The Raising Lifelong Learners podcast helps parents — especially homeschooling parents — encourage their differently-wired kids to learn, explore passions, cultivate creativity, and become fascinated by the world around them. Join host Colleen Kessler — educational consultant, gifted specialist, author, and speaker — for interviews, audioblogs, tips, and encouragement to help your differently-wired kiddos become lifelong learners — children who know that they can find the answers to anything they want to know if they can just view their world with play, passion, and fascination.
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Meltdowns vs. Shutdowns: Understanding and Responding to Big Feelings in Neurodivergent Kids
It’s the same dance over and over—one moment, everyone is fine, and then, suddenly, your child is either in the throes of a meltdown or quietly disappears, nowhere to be found but wrapped up tight in their own thoughts or hiding under a favorite blanket. Homeschool parents know intimately how quickly a day can turn […]
When School Refusal Turns Into a Healing Journey
You hear it around the holidays, again after spring break, and maybe—like me—you see it show up in the worried voices spilling across homeschooling Facebook groups. School refusal. It’s a phrase that can fill your heart with panic, guilt, and a thousand questions. Why won’t my child go to school? Why are mornings battlegrounds? Why […]
Navigating the Holidays with Intense and Sensitive Kids
The days blur together, the calendar filling with colored markers—dinners, birthdays, recitals, potlucks, assemblies. The holidays hit, and suddenly, the energy in the home changes. Anticipation, anxiety, excitement, exhaustion—all collide, often erupting in outbursts or a complete emotional shutdown. For families homeschooling neurodivergent kids, this seasonal intensity isn’t just inconvenient; it can send everyone scraping […]
Picky Eating | Sensory Struggles and Real Solutions for Homeschooling Families
You know those nights where you’ve gone full short-order cook—making three different dinners, nothing gets eaten, and it feels less like family time and more like some sort of high-stakes negotiation? You’re absolutely not alone. For homeschooling families, where life and learning intertwine in every room and at every meal, picky eating can feel like […]
Movement on Bad Weather Days: Meeting Sensory Needs at Home
There’s a certain dread that sets in on a rainy or icy morning for homeschool families—especially those parenting differently wired kids. No backyard. No bikes. No running off steam around the cul-de-sac. Instead, everyone’s crammed in the house, the couch turns into a trampoline, and attention drops as energy spikes. You may even start to […]
Sensory Struggles and Clothes: How to Help Your Child Dress Without Tears
Why is getting dressed still such a battle? If you’re parenting a neurodivergent or sensory-sensitive kid, you might find yourself asking this question on repeat. It starts with the best intentions—drawers full of clