Middle school is often associated with misery, drama, bullying, confusion and stress. It’s not a lot of fun. What if we were to rethink middle school?
Instead of pushing our kids into an educational mold that feels boring and irrelevant to them we could give them each a custom learning plan! What if we were to let our middle schoolers choose what they want to learn about?
Thinking Tree Books give your children the freedom, tools and opportunity to explore different career goals, dreams, hobbies, and business ideas!
If you have a child between the ages of 10 and 14, you might want to consider rethinking your goals for their education try giving them a customized education based on their personality and their passions. Middle school doesn’t have to be miserable. When we choose to homeschool our middle school kids, we help them to avoid a lot of the problems faced by kids at this sensitive age but take it one step farther don’t just homeschool… Fun-School!
To make it easier for your family to make the transition to Fun-Schooling we’re having a giant sale! All the books in this picture gonna be hot on sale for over 50% off. Imagine an entire year of homeschooling curriculum for less than $100 today were offering most of these books for $5, $10 or $15 each.
Check out all the books that are on sale right now for sale in February 14 here at this blog post.
People are curious about this refreshing way to educate their children–a way that nurtures a love of learning, accommodates learning differences, and gives children the freedom to learn about what they love while developing their researching skills, independence, and critical thinking.
So many learning styles are addressed as students write, scrapbook, color, complete Art & Logic exercises, draw, research, do puzzles, try experiments…the entire approach is very creative!
This blog and and our online presence has exploded with activity just in the past week or so:
Since January 25th, we’ve increased blog traffic by almost exactly 20,000 visits!
So far, in 2023 our most popular post is this week’s “All the Sales and Discounts” with over 11,400 views in less than 2 days!
To celebrate, we’ll be having a very special giveaway! THREE WINNERS will each receive:
3 Brain Games Books
Flip to Fun-Schooling
Praying for the World
Brain Booster Tea crafted by Sarah
A hand made pottery mug made by Sarah’s girls
To Enter:
Share this blog post
Comment below on this post on the blog, telling us what your favorite blog post has been this past year (be sure your email is provided in the comment)
Winners will be drawn on February 17th and given instructions via email on how to receive their prizes
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!
There is an awful lot going on with sales and discounts on all things Fun-Schooling this week! You’ll want to be sure and join the Fun-Schooling with Thinking Tree Books Mom’s Homeschooling Support Group on Facebook so you don’t miss any of these posts, as well as TONS of announcements, giveaways, drawings, and contests. It’s a very busy time!
Here are all the books currently on sale that are available (some may not have been marked down by Amazon yet), with Sarah’s affiliate links hyperlinked so she’ll get the most profit from each sale. The entire sale will be live until midnight on February 14th.
When I was seven my mom said I could major in the arts. Why wait for college? My mom believes in the 10,000 hour rule. If you want to become “World Class” truly legendary and super skilled at anything you need to immerse in your passion for 10,000 hours.
At around age thirteen our parents invest a serious $1000 – $5000 into our first venture. For Naomi is was a horse and eventually a farm. For Alex it was a professional flight simulator. For Joe is was all things Jazz piano and music production. For Esther it was high quality equipment and a move to Kauai with the whole family. Her dream was to be a photographer in Hawaii.
You may think this is over-the-top when it comes to investing in teen entrepreneurs. My parents actually do this so they can save money on college. They would rather pay $3000 to launch a teen’s career than spend $80,000 or more to help them get a degree. The other option college debt! The goal is for each child in the family to be financially independent before they are 20, with no debt.
So spend the $10 and start your 10,000-hour journey! Go here to see all of the books (discount good for at least 7 more days!): https://bit.ly/3JPXytn or use this QR code:
Our family spent a few days with the Robertson family in Louisiana, and Korie gifted me a copy of her book. It meant a lot to me because my daughter Anna recently had this conversation:
Over the holidays three of my adult daughters were visiting. When I came out the the living room early one morning half a dozen daughters were gathered around the fireplace reading their Bibles, writing in their prayer journals and listening to worship music. And I said, “How am I so blessed that my children are truly following Jesus? So many of the people I know are complaining that their adult kids and teens are rebelling against their faith.” Anna said to me, “You and dad are not hypocrites. You showed us a faith worth following, and always live what you believe. You and dad were authentic.”
