Seven Simple Tips for Homeschooling Your Gifted Kids

Seven Simple Tips for Homeschooling Your Gifted Kids

Yes, you CAN homeschool gifted kids! In fact, you can do it quite well since homeschooling affords you the wonderful opportunity to meet unique needs perfectly. While each family’s situation certainly requires homeschooling to be tailored to specific needs,...
The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling Gifted Children

The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling Gifted Children

Since I began searching for alternate paths of learning for my twice-exceptional son many years ago, and changed my thinking enough to gather the courage to pull him out of school to pursue homeschooling, I’ve watched the population of homeschoolers with gifted...
Exponentially Great Math Books (That Aren’t Textbooks!)

Exponentially Great Math Books (That Aren’t Textbooks!)

The world is always being divided into two camps – ketchup or mustard, Mac or PC, cat person or dog lover, and those who love math versus those who shudder at the mere mention of mathematics. Whether you’ve got a kiddo who can’t get enough equations...
RLL #78: College For All with Trent Thompson

RLL #78: College For All with Trent Thompson

  Have a gifted student who is not being challenged enough? Maybe they are especially gifted in certain areas and able to work ahead? Can you imagine what he or she could do at age 18 after having already finished their bachelor’s degree while in high...
When the World Overwhelms Your Anxious Child | How You Can Help

When the World Overwhelms Your Anxious Child | How You Can Help

Sure, I’m writing this in the midst of a worldwide pandemic and unprecedented protests and riots. The news daily reminds us all of death and sickness and fear and storms. The world as we know it has been set ablaze, slammed to a halt, and deeply, passionately...
RLL #77: Asynchronous Development in Gifted Children

RLL #77: Asynchronous Development in Gifted Children

  The label “gifted” conjures up images of beautifully wrapped presents with neatly tied bows, images that are a stark contrast to the reality of giftedness: asynchrony.  There can be huge differences between a gifted child’s physical,...
RLL #76: Creating the Adventurous Family with Rachel Rainbolt

RLL #76: Creating the Adventurous Family with Rachel Rainbolt

   Gentle parenting, natural homeschooling and simple living can seem like lofty goals for many of us, but are they really?  Colleen explores these ideas and more with Rachel Rainbolt of Sage Family, who has created a lasting culture of connection and...
100 Ways to Tell Your Kids You Love Them

100 Ways to Tell Your Kids You Love Them

We had a tough day last week. The house was a wreck. Dishes piled up in the sink. Rice from the rice bin was scattered everywhere. And the kids’ room… oh my. The floor was covered – pillows, blankets, used pull-ups, stuffed animals, trash, LEGO – you name it, and it...
RLL #75: [Audioblog] Dear Tired Mama of Gifted Kids

RLL #75: [Audioblog] Dear Tired Mama of Gifted Kids

It’s been a long day already, and you haven’t even taken your first sip of coffee. You didn’t get to bed until well after midnight because the oldest couldn’t shut his mind down and wanted, no needed, to talk about every single, swirling thought he’d ever...
RLL #74: Solving the Transcript Problem with Maya & Nina Serna

RLL #74: Solving the Transcript Problem with Maya & Nina Serna

  In this episode, Colleen meets the Serna family to discuss how self-directed learners Maya and Nina solved a real-world problem in the course of their studies. Maya and Nina realized that there was a genuine need among teen homeschoolers to track learning and...
Watching Movies With Gifted Kids

Watching Movies With Gifted Kids

I’m just gonna go ahead and say it – watching movies with my gifted kids is the worst. Sure, I like spending time with my children and sure, there are innumerable on-screen stories out there to share and experience with them, but when it comes down to...
Finding Community: Building a Support System Online and In-Person

Finding Community: Building a Support System Online and In-Person

Homeschoolers – especially those that have been doing this awhile – laugh at the question that is most often brought up by concerned family and friends. The socialization question really is quite amusing, as kids have opportunities to be social in so many ways. There...
RLL #71: Resiliency and Why Our Kids Need It

RLL #71: Resiliency and Why Our Kids Need It

  Resiliency is the ability for any of us, including our kids, to bounce back from adversity.  The potential for happiness or success comes from how we take snippets of those bad days, turn ourselves around and bounce back from stress, challenge, tragedy,...
Discussing Race With Your Emotionally Intense Kids

Discussing Race With Your Emotionally Intense Kids

My kids, like many gifted kids, are pretty interested in current events and tend to somehow absorb the news, despite some of my attempts to filter it for them. My kids, like many gifted and twice-exceptional kids, also happen to be pretty emotionally intense. It can...
Happy Cheetah | The Perfect Program for Struggling Readers

Happy Cheetah | The Perfect Program for Struggling Readers

Isaac is my youngest, and most mysterious, child. He’s obviously brilliant and always keeps us on our toes, but I never quite know what’s coming next from him. He’s been blazing his own path, much like his siblings, and while there is plenty I can...
Games to Help Improve Your Kid’s Emotional Intelligence

Games to Help Improve Your Kid’s Emotional Intelligence

We all want our kids to develop a strong emotional intelligence. Let’s give them a hand by using play to strengthen their skills. Since we know that emotions can be overwhelming for kids, it’s our job to give them the tools they need to cope with the ups...
Using Time4Learning to Homeschool When You Think You Can’t

Using Time4Learning to Homeschool When You Think You Can’t

When it was first announced that schools would be closed for the remainder of the school year, my inbox became flooded. Suddenly parents who’d never homeschooled, who’d never considered homeschooling, who never thought they could homeschool, were...
RLL #70: More Than Enough with Kara Anderson

RLL #70: More Than Enough with Kara Anderson

  Ever feel overwhelmed or scared that you just might not be doing enough in your homeschool? Not seeing those Instagram families in your own home?  Feeling a little drained by those wonderful but intense learners? In today’s podcast, Colleen speaks...
There Are No Quick Fixes

There Are No Quick Fixes

We waited months for that first counseling appointment. Very long, emotional, hopeful months. We knew our son was going to benefit from therapy, knew he needed it, knew we needed it. School issues, social difficulties, peace at home, the overwhelming fear and guilt...
RLL #68: Self-Directed Education with Peter Gray, PhD

RLL #68: Self-Directed Education with Peter Gray, PhD

  Today, Colleen speaks with Peter Gray, PhD and author of “Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life.” Peter and Colleen discuss his journey to understanding how...