, credits or grade level learning.

I would suggest Khan Academy, Life of Fred, Math-U-See, Prodigy…

My kids focus on learning the math that is relevant to their career goals.

Sarah’s Mom Tips: “Important” vs. “Necessary”

August 22, 2022 / Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

This is a very handy tool for mothers.

Just TWO simple definitions:

The problem with being a homeschooling mom is that we feel so driven to accomplish the things that are defined as “Necessary” that we often push the “Important” things off our plates and procrastinate.

We MUST focus some of our time and energy on the things that are important, and therein you will find JOY!

If your life revolves around doing the things that you “HAVE TO GET DONE OR ELSE!” your life will be full of stress and anxiety and this feeling that you are doing SO MUCH but you don’t have time for what matters.

So often the “Necessary” things wear us out and keep stacking up. Tell me what is SO important about the IMPORTANT things and why is it NECESSARY to focus on the IMPORTANT THINGS TOO?

“Don’t sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate”–good words to consider when weighing this question. Ultimately, what is the lasting thing that I should invest in with my energy and focus?

One important thing? Self care. Your making self care a priority teaches them to do the same.

Sarah’s Survival Tips!

August 15, 2022 / Sarah Janisse Brown / 1 Comment

Bad Days. We all have them.

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.

6. Turn on Secret Garden – White Stones.

7. Assign each big kid to play with each little kid, and escape.

8. Let the kids bake something.

9. Light candles and ask one of the older girls to make tea for two.

10. Sit in the corner and cry. And then find the chocolate. And then color in a Mom-School Journal.

12. Read a blog post by an inspiring person, like deeprootsathome.com

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.

17. Snuggle on the couch with littles and read Goodnight Moon. Or read “Christian Hero e s – Then & Now” in the living room while kids work in their Fun-Schooling journals.

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!

What works for YOU? Share in the comments!

Best Tip for Busy, Unromantic Moms

July 18, 2022 / Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

I have 15 kids and own a Publishing Company. I’m busy!

But not too busy for investing in marriage! Here is a bit of advice that will light up your love life. I try to keep our bedroom as a peaceful and romantic retreat.

By making the bed every morning and not letting our nest become a laundry pile or stowaway zone… we can have a place of relaxation and comfort at the beginning and ending of each day. Store laundry and kid-junk somewhere else. Sweep and vacuum often.

Only keep what inspires peace and delight in your special place.

Moms, make your room as uncluttered and beautiful as can be; you will be much more in the mood to enjoy your space with your husband if it’s pretty.

Even if the whole house is a kid-mess, make your room amazing. This room should be a first priority, but most woman make it the last. It’s easier to just shut the door.

Husbands will be more peaceful and content with the condition of the whole home, if he can count on the bedroom being a place of rest and romance.

Don’t let your bedroom become the place where all the junk is tossed when we clean the rest of the house. Make it beautiful today. You will find so much peace in this. When you go to a beautiful room at the end of the day, you might even feel like your work is done because your room speaks beauty and rest to your heart and mind.

Your might actually feel more romantic at the end if the day if your room is a place or peace. At the end of the day turn on peaceful music, light a candle, and enjoy the evening.

Fun-Schooling 101: Counting the Cost

June 18, 2022June 18, 2022 / Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

If we look strictly at the “ledger”, comparing the costs of pubic education to a Fun-Schooling education, there are lots of things to consider.

First, it is of interest to note this statement:

…per pupil spending for elementary and secondary public education (pre-K through 12th grade) for all 50 states and the District of Columbia increased by 5.0% to $13,187 per pupil during the 2019 fiscal year…public elementary and secondary schools received $751.7 billion from all revenue sources, up 4.5% from $719.0 billion in 2018.
https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2021/public-school-spending-per-pupil.html

Public schooling is big business, and each time a parent decides to homeschool their child, part of their revenue is lost.

Practically speaking, the costs for sending your child to receive a “free public education” are considerable. Lists of required school supplies are now provided to each parent. There are expenditures for lunches, activity fees, extracurricular supplies, uniforms and athletics fees, field trips, technology and textbook fees, and more.

Families will pay an average of $577 on supplies for elementary students this year, which marks a 5.3% increase over last year. Those with middle school students can plan on paying an average of $763 and high school students can expect to spend around $1,223 on supplies. Those figures mark 5.3% and 9.5% increases, respectively.
https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/the-hidden-costs-of-public-education

And most importantly, there is the “cost” of your child’s innocence while being exposed to many social and political agendas. There is the “cost” of their having an understanding of their true worth and establishing their identity in light of things that are lasting and eternal instead of in standardized test scores and the attainment of artificial “bench marks”. There is also the “cost” of being taught a humanistic philosophy, a skewed account of history, and science which eliminates the role of the Creator of all things and Master of all laws of nature. Indeed, God is subtracted from all aspects of their “education” for about seven hours each week day. Seven. Hours. (continued on Page 2)