anxiety

How to Transform Your Homeschool: Perfectionism to Joy

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

Homeschool moms! Let’s throw our stress overboard! Let’s release the things that cause stress! Let’s set ourselves (and our kids) free from unreasonable and irrational expectations. Somehow, we imagined that these unrealistic goals were the right way.
Untangle yourself and your kids from the things that choke out the joy in learning!
Here’s how:
One of the greatest gifts we can give our children is the ability to take their thoughts captive and release burdens that were never meant to be theirs to carry. As homeschooling parents, we often focus on academic achievement, but if we aren’t careful, we can unintentionally plant seeds of anxiety, perfectionism, and self-doubt in our children’s hearts.
God never intended for us to live weighed down by fear or the need to perform for approval. Matthew 11:28-30 reminds us to come to Jesus for rest, and 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us to take every thought captive in obedience to Christ. These truths are not just for us as parents—they are essential for our children as they grow into the people God created them to be.
So how do we weave these lessons into our homeschool days?


The Hidden Burden of Traditional Schooling
In many educational settings, children are trained to work for grades, external approval, and the fear of making mistakes. Every assignment is graded, every test has red marks, and progress is often measured by how few errors they make rather than how much they have learned.

When children are constantly evaluated this way, they internalize a dangerous belief: “I am only as good as my ability to get things right.”

This burden is heavy, and I’ve seen how it plays out in adulthood. It creates individuals who are afraid to take risks, explore new ideas, or step into their God-given creativity. Instead of growing into confident problem-solvers, they become people-pleasers, perfectionists, or those who avoid challenges altogether because they fear failure.
When I was young, I struggled with traditional academics. I saw myself as someone who wasn’t smart enough, always focusing on my weaknesses rather than my gifts. I even failed third grade!!!
But when I embraced learning on my own terms (at age 13) following my curiosity, using creativity, and celebrating progress instead of perfection—I discovered a love for learning that has lasted a lifetime. This is the heart of Fun-Schooling.

How Fun-Schooling Releases Burdens
Fun-Schooling is not about performance—it’s about passion, mastery, and lifelong learning. Instead of burdening our children with the fear of failure, we give them the tools to learn with confidence and joy.
In our home and in thousands of Fun-Schooling families, kids don’t study to earn grades or please a teacher. They study to pursue knowledge, build skills, and prepare for the future God has for them.

Traditional school teaches kids to focus on their mistakes.
Fun-Schooling teaches kids to focus on their gifts.

When kids are given the freedom to research, explore, and follow their interests, they become fearless learners. They know that making mistakes isn’t failure—it’s part of the process. Instead of becoming burdened by anxiety, they develop the mental strength, confidence, and peace that are uncommon in traditionally schooled children.

Teaching Kids to Take Thoughts Captive
So how do we practically help our children apply 2 Corinthians 10:5—taking every thought captive—and Matthew 11:28-30—laying down heavy burdens?
Here are a few ways to include character teaching in your homeschool day…

Click here to keep reading!

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Living Stress Free in a Stressful World

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

I want the share inspiration and encouragement that is helping me.

Here’s a talk from Nancy Campbell at Above Rubies, that explains the hormone Oxytocin, the “peace hormone” and how to tap into its power to reduce stress and anxiety, and give you a feeling of peace!

Click here for a post on “Tips for Reducing Stress, Media, and Clutter”!

Try one of my Art & Logic Therapy journals to help calm your mind:

Fun-Schooling Learning Challenges | Tips for Homeschooling Learning Disabilities and Special Needs

/ Amanda Osenga / Leave a comment

Last week we told you about our series on Fun-Schooling each grade/age. Grateful parents have been telling us all week how excited they are. We’ve had several questions asking about learning disabilities, special needs, and medical struggles.  We know homeschooling learning disabilities and special needs can feel overwhelming.

Today I’m glad to tell you we will also discuss these topics this school year. We hope this series will not only help parents better support their children but will help you learn about different learning challenges.

First, we’ll introduce the challenge and how it typically expresses itself.
Next, we’ll share common learning adaptations and tips to optimize learning.
Then, we’ll talk about building a learning plan/curriculum.
Last, we’ll share the most popular journals for children with this learning challenge. 

Remember– This series will be based on the average child with this learning challenge. We recognize most of these have a huge range of expression. This is intended to be a supportive overview.  The bell curve is extremely important to remember throughout this series. Some children will fall outside of this average. We’ve chosen to homeschool for a reason- so we can customize our children’s education to their unique academic level and needs This is especially important for children with special needs, medical concerns, and learning disabilities.

Sounds great, what’s the plan?

February ‘24- Reluctant/ Struggling Writers
March ‘24- Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities/Disorder
April ‘24- Autism
May ‘24- Anxiety & Depression
June ‘24- PANS/PANDAS
July ‘24- ADHD
August ‘24- Chronic Health Problems & Cancer
September ‘24- Trauma and Transition 
October ’24- Dyscalculia
November ’24- Dysgraphia
Dec ‘24- Executive Functioning Weaknesses 

Please let us know what specific questions and struggles you’d like to see addressed in this series. We hope it will be helpful for your family. 

Disclaimer- The content of this post is for informational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any condition or disease. Please seek advice from your healthcare provider for your personal health concerns prior to making any changes for yourself or your child.

