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Early Education: A Playground for Real-World Skill Development

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

In our family of 15, we don’t view k-12 education merely as a stepping stone to college. Our kids don’t even know what “grade” they are in half the time.

Instead of focusing on traditional academics, we see childhood as an exciting opportunity for our kids to begin crafting real-world skills centered around their passions.

As a homeschooling mom I get to create an environment for learning that inspires each child in the pursuit of their unique dream or calling, while exploring fulfilling options for a career.

Ages 2-5
From the outset, we introduce our kids to stories of passionate people who never give up, do great things and solve problems in the world. We are laying the groundwork for a life where work and calling intertwine. We love to read about people and find out about the jobs of the people we meet, from the high call of being a mommy or daddy, to the world-shaping influence of authors, political figures, heroes, artists and inventors.

I remember when my son Joseph was five, when he would meet someone new he would say “Hi, my name’s Joseph, I’m a scientist. What are you?”

Ages 6-9
We help our children to start a tiny business and engage with the world in ways that spark creativity and entrepreneurship.

  • Isaac’s bracelet-making and sword crafting were not just about making money but about igniting his creative and business acumen.
  • Leah, Ember, and Lilly’s craft sales at festivals were lessons in art, economics, and teamwork.
  • Rachel’s book reselling taught her about value, negotiation, and her love for literature.
  • Esther’s bath salts business combined chemistry with marketing, all while following her interests.

Ages 9-12
We deepen their engagement with their passions:

  • Providing resources like an aviary for Laura who is passionate about birds or a piano for Joseph who is gifted in music – these gifts allow them to live their passions daily.
  • We emphasize learning by doing, ensuring that education is not abstract but connected to real-life applications. Why learn something from a book when you can do it in real life? As homeschoolers we are not limited by the walls of a classroom!

Ages 13-20
Here, we move from exploration to mastery:

  • Investing in their vision on their 13th birthday We provide them with real tools to build their dreams, whether they lead to a career or a calling.
  • Skills taught are those they’ll use in their chosen paths, like marketing, leadership, or specialized knowledge.
  • We limit distractions to keep their focus on what truly excites and fulfills them. No phones until they are ready to run a business that requires it. They have to pay for their own phone, and we parents put filters on the device to keep the kids safe and productive.

Click here to keep reading!

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How AI Can Make Us All Feel Like 1950s Housewives

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

In every era of rapid technological advancement, humanity faces a crossroads. Today, as AI and robotics threaten to replace human labor on an unprecedented scale, we are confronted with deep questions: What will happen to our jobs, our purpose, and our value? How will we spend our time, our energy, and our lives?

This isn’t the first time we’ve faced such a dilemma. A striking parallel existed in the 1950s when household technologies revolutionized daily life. Tasks that had once demanded weeks of effort—gardening, raising meat and eggs, canning food, sewing clothing—were suddenly replaced by mass production and modern appliances. The washing machine, refrigerator, vacuum cleaner, and telephone transformed the role of the housewife, freeing up vast amounts of time.

For many women, this was both liberating and disorienting. The work that once defined their survival and value within the family became unnecessary. They were no longer the primary producers of food and clothing, and their contribution shifted. Many entered the workforce or turned to consumerism and leisure.

But this “freedom” came with unforeseen consequences. Fast-forward 75 years, and we see a society grappling with obesity, mental health crises, loneliness, and fractured families. The very technologies that promised to make life easier have left many people without a sense of challenge or purpose.

Now, as AI advances at breakneck speed, we are entering a new era of disruption. Entire industries may be transformed or rendered irrelevant. What will happen when robots and technology handle most of the tasks that once filled our days? Will humans—like the 1950s housewives—find themselves with too much time, too little purpose, and no meaningful challenges?

Humans need to be challenged. We thrive on purpose, on working hard for something that matters, and on the satisfaction of overcoming obstacles. If AI takes over the bulk of our work, the question is not “What will we do with our time?” but rather, “How will we use it meaningfully?”

Click here to consider some answers to these questions, and discover some actionable points for you and your family.

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Why We Love Fun-Schooling

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

I thought I just chime in and share why I love fun-schooling so much.

When my kids were little, I was trying to do a lot of Charlotte Mason learning, some Montessori schooling at home, classical learning and a lot of Unschooling. It was exhausting! Our whole life style revolved around me being a worn out teacher-mom.

I have so many children with such diverse needs and passions, I wanted to give each one their own path. I gathered tons of different curriculum from conventions and it was overwhelming to create all these custom plans for each child!

And so I had the idea to make the Fun-Schooling journals when my oldest child was 16. I created ONE do-it-yourself homeschooling journal that guides each unique child through the experience of studying their passion, their hobby or their career goals – while still focusing on all the required subjects!

The first DIY journal could be adapted to any child age 7-17. I created a different cover for each child and put the first Journal on Amazon with a bunch of different covers, and bought them from Amazon for my own kids. I was just using Amazon for print-on-demand book making for my own kids. But I had the books up for sale just in case other families wanted a copy.

So when I created the first DIY homeschool journal I was expecting my 10th child and I really just wanted to take a break for six weeks so I could focus on the new baby.

So I thought I’d make a six week curriculum where the kids use 10 pages a day, without much help from me. I would build myself into the book!

The idea is that they would get a stack of library books and a bunch of documentaries about anything they were interested in, and they were to use those resources along with the journal while getting in all those academics.

My idea was that they could do everything independently with one journal and I would just have to add a math curriculum.

It worked great! After the kids finish their first DIY journal they asked for themed journals. One wanted to study horses. One wanted to focus on travel and fashion. One wanted Minecraft theme. One wanted to focus on dogs. Another was really into nature. My son Joe was crazy about space. I said yes to my kids and we started collaborating on making Fun-Schooling journals together- based on each of my kids’ passions.

The whole idea was an amazing success. My kids started earning royalties and were doing their homeschooling independently!

One thing I really love about Fun-Schooling is that it frees me up to be mom, and it gave me time to enjoy my preschooler and baby.

So instead of spending my day struggling over their schoolwork and trying to make sure that everything is organized in a really boring way… I started focusing more on pursuing my passions and reading to my kids more.

I thought it would be great to be an example to my kids of the learning I want to see in them. Down the rabbit trail I go… I started making Mom-School journals that look a lot like their DIY Fun-Schooling journals!

Not only did the kids love Fun-Schooling – I do too.

When we first started Fun-Schooling, I had 10 kids. Before Fun-Schooling, our homeschooling days were really stressful and I always felt like I wasn’t doing enough, yet I was going non-stop.

Our home just became so much more peaceful, full of wonder, and just more harmonious with Fun-Schooling. Best of all – lots of other families started discovering Fun-Schooling too!

Within two years of making the first DIY journal we sold so many Fun-Schooling books that we were able to do things we never thought possible.

We were able to support ourselves as volunteers in Ukraine, and eventually we were able to adopt five more kids because we had the extra income and I didn’t feel like I was overwhelmed by the ten kids I already had.

As more of my kids became teenagers, we helped them to focus on pursuing their careers, instead of focusing on high school credits, and now five of our kids are adults and have started their own successful businesses and are able to be independent.

Fun-Schooling made such a huge difference in our every day life and empowered us to really become who we were meant to be!

It wasn’t just the kids pursuing their passions.

I also was able to pursue mine, and somehow I found time in the past 8 years to create, collaborate and publish over 400 books!