I’m at a coffee shop this morning, with Josh, Anna and my daughter Christina. Everyone is having their devotional time. I brought my copy of “Strong & Kind” that my friend Korie wrote. I’ve met four of Korie and Willie’s six children and was amazed at how faith and love glowed in the hearts and hospitality of each member of the family. Rarely have I met other families with young adult children so passionate about the faith they grew up with. I wanted to know what was at the heart of their parenting victory. So here I am in Chapter 20. This morning. I asked Korie if I could share her wise words with all of you.
Be Real
It seems that society today is clamoring for something real. Organic and all natural are buzzwords for everything from food to clothing to body lotion. Could it be that we’re finally done with fake? I doubt it. Along with all the talk of going back to a more natural approach to living, our magazines and television screens are full of ads for products that include fake eyelashes, fake nails, fake tans, fake food, fake hair, and fake fur, There’s still plenty of fake to go around.
But fake things don’t last–well, except for Twinkies and Spam. Those have been around forever. Eventually, the fake tan fades and the eyelashes fall off. Fortunately, we’re usually at home when that happens, which is the best place to get rid of fake anything. In the interest of full disclosure, when you’re in the entertainment business, there are times for fake hair, false eyelashes, and a spray tan. It’s fun to feel glam for one night or for a photo shoot, but it feels even better to get home and take it all off. Home is where we can be ourselves, take off our makeup, put on our stretchy pants, and just be. But being real in our homes can be more complex than just being free to walk around in a pair of sweatpants and our husband’s T-shirt.
What exactly does it mean to be real? Here are several questions I want to explore as we talk about being real in our homes and as parents.
Do we try to appear one way to the world while acting differently at home?
Is the life we’re living true to how God made us?
Are we allowing our kids to see that being real can sometimes be messy?
Do You Act Differently in Public Than at Home?
Let’s discuss the first question. Kids are damaged when the inside of the family home doesn’t match the outside impression.
I’m talking about parents who put on a front to appear one way to everyone around them but then come home where they’re totally different people. Nobody likes a hypocrite, yet I think that’s exactly what our children see and think of us sometimes. They may not know the term or how to articulate it, but they see it, and it will affect them negatively. It will impact the level of respect they have for adults and how they approach and interact with the world as they grow up.
A very common reason people give for leaving the church is they’re convinced it’s full of hypocrites. A hypocrite is a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, or principles that he or she does not actually possess, especially a person whose actions contradict stated beliefs. A perfect example is a person bragging about her humility.
Hypocrites are deceivers and pretenders, so they may put on a false show of humility so that others will notice and commend them. Are we doing that in our homes?
Are we pretending that values such as honesty, kindness, patience, goodness, and self-control are important to us while living lives at home that demonstrate the opposite? Are you doing that? We do this when we gossip- we may be kind to others when face-to-face with them but belittle them behind dosed doors.
We do this when we lie about little things, perhaps saying, “Tell them I’m not home,” when someone calls.
We do it when we tell our kids not to tell their daddy how much money we spent at the mall. Yes, it’s a problem when we appear to be one way in public and another way at home. It’s also a problem when we burnish our appearance as the perfect little family when we’re out in public but spend our time yelling and fighting behind closed doors.
Don’t get me wrong. We’ve all had those moments when we’ve argued and griped right up until the time we walked through the doors of the church building, then quickly changed our tone and thrown a smile on our faces. If moments like that are just moments, there’s no need to worry. Nobody’s perfect. But when moments like that define your family, it’s time to take a good look and make the changes necessary to really become the family you want others to think you are.
Have you seen the apps that can Photoshop or adjust your pictures to perfection? In seconds your skin can be flawless, your teeth glowing white, and any stray hairs smoothed into shape. While it’s natural to want to put your best face forward, it’s never good to present yourself as something you’re not. Our family is often asked to do photo shoots, and when I am asked to choose, of course I always want to pick the best version of me. However, I don’t ever want to pick a “fake” me, or a picture that has been doctored so much that it doesn’t look like the real me.
Why do we work so hard to show others our best selves?
Why do we give our best selves to the ones who matter to us the least?
Then when we get home to the people we love the most and who love us the most, we offer them our worst our gripe-y, unloving, selfish selves.
I truly believe that being inconsistent with who you are, being one way at home and presenting yourself to the world as something else, is one of the most destructive things you can do as a parent. When we do this, we’re asking our children to live a lie.
Kids learn values by watching our actions, and this type of hypocrisy confuses them and diminishes their respect for us. You may not see this affecting your children when they are young, but during their teenage years, you’ll definitely see the damage.
What I’m talking about in this chapter, being real, is not about whether you stay in your pajamas all day and then dress up to go out with friends. It’s about your value system and the way you treat others.
Certainly, we must act differently in the workplace or for a dinner out than we do at home. No one expects you to act exactly the same way at a board meeting as you would playing UNO with the kids. That would be silly. How we behave is one thing; what motivates that behavior is another. Whether our actions show the values by which we claim to live is the key here.
I’ve learned a few things in my twenty years of parenting. One is to never expect your children to do what you won’t do. Willie and I know that if we want our children to view our value system as real and something important to live by, our own actions have to match our values.
Leading by example is the number one way to teach children any behavior you want them to have. Kids respond better to “Do as I do” than to “Do as I say.” Jesus came to this earth not only to offer Himself as a sacrifice but also to be our example of how to live. God knew that His children need an example, a pattern to follow. Our children need one too.” (excerpted from Chapter 20, “Be Real” in Korie Robertson’s book, Strong and Kind.)
As a teen, Anna authored about twenty Thinking Tree Books! They will all be on sale this week for $10!
At age 8 Anna couldn’t even read the word “dad”! Now she’s a well known author. Anna was the first child to use Dyslexia Games! She is a daughter of the creator of the games! They were made originally for Anna.
Listen to Anna share her story on Monday, February 6th on the Podcast “Sisters & Friends” (the Monday feature of “Whoa, That’s Good” Podcast! by Sadie Robertson Huff:
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.
My goal for our main Fun-Schooling Mom Support Group is to equip mothers to guide and teach their children according to their own values, world view, religious beliefs and political perspectives while empowering the children to think for themselves and ask hard questions.
I often recommend resources that we enjoy in our family. I often share pictures and stories of our unique experiences and celebrations, But I don’t do this because I think every other family should look like mine.
So, perhaps we are a Christian family with Jewish roots and love our Jewish foods and holidays. And maybe we celebrate Christmas and Easter traditions just as I learned to in my childhood. And maybe we embrace some Libertarian values, and drive Teslas…We believe in adoption, and even adopted some struggling older kids! I love herbal tea, but like coffee too. We have chickens in the back yard, and a hungry fox living in the front. There are a million dreams we haven’t even started living here on Earth, yet our treasures are best kept in Heaven. It’s a beautiful life and your life is beautiful too!
I don’t think you should be just like me. I don’t think your unique family should be anything like mine. Love what you love. Dream your dreams. Live out your vision. Follow your calling. Be you! Yet be willing to grow.
I’m investing in the homeschooling community in order to empower moms to create a FUN learning environment in their homes, and I have lots of tips and ideas!
Some of my older writings are geared towards the community I used to be most involved in – Conservative homeschoolers- but I never fit in. I was often encouraging those moms to quit “acting” and be real, and be realistic.
Our community has THANKFULLY grown to embrace a far greater homeschooling movement! And I’m loving it!!! If you want a homeschooling Facebook group that is clique-ish there are many. That’s not us, though many of us are outliers, eclectic, and neuro-divergent thinkers who don’t fit into any mold!!!
I’m growing a lot because of the diversity of thought in our group! I’m changing. I’m making friends who are opening my eyes to a bigger story, while staying true to my core values. I love the learning that happens in our community! I love the uniqueness and the vast diversity of homeschooling moms who make themselves at home!!! We are all welcome here. Come join us!