About the Author- Amanda Osenga is a Fun-Schooling mom in Columbus, Ohio. She is also the social media manager and Virtual Assistant for Thinking Tree. Her family combines Thinking Tree books with the Charlotte Mason method using books from Ambleside Online and Wildwood Curriculum. In her free time, Amanda is an avid reader and loves to be outdoors.

Dyslexia Games and the Fight Against Brain Fog (Part 2)

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / 2 Comments

(Guest post by Ferne Hood)

The final week of the first month of the trial saw more and more positive and unexpected outcomes. Moms were feeling less overwhelmed, more organized, more in control, more creative and even remembering where they left their phone and what that person’s name was who they just met! One mom said, “It has been helping me remember things, like names. I’ve been getting increasingly worse at remembering names for the past couple years. I’ve surprised myself a few times lately!”

            At the end of the first month of the trial, Sarah conducted a little poll to see what areas of people’s lives were improving the most as a result. There were an astounding eighteen areas nominated! The area with the most votes being focus, shortly followed by organization, cleaning more and feeling less scatterbrained. Brain fog reduction was fifth on the list, which shows that these other fantastic areas of improvement were wonderfully unexpected by-products of the experiment. Moms reported an increase in concentration, patience, mood and memory. Some moms also discovered that they had some wonderful hidden artistic skills and their creativity was allowed to come to the surface once again. They found themselves bonding with their kids more and making precious time for themselves, sometimes for the first time in a long time. A month of Dyslexia Games also seemed to be helping to calm anxiety and improve mental health, as well as inspire moms to cook and clean more and finish the jobs they start.

            Because of Dyslexia Games, many moms are now feeling more in control of their lives, while also finding new ways to spend time with their kids, reconnecting over puzzles and pictures. Sarah has since created a range of Mom Brain Games specific for this purpose, to help mothers everywhere reclaim their lives, harness their thoughts, own their day-to-day and even clean a garage or two.

            “I felt exhausted, depressed, frustrated and nothing seemed to get accomplished. By the time I was halfway through the first book in this series I had retrained my brain to completely focus and complete one small task at a time. Now, I am able to get things accomplished. My anxiety and depression is no longer an issue. I am not overwhelmed–I can look at things and break it down into small chunks that are doable… This would not have happened without doing these brain fog series. I don’t know how it works but I am proof it does work !!!” – Krista.

            So many moms who have done this trial have had such fantastic results and are now a part of an ever-growing community. They have found a way to find themselves again, with a little daily focus, some time and dedication, some pretty pens, and maybe a green lemonade or two along the way.  

(Read Part 1 by clicking here)

Sarah Janisse Brown - Morning Light
Sarah Janisse Brown, Creator of Dyslexia Games/Art & Logic Therapy

Dyslexia Games and the Fight Against Brain Fog (Part 1)

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / 2 Comments

(Guest post by Ferne Hood)

When Sarah Janisse Brown’s daughter Anna was struggling with dyslexia and finding it hard to read, Sarah began creating patterns and pictures in sequences and doing these “games” with Anna again and again! The result was incredible as Anna soon began to read comics and recipes, and then moved on to novels and the Bible. Anna didn’t realize she was actually learning to read when she was doing these puzzles with her mom, she just thought she was having fun. But her success led to Sarah creating a series of workbooks containing her Brain puzzles called Dyslexia Games, to help countless other kids and their parents who were having the same struggles.

            As some moms began going through the games with their children, and inadvertently doing them themselves, they soon realized that the games were having a significant impact on them too. It seemed as though the Dyslexia Games were helping these moms in their struggle with brain fog! So Sarah decided to conduct a little experiment. She launched a Facebook group and asked moms struggling with brain fog to commit to intentionally using Dyslexia Games to see if they could improve their brain function. Around 800 moms committed to the trial, keeping notes of their progress along the way. And the results have been astounding. Not only have these moms discovered a passion (or aversion!) to designing t-shirts and drinking green lemonade, and maybe a newly formed addiction to stationary, but they are happier, more focused, more present and feeling less scatterbrained as a result of committing to doing just a few pages a day.

            In the first week alone, participants were already starting to notice a difference. Melanie said, “I definitely noticed a clearer mind and was able to get more done each day. Doing two pages each day has opened a desire up in me to be more creative and to take up doing art with my daughter!” And Janice said, “I look forward to it every day! My brain feels good and likes working on the puzzles. Afterwards I feel more focused and refreshed.”

            Even after just a handful of days, the positive affect of Dyslexia Games was noticeable. Many moms mentioned how it was even helping to ease their anxiety. Elina commented, “I have had way less anxiety since I started the brain games. I’ve been more motivated and have come up with many new solutions for problems I’ve had for a while.” And Michelle said, “I got the best sleep last night that I have had in a pretty long time. I have also found that I’m less anxious if I do these. I am prone to panic attacks and have found that if I feel anxious and I focus on doing these I don’t do my regular nervous habits and the feeling doesn’t escalate at all. It is a fabulous coping tool for me!”

            An easing in anxiety, increase in creativity and focus, and more bonding with their children – it seemed like week 1 was impacting for so many moms. (click here to continue reading)

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