Q&A – Sarah’s Mom TIps

Sarah’s Survival Tips!

/ 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 Heroes – 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

/ 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

/ 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)

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Fun-Schooling 101: Transitioning from Public School

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

I started out in the public school system. I failed third grade because I couldn’t really read, and couldn’t memorize math facts. I guess I turned out okay. I was always failing when I was in public school. When I was nine, I understood one thing–I was not as smart as all the other kids my age. I was being measured by a standard that totally ignored my strengths, and revolved around my immaturity and learning delays.

I’m the girl who could not handle structured schooling. It’s because I’m too much of a leader. In the 1980s, when I was in school, it was common for girls to be more easily manipulated by an authoritative system. It was expected of girls to give in, and learn in silence.

Traditional school works so hard to create submissive students. It crushes leaders.

Many boys are also natural leaders and don’t submit quickly to a authoritative system. It’s actually a good quality! Many kids, like me, resist submission, more and more these days. But schools tend to squelch individuality.

Schools don’t raise up leaders. We often are trying to push our kids into submissive learning, and that’s the main idea of socialized public schools. Get all kids to conform, make them good employees and obedient citizens. What are they trying to REALLY do? Create a population that doesn’t ask hard questions.

Fun-Schooling is a very joyful way to homeschool. We engage in fun research and logic based learning quests that focus on the individual child’s strengths, talents, career dreams, faith, family values and nature exploration. Kids learn through projects and journaling, with library books and educational videos! Much of the learning is focused on doing unit studies revolving around the child’s passion. There are Fun-Schooling Journals that focus on lots of different topics and subjects that kids love, like horses, travel, baking, gardening, survival, nature, art, writing and so much more. You don’t need “more curriculum” just any stack of books that you and the kids enjoy today along with the journals. Or just get Fun-Schooling Math, Fun-Schooling Spelling, and Fun-Schooling Nature Study and Geography. You will not need to use other materials to make this way of doing it complete. Look at our bundles here.

Click here to learn about how to Flip to Fun-Schooling!

THINKING moms want to nurture THINKERS and LEADERS. May your homeschooling style reflect the truest of your values and the most precious of your goals.

Sarah’s Mom Tips: Learn This Poem!

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

Getting started with Fun-Schooling? Here’s one important tip:

For every element of FUN that you ADD you must take away something that is boring, or irrelevant or frustrating to you or your child. Just adding Fun-Schooling can feel like eating dessert too quickly after getting over-stuffed with a triple plate of Chinese food. You are going to love Fun-Schooling, it can bring so much peace, joy and delight to your days. 🙂

Don’t forget Mom-School, being an example is your most powerful tool as a homeschool mom.

Memorize this poem…

“For each new element of FUN

Something DULL must be undone!”

Never Judge a Child by His Ability to Sit Still and Be Quiet!

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

Do you have a child who can’t sit still and be quiet? GOOD!  This may be a problem at school, but not in the real world. In today’s world you need a little ADHD just to get by.We must NEVER judge a child by his ability to be passive.  Passive children often turn into passive adults, and that is a problem.  Did you know that classrooms and desks were invented for the convenience of teachers, not for the best interests of the child? 

Every child development specialist (and wise parent) knows that children need lots of time to play, imagine and invent. Children NEED to learn about the world around them by asking questions and experimenting. Children are naturally ACTIVE, ENERGETIC, IMAGINATIVE, CREATIVE, and NOISY.  They were NEVER meant to sit still for hours on end and be passive.  Why train up a generation of couch potatoes?  Children were designed to learn through PLAY, DISCOVERY and by IMITATING their parents and the people around them.  Do you realize that your child was smart enough to figure out how to walk, sing, turn on the computer, and learn a language by age two-and-a-half?  With NO lessons!  He wanted to be like you, so he figured it out on his own.  How is it that we live in a society where passive children are rewarded, but creative and active children are punished.  Real life does not work this way.  Not anymore.

 Contemporary schooling is all about controlling the child and training him to be a good student.  A good student is expected to be silent, to stop asking questions, and to stop being active.   The highest praise goes to the students who can follow a teacher’s instructions… instead of their own hearts.  The applause goes to the child who can fill in the blank and memorize facts, not to the child who would prefer to explore his own interests.  

Why? Because schools are designed to train people for institutional jobs. Schools were invented during the industrial revolution, at a time when the best job you could get was in a factory.  Schools follow a model that require individuals to let go of all of their individuality.  The child is trained from a young age to be a good employee who will work for the boss, no questions asked.  The goal is to train them to complete assignments and be dependent on an authority figure to control the their time and activities. 

