Brain Games

The Inspiration Behind Dyslexia Games (Try For Free!)

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

Written by Ella Bundy from podcast content

When it comes to parenting, you never quite know what challenges you’ll face. For me, one of the biggest surprises came in the form of dyslexia. My oldest daughter, Anna, is the first one that we discovered is dyslexic, and it’s really an amazing story!

My first son, Isaac, was a natural when it came to letters and reading. He was already reading by age five, so I figured I’d use the same approach with Anna. But Anna was different – a free spirit who could never sit still. At four, she showed zero interest in reading, so I decided to step back and let her explore her own interests, like drawing and nature.

By the time Anna turned six, I felt it was time to focus on helping her learn to read – but it quickly became apparent that something wasn’t clicking. Phonics made no sense to her. She would get upset, she would get angry, she would cry. She would get one word correct one day, and then, the next day, she’d forget it. We tried again when she was seven, even bringing in a teacher, but the struggle continued.

As Anna approached eight and still couldn’t read, I started to worry. With five or six children at that point, my in-laws began suggesting that I might be too busy with the younger ones to teach her properly. It was heartbreaking when, at nine years old, Anna told me she didn’t care about learning to read because it was too hard for her to differentiate between letters. She declared she’d just be an artist and a mom instead.

I remember sitting there, stunned by her words. After a moment of reflection, I gently told her, “Anna, God wouldn’t have given us the Bible unless he was going to give us the ability to be able to read it.” It was then that I realized we needed a different approach. Anna was a real problem-solver, so I decided to try and outsmart her reluctance to read by creating something that turned reading into a problem-solving challenge.

Click here to find out what Sarah did next (and access some free resources)!

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Comfort & Joy- New Brain Games!!

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

Today we’re delighted to announce the release of our newest Brain Games, Comfort & Joy.

It’s one of my favorite books so far and I created it with Christmas and Winter in mind. This one is specifically designed to help uplift your spirits during the long days of winter, when a lot of people struggle with motivation, loneliness, and need a boost to accomplish those New Year’s Goals.

This will be a perfect gift for people on your Christmas list who are hard to shop for, give the book along with some good quality colored pencils and a fine point black 🖊️ pen or marker.

For a really special gift – get the full set for someone you love – older ladies are crazy about these books – grandmothers and aunties!!! Teens and tweens really like them too!

What Moms have said about our previous Brain Games

-“I just love these books so much. I originally bought them for me and my mom who were both experiencing brain fog (me due to pregnancy and motherhood and the unavoidable isolation/exhaustion of having a baby during a pandemic, my mom due to long COVID) and we both adore them.

Two weeks ago my newest baby tried being born two months early, and the first thing I did when throwing together my emergency hospital bag was grab a Brain Games book and my bag of pens and pencil crayons, to help keep myself calm and peaceful despite being in an anxiety-inducing situation. Luckily she has agreed to stay inside a little bit longer (I’m 32 weeks today, hoping to at least keep her cooking until the new year 🤞) but I’ve kept my bag together with Brain Games and some devotionals and books, just in case I need to grab it last minute ago. Thank you for sharing these wonderful books with us. ❤️” S.A.

– “Thank you so much for making another beautiful book. I am dyslexic and have always aspired to draw. These games really launched me into a wonderful new hobby. As an added bonus, the change in my thought patterns has also helped with anxiety.” D.K.

-“I LOVE these!!! I recently gifted one to my dad who was just diagnosed with parkinsons. He is enjoying it.
I love sitting with my family at night and while my kids color or do a puzzle, I sit and do a brain game. Never fails, one of them always comes over and asks to help me. Its created some beautiful moments with my girls.” S.R.

-“Comfort & Joy” sounds so much fun for wintertime! ❄️ My 6 yr old daughter & I love to sit down together with our Brain Games Books & enjoy calm peaceful music, coloring, learning & solving the logic puzzles. We love the art & activities they include.. her current favorite is, “Candlelight Brain Games,” while I use my Mommy workbook, “Handbook For Moms.” These books have played an instrumental part in helping my daughter with pattern recognition & training the dyslexic thought process through games & creativity! They are so enriching & true trailblazers❣️📖🙏” S.S.

-“My 10.5yr old daughter just did a few pages (of the book with the fire on it) and she said she feels as calm as when she leaves an OT appointment where she has been getting CST/myofascial work. “There’s not so much talking in my head, I feel calmer. I actually *want* to do Beast Academy (math work) now!” 💜💜 This is amazing for her with ADHD type of mind and anxiety.” L.B.

