RLL #56: [Audioblog] Discipline and Your Intense Child

RLL #56: [Audioblog] Discipline and Your Intense Child

  Do you feel like all you ever do is yell at and correct your intense child? That for every time you praise him, you’ve already berated him 15 times? And, are you completely exhausted before you’ve finished your first cup of coffee? Yeah… me too. This...
Coming to GHC – The Real Mom Tour!

Coming to GHC – The Real Mom Tour!

I am so excited to finally be able to share this! For the last few years at Great Homeschool Conventions, I’ve joined my dear friends Pam Barnhill and Sarah Mackenzie for a panel discussion, addressing questions about everything related to homeschooling,...
RLL #55: Helping Your Child Manage Perfectionism

RLL #55: Helping Your Child Manage Perfectionism

  So many gifted and twice-exceptional kiddos struggle with perfectionism, and untreated perfectionism can lead to other problems like low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and even eating disorders. Finding ways to talk to your kiddos is important, and keeping...
Falling Unexpectedly in Love With Homeschooling My Gifted Child

Falling Unexpectedly in Love With Homeschooling My Gifted Child

I’ll admit to having harbored some pretty unfavorable opinions towards homeschooling in the past. I was not only a product of public schools, I was a fan. An extreme extrovert, I’d absolutely loved school, my classmates, all of the extracurricular...
Games to Help Kids Control Their Anger

Games to Help Kids Control Their Anger

When it comes to the powerful emotion, anger, things can get a little bumpy. Usually, this stems from the fear of not knowing. Instead of living in a state of wonder (I wonder if….. I wonder when…. I wonder how…..), let’s give our kids the...
How I Homeschool With a Chronic Illness

How I Homeschool With a Chronic Illness

I love getting to contribute here at Raising Lifelong Learners. My kids are like your kids and I share a lot about them, what works for their overexcitabilities or anxiety or unique needs that come with giftedness. I’ve shared about discovering their giftedness,...
Great Resources for Curious & Creative Homeschoolers

Great Resources for Curious & Creative Homeschoolers

There was a time when I looked forward to poring over the ads and mapping my conquests out in a post-turkey haze, gearing up for the bargains I would snag on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  Now, my bargain-hunting tends to be restricted to tapping away at the...
RLL #54: Homeschooling Through Tough Times

RLL #54: Homeschooling Through Tough Times

  Let’s face it — homeschooling differently-wired kiddos is challenging. Parenting them is challenging. But, when life hits you from all sides, and you have highly emotional, anxiety-filled, and otherwise differently-wired kids to parent through it,...
Cultivating Creative Thinking

Cultivating Creative Thinking

Creative thinking is a crucial skill for kids of all ages. Teachers and parents need to include critical, creative, and logical thinking games, activities, and puzzles into their teaching and conversations with children.     No matter how old a child...
Great Gifts for Fortnite Fans

Great Gifts for Fortnite Fans

You’ve seen groups of kids erupting into spontaneous dances. You’ve heard the cries of the kids across the street, screaming into their headsets about “Battle Royale” and “Top 10”. You see the faint blue light under the door and...
RLL #53: A Magical Homeschool with Jessica Waldock

RLL #53: A Magical Homeschool with Jessica Waldock

  Parenting and homeschooling a differently-wired kiddo is tough. When you’re homeschooling a gifted only child, it can be exhausting. You need to stay a few steps ahead of your kiddo as you’re the only one they’ve got to play with, learn from,...
What Exactly is Deschooling.. and Do I Need to Do It?

What Exactly is Deschooling.. and Do I Need to Do It?

I haven’t always homeschooled. In fact, I spent a decade and a half working in the public school system and never even considered homeschooling. My brilliant son handled any school work that was handed to him, so I assumed that school would be a breeze for him...
The Perfect Mom Bag | Lily Jade

The Perfect Mom Bag | Lily Jade

Fall is my favorite time of the year. It’s cool, but not cold. It’s sunny, but a soft, filtered sun shining through trees with a backdrop of fluffy clouds. It’s the time of the year that kids are back in school, so us weird homeschoolers get our...
Helping Your Child Cope with Anxiety [RLL#51]

Helping Your Child Cope with Anxiety [RLL#51]

I’m willing to bet that every person reading this has experienced anxiety, depression, or stress at one point or another in their life. And I’m willing to bet that it wasn’t a pleasant experience. For as many as one in eight children, though, anxiety is a daily...
The Unmeasured Executive Functioning Issue

The Unmeasured Executive Functioning Issue

My oldest. Pause for a deep sigh. If you have a child with executive functioning issues, you know that deep sigh. It’s equal parts irritation, frustration, and humor, incredulous, exhausted, and determined. Kids with executive functioning deficits or issues...
Does My Gifted Child Really Need a Label?

Does My Gifted Child Really Need a Label?

I know, I know. We’re in modern times and people aren’t really into labels these days. Never before in history have we enjoyed a society so willing to acknowledge and embrace an individual’s uniqueness. Personality tests and enneagrams and DNA...
Great Gifts for Backyard Scientists

Great Gifts for Backyard Scientists

These gifts for backyard scientists will keep your explorers on the path to discovery. From bird guides, rocks, gems, telescopes, and cooking on a stick all of these ideas foster a love for learning about nature and all it has to offer.   When gifting gifts of...
101 Reasons You Need Audio Books in Your Homeschool

101 Reasons You Need Audio Books in Your Homeschool

“Alexa, play Harry Potter and the Sorcer’s Stone from my Audible library.” My eight year old daughter grabs her portable easel, some felt tip pens, and her sketchbook and settles into a pile of pillows on the family room floor to listen to our...
RLL #49: Reflections About Anxiety

RLL #49: Reflections About Anxiety

  Over the years, Colleen has talked extensively about her youngest daughter’s struggle with anxiety, and so has her daughter. Today, Sara writes in with a great question, prompting Colleen to reflect on the earlier years in their anxiety journey. Listen to...
Why Should You Homeschool Your Gifted Children?

Why Should You Homeschool Your Gifted Children?

The longer I homeschool my gifted children, and the more I see and talk to other parents of gifted and twice-exceptional kids, the more I believe that homeschooling is the best educational option for our nation’s above-average children. Just to clarify something,...
Using Time4Learning for Nontraditional Homeschooling

Using Time4Learning for Nontraditional Homeschooling

Homeschooling isn’t what it used to be, and the reasons that more and more families are choosing the path of home education are becoming more and more varied. My son’s giftedness and struggles in public school are what initially started us on our...
Giftedness Disguised

Giftedness Disguised

School was going to be amazing for my son. I just knew it. He was a thinker. A tinkerer. A doer. He loved learning and had an insatiable thirst to know everything about everything. Always asking questions. Always starting a project. Always wowing those he met with his...