During the 20th century almost all parents expected children to get a good education and a good job.  The good education was expected to be the golden ticket to a good job.  All the parent had to do was put the kid on the big yellow bus, no worries.  The government would take care of everything, mom and dad could go to work, junior would spend all day in a nice school and get educated for free.  The world has changed.  People who want to live the “good life” are no longer finding good jobs.  Many highly educated people are living on unemployment or living with their parents at age 35.  Many people who own businesses are no longer looking for employees. Taxes are high, risk is high, minimum wage is more than they want to pay, minimum wage is less than an educated person is willing to work for anyway.   (click Page 2 below to continue reading)

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Sara’s Mom Tips: Top 12 Beauty Tips for Busy Moms!

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

Busy mom, are you so busy taking care of your family that you have forgotten to take care of yourself? Did you wake up feeling beautiful, energetic and peaceful this morning? No? Did you know that tomorrow can be different? Here are some of my favorite beauty tips to help you thrive again. 

1. There are two things you can start doing this moment that will help you look and feel more beautiful.

  • Smile 
  • Improve your posture.

2. There are two things that you can do that will make all the other beauty efforts fade:

  • Put a frown on your beautiful face.
  • Slouch.  

3. I use organic coconut oil for everything.  Cover yourself in it from head to toe after a hot shower at night then sleep. This oil will renew your skin and does not make you greasy or clog pores, it also heals skin problems.

4. Change a few eating habits.  Eat more whole grains, fresh fruits, and natural meats and veggies instead of processed and packaged foods. Read labels. If you can not understand the list of ingredients, don’t buy the food–it might be packed with chemicals.  It is best to put good food into your body, as your body is constructed from the food you eat.  If you want to be beautiful, eat beautiful, colorful and natural foods.

5. Do not poison your body. Avoid high fructose corn syrup and white sugar. These things cause countless problems and make you look and feel zapped!  Say “No” to sugary drinks and soda. Avoid fake sweeteners. Scientists keep finding out that fake sugars cause cancer, and who wants cancer?

6.  If you love ice-cream, cheese cake, lattes and chocolate as much as I do, don’t deprive yourself 100%. That is not fun.  Limit treats to 2 or 3 times per week, but never 3 days in a row. Save treats for special occasions. When you indulge in sugary snacks three days in a row it is easy to start a sugar addiction, and day 4 will be one of irresistible sugar cravings. So just limit your treats, and enjoy them occasionally.

6. I drink fresh, unprocessed whole milk from grass-fed cows and use lots of Kerry-Gold Butter.  These amazing dairy products are pure and rich in nutrients.  These are the nutrients that will rejuvenate your body and help you recover from the weight gain and stretching of childbirth. If you have the nutrition your body longs for, the cravings will stop, and you will not need to over eat. People often feel hungry, and have cravings because they lack the vitamins, healthy fats, minerals, and enzymes that are found in raw milk.  When I am enjoying fresh milk and real butter I feel my best, and my energy is very consistent. I started drinking fresh milk right after the birth of my 3rd child, and my recovery and weight loss was rapid. Recovery was much harder with my first two children, because I had a normal American diet. 

7. When you wake up tired and cranky you are not going to shine.  If you are not getting enough rest, do this before bed: Drink about 10 ounces of water mixed with 2 Tablespoons of Liquid Chlorophyll and take 4 Wild Salmon Oil Capsules right before bed.  This combination will renew your body overnight. It also helps with weight loss after the baby, and is the best fertility booster I know of.  The nutrients restore the whole body and also helps to heal the reproductive system from harm caused by birth control or poor nutrition. 

8. If you eat nutritious foods, don’t worry about wearing out your body through pregnancy and breastfeeding. God’s design is perfect and babies are a blessing.  When you are nurturing new life, your body produces beneficial hormones to help your baby thrive and at the same time your body is rejuvenated and revived in the process. Most of the women I know who have large families are fit, youthful and vibrant. 

9. Don’t do the things that are proven to ruin your body: smoking, drinking more than one cup of coffee or wine per day, eating too much sugar, taking unnecessary medications, and using hormone altering birth control.  All these things damage your body. Find something better to do. Don’t settle for less than the best. You are worth it!

10. Drink a lot of water.  You know this, so do it.

11. Spend time in the sunlight and in the moonlight. Watch the stars, spend time in nature, plant a garden, camp, go outside without shoes on. Do all these things with someone you love, and the benefits are double! 