Find this delightful new journal here and check out a peek inside on our Instagram page.
Paperback coming soon

Celebrating with Mom-School Bundles!

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

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!

Mom-Schooling Encouragement!

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

(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!

The Beautiful, Creative Dyslexic Mind (and a 25% off discount code!)

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

Dyslexia Games is designed around the beautiful and creative dyslexic mind.

It uses the gift of art, the creative genius, the ability to see through the mind’s eye to complete patterns and solve puzzles. The games focus on the dyslexic gifts and talents as the symbols, letters, words and poetry are added to the activities- step by step, little by little.

The idea is to light up the dyslexic mind that the student engages in art and logic; the strongest part of the mind is activated as the symbols are reintroduced. The idea is for the stronger areas of the mind to engage in the process of symbol identification.

I would recommend reading “The Gift of Dyslexia” to really understand what people with dyslexia are brilliant and how to engage their brilliant minds while reintroducing literacy.

Many dyslexia therapies just focus on “kindergarten type phonics” over and over and over. This type of therapy offended my brilliant dyslexic daughter.

I wanted a reading program that would respect the fact that she was an artist, a thinker, a storyteller, a creative. And that is why she thrived with Dyslexia Games.

Here are some wonderful testimonials:

“We’ve almost completed series B. My sons are more confident to try spelling and for the most part I can actually figure out what they are trying to spell. These are huge steps for these boys that could barely put pencil to paper because of the stress. Our speech lady hadn’t seen us since Covid. And I know that’s long but we really haven’t done anything for spelling since that time except these books. And the speech lady was floored at how much they had improved. One of them doesn’t even qualify for speech/language right now (which was going to be for focus and help with dyslexia). These books are the only thing I can think of that have made the difference.” Tina Perez Glenn

“These books were a huge game changer for us. We went through Dyslexia Games a few years ago with my oldest and I truly believe they really helped. There was some serious struggle with the first few books while he got the hang of it, but he stuck with it and we noticed a big difference. He also built his confidence back up which was huge for us. Then we discovered their curriculum journals and have used them ever since. Both my boys enjoy them so much! I have my own books to work in alongside the kids and it really sets the tone for learning. I also love the supportive community and company itself.” Leanne Nattress

“Two of my sons and myself use the Brain Games and Dyslexia Games books. My profoundly dyslexic kiddo is reading after less than a year using these books! My dysgraphic kiddo is writing FOR FUN. And, I have noticed that if I do 2-3 pages a day, my brain fog and using the wrong words is a lot better!” Stephanie Ann Goetsch

“We have used the Dyslexia Games and it made a huge difference for my youngest son. We had tried more traditional therapy and he fought it tooth and nail, but not the dyslexia games. We are currently using Math Craft and like it as well.” Amanda Murray Griffey

“Our daughter is a high school junior. She was exasperated as we tried one thing after another, trying to find something that would click with her brain, as she deals with dyslexia and Asperger’s. Dyslexia Games was the solution. Having everything available in Dyslexie font was huge for her. As she’d faithfully do 2-3 pages a day, I began to see changes not only in her reading and writing, but also in her ability to organize and perform tasks in sequence (both are challenging for kids like her). It has boosted her self confidence so much! We love the journals generally and use not only Dyslexia Games but many, many other Fun-Schooling journals almost exclusively for her school now. I also do Brain Games Art & Logic Therapy alongside her which has helped me with Covid fog/fibro fog while inspiring her by my example. Win-win! What’s not to love???” Diane Heeney

Apply 25% off to Dyslexia Games + Math Craft PDF Sale with the promo code “Dyslexia2023Joy”. Go here to use the code: https://www.funschooling.com/special-needs-bookstore

This code expires on February 28, 2023.

Art & Logic Therapy Sale!

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

I’ve put my Brain Games books at the lowest possible price, Amazon will earn their penny, and will also give everyone with Prime free shipping. I won’t earn much, maybe a few cents, but you all will have the opportunity to get our therapy books as a “loss leader” to help us get back on our feet and get these books back up into their “bestseller” rating. I just think we all should get a blessing out of this opportunity.

Last time I offered these books for less they $5 we hit #185 of all books on Amazon! We’ve already hit the Best Seller list again with several of these journals!

Since we got canceled and reinstated things turned upside-down, this boost will help.

Less than $4 or $5 per book!