12. Live a life worth living! Ask yourself these important questions, and give yourself honest answers:

  • Am I where I belong in life? That means: Am I following my calling? Am I becoming who I was meant to be? Am I close to God? Am I being wise and loving in my relationships? 
  • What are my goals? If married – what are our common goals? 
  • What am I doing right now to reach those goals?
  • Have most of my life decisions been fear-based or hope-based?
  • Is my life headed in the right direction? If not, should I get off at the next stop and catch a different train that will take me to the right destination?
  • If I start over, change direction, start something new, or begin now to work toward my calling, dream or goals:
  • What is the WORST that could happen? Is the WORST worth risking?
  • What is the BEST that could happen? Is the BEST worth risking?
  • If I know I need to turn my life around or make an important change, what will I lose by not taking action?
  • What could my life look like in five years if I make the changes and work toward my goals, dream or calling.
  • What could my life look like in five years if everyday was basically a repeat of everything that happened last week?
  • What is holding you back from fulfilling your calling, living your dream or pursuing your goal? Is the thing holding you back more precious that your dreams, goals and calling.
  • Use the Mom-Schooling journals to record your thoughtful answers, and enjoy the relaxing benefits of Art & Logic therapy!

Everything You Always Wanted to Ask About Fun-Schooling!

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / 2 Comments

 

What do I need to Fun-School besides journals?
Some- especially math and spelling- are open and go with nothing other than writing and coloring utensils needed. Others need library books, podcasts/documentaries, music, and other research materials. You can include games, craft projects, and other activities on the subject(s) your child is studying if you’d like but they’re not required to Fun-School.

 How many pages per day should students complete?
We suggest the same number of pages per day as your child’s age. For example, a 10-year-old would complete 10 pages per day in a core journal. Or they might complete 2 pages in a math journal, 2 pages of spelling, 2 pages of nature study, 2 pages history, and 2 pages Bible. A page is one single side of paper, not both sides. 


What should I do if there isn’t a journal for what my student wants to study?
While many of our journals are themed, we have dozens of journals that can be used to study anything. The seasonal core journals are especially popular, any core journal can be used along with books and documentaries/podcasts on the subject your child wants to study. Master Class- 30 Day Portfolio is another option to study anything your child wants. 

What are Learning Languages?

Learning Languages are five unique learning styles.  Think of these as like The Five Love Languages. The Languages are Creator, Detective, Explorer, Friend, and Follower. You’ll find more info here.  These can be helpful in selecting journals and troubleshooting issues in your homeschool. 

 What are Dyslexia Games?

Dyslexia Games is our one-of-a-kind Language Arts curriculum.  It’s excellent for all students as it helps build problem-solving, creative thinking, right/left brain integration and more.  Children with Dyslexia, Aspergers, ADHD/ADD and Autism especially benefit.  

You can find more information in this document. 

 Can you help me with record keeping and compliance?

Laws vary by state/country as to what records and subjects are required.  We are happy to offer suggestions, you need to verify they are compliant with your local laws. Many families choose to use the 10 Subject Portfolio or the 12 Subject Portfolio for record-keeping.  The HSLDA is a great source for homeschool compliance information by state.

What about High School Credits?
We have a comprehensive guide to Fun-Schooling High School here. 

 Can I purchase materials with charter funds? 

Yes! Most charter schools allow you to use your charter school funds for Fun-Schooling materials.  Find more information here. We also put together the bundles with Charter Schools in mind. 

 How do I schedule a school day with these materials?
 We are happy to help you with a plan and offer suggestions.  Our bundles come with a suggested lesson plan for your schedule.  PM us here or email us here for help.  You’ll find lots of sample schedules by searching for “schedule” or “scheduling” here in the group.  

Some families use only a core journal while others use multiple journals per day. The beauty of Fun-Schooling is you can adapt to what works best for your family! There are thousands of Fun-Schoolers and no two families have the same schedule.

Here are a few popular options for scheduling but you can truly do whatever works best for your family-

(This mentions loop scheduling. In case you’re not familiar with a loop schedule- stack up all your “loop” journals up. Whatever is on the top is what you start with. No need to assign certain journals to certain days or worry about a specific schedule. When you’re done w/ the journal for the day, it goes on the bottom of the pile.)

Option 1-Pure loop- Stick everything in a pile- including the core journal. Let your child decide how many pages to complete in each journal as they work their way through the loop. Some days they may decide to do all pages in one journal. On other days they may decide to do a few pages from each journal. This is the most child-led and relaxed method.

Option 2-  Half pages per day from a core journal. Half pages per day from 2-4 loop journals. 

Option 3- Rotate core day/ single subject journals day. For example, Monday they would do all pages/day in her core. Tuesday would be 2+ single subject journals. Wednesday would be all pages in the core again. Etc.

Option 4- Half pages from a core journal, and the rest of the pages from only one single subject journal. Stick with this single subject journal until it is done and move on to a new one once it’s done. 

You can also look at our bundles – they all have suggested lesson plans in the bundle description. Look at the bundle that’s closest to your child’s grade level and you can plan in the same way as our lesson plan with the journals that you already have. https://www.funschooling.com/all-curriculum-bundles

Fun-Schooling FAQ: Proceeding, Picking, Programs & Peeking!

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment
Fun-Schooling Journals

First of all, remember, there is no wrong way to Fun-School. We have thousands of Fun-Schooling families and every home is different. Your homeschool schedule, materials, and plans are uniquely yours. These are general suggestions but tinker to make it your own!

Proceed! 

How do I get started Fun-Schooling?
Check out this post first and/or watch this video. This post on the Facebook group will also help.

Next, read through this blog post, and the upcoming Part 2!  

Last, PM us here or email us here if you need more help selecting journals or have other questions.

Our bundles are the easiest way to get started. Bundles come with a suggested lesson plan in the bundle description and are the most “open and go” method. https://www.funschooling.com/all-curriculum-bundles

Picking 

How do I select journals?

There are several ways to choose journals:

  • Look on our website. 
    • You can view journals based on grade level, academic subject, and theme/interest.  
    • Choose a bundle to cover all the basic subjects for an entire school year, complete with lesson plans! 

Programs

What programs are available?
We have four programs:

Fun-schooling Books https://www.funschooling.com/  

Dyslexia Games http://www.dyslexiagames.com/

Teach Yourself to Draw http://www.teachyourselftodraw.com/

Math Craft (Dyscalculia Therapy) https://www.funschooling.com/dyscalculia-games-math-craft

Fun-Schooling core journals cover eight to 20+ subjects in one. Subjects include the standard school subjects as well as unique subjects like nature study, classical literature, music, and more. Single-subject journals give students a chance to go more in-depth into a subject of their interest.

Peeking!

How do I see inside Journals?
Almost all our journals have flip-through videos on Amazon. They also are on YouTube, search the title of the journal + The Thinking Tree. We also have flip through videos on our Facebook group- you can find them here. 

The easiest way to browse our materials is through our website- https://www.funschooling.com/  

Click a journal to go to the Amazon listing. The videos are about halfway down, people often overlook them because they look like ads.

This should get you off to a good start! Click here for Part 2!

Fun-Schooling Printed Journals vs PDF Questions

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

Where can I find PDFs and why are they so expensive? 

PDFs are available here. We also post free PDFs from time-to-time in the group files. Dyslexia Games and Math Craft PDFs are also available.  A full list of all available PDFs in alphabetical order can be found here.


Generally, PDFs are more expensive compared to print.  This is because we are giving you permission to print as many copies as you want for single-family use.  We also have to make sure the appropriate contributors get royalties.  Royalties are different for PDFs than for print journals, we’re not able to make all journals PDFs due to these royalties.

 How do I download and save PDFs?
You will be emailed a download link for your PDFs. These links expire so download right away. We suggest backing up downloads on cloud-based storage like Google Drive or a flash drive or an external hard drive.

Why isn’t my PDF printing correctly?
Make sure to download the PDF, open the downloaded file, and print from the most updated version of Adobe. The most common printing error we see is from printing from the file preview vs the downloaded file itself. An old version of Adobe will also result in irregular printing as will (sometimes) printing from a phone vs a computer.

Where are print journals sold? 

Most of our materials are available via Amazon. The easiest way to find them is to search Sarah Janisse Brown. You’ll be directed to the Amazon listing from our website as well.  We also have select materials available from Barnes & Noble as well as Rainbow Resources. 

 How do I find sales?

We post sales within the Facebook group and over on the main Facebook page.   

Important note about Amazon sales

Amazon sales change frequently.  These are sales that Amazon decides to do on their own.  A sale may last a few hours or a few weeks.  We never know for sure.  If you see a book that has the price marked down like this:

It means it is an Amazon sale.  Grab these while you can, they can change fast!

 Can I make copies?

You are welcome to make copies of most of our materials for single-family use.  There are a few exceptions.  Please check the title page in your journal before making copies.  If you’re interested in licensing information for co-ops, schools, churches, camps, etc. please contact us at info@dyslexiagames.com

NOTE: if you live in South Africa you can buy printed journals from www.funschoolingsa.co.za . This store is independent of Amazon, so it can’t run the same sales as they do. Royalties are paid to Sarah for the license to print the journals.