Candlelight: https://bit.ly/3HwTV8Z

Morning Light: https://bit.ly/40roBkK

Wind & Rain: https://bit.ly/3HXbIYo

Full list of Flash Sale Books here on Facebook!

Stock up for your co-op!!!

Dyslexia Games: The “Brass Tacks”

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / 3 Comments

Three Series of Dyslexia Games

Anna was young when I created Dyslexia Games. Older kids with Dyslexia felt the games I’d created were too easy. I set to work at creating more advanced games. These were helpful both for Anna as she grew and for older children.

Series A is best for children ages 5-8. It can also be used by older children who are profoundly Dyslexic. This series is primarily art-based and introduces a bit of writing and spelling. 

Series B for children aged 8-12. The art-based games become more advanced and more reading skills are required. We also include spelling and copywork in this series.

Series C is for ages 10+. We continue with intricate art-based games, add in some math, and work on cursive writing skills. 

Not Only for Dyslexic Kids

Families began introducing their early readers to series A- regardless of if they showed signs of Dyslexia. Parents realized they made learning to read fun and engaging and that children thrived. Older kids saw Dyslexic siblings working on series B and C and wanted to try them out. It became apparent these games were not only helpful for Dyslexic kids. 

We’ve heard from thousands of families who share remarkable stories about the benefits of Dyslexia Games in their homes. Parents have used Dyslexia Games with:

  • ADHD/ADD kids to help them focus and relax
  • Asperger’s 
  • Autism 
  • Dysgraphia 
  • Dyspraxia 
  • Non-Verbal learning disabilities
  • Visual Processing Disorders
  • As “brain breaks” before working on a more focused/difficult task
  • To de-stress and relax a kid when they were frustrated
  • For relief from Brian Fog
  • To help develop executive functioning skills 
  • Memory support 
  • And more!! 


This was certainly not something I ever expected. At this point, we think we’ve had about as many non-Dyslexic kids use Dyslexia Games as those with Dyslexia. Especially series A for new readers. I began to incorporate pages from these games into some of our Fun-Schooling journals and students have loved having them there.

Click here to continue reading.

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The Fun-Schooling Story: The Branches of The Thinking Tree Spread Out!

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

What The Thinking Tree Offers

As we’ve grown our tree has branched into several different offerings. Today we have six “branches” on our Thinking Tree. 

Fun-Schooling Journals consist of our core journals, the first journals we created. We also have dozens of smaller “single subject” journals on standard school subjects like Language Arts, History, Math, Science, Art, and Geography. Single-subject journals on “elective” topics have also been created such as Dance, Foreign Language, Animals, Sports, and even Minecraft! There are about 300 Fun-Schooling Journals.

Dyslexia Games is our art-based Dyslexia therapy program. It was created a few years before the first Fun-Schooling journal. There are three series for different age groups. Throughout the years we have found it helpful for students with ADHD/ADD, Asperger’s, and other learning challenges too. Interestingly, we’ve also found children without learning challenges or disabilities benefit too. It helps children with creative thinking, problem-solving, handwriting, spelling, art skills, math, and more.

Click here to continue reading.

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The Fun-Schooling Story: A Homeschooling Shift

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / 1 Comment

The COVID Homeschooling Shift

Before the outbreak of COVID-19, approximately 3% of American children were homeschooled. In 2020 amid lockdowns, limited and frustrating results of online learning, and ongoing mandates, parents began to bring their children home.  As of the time of this writing in 2022, roughly 20% of American children are homeschooled. 

The Thinking Tree saw massive growth between March 2020-March 2022. Our Facebook group grew by over 20,000 and our social media accounts gained tens of thousands of new followers. Sales jumped, and we had several journals make it into the top 500 of all books on Amazon during this period. This is a feat that is difficult to achieve, especially for the homeschool market. One of our Brain Games journals even made it to the top 200. 

This journal made the Top 200 Amazon list!

Families continue to pull their children from school in record numbers. It is expected a substantial amount of kids will remain homeschooled throughout the majority of, if not the entirety, of their education. The Thinking Tree has continued to add in new journals to meet the interests and needs of students. We even worked to incorporate COVID-19 into a journal so children could begin to understand the impact it has had on the world in a familiar way.

Also during this time, our collection of Art & Logic Therapy journals grew! They have helped so many kids and moms deal with Covid brain fog and other mental clarity challenges. Something good that has come out of this season of challenges, and we are very grateful!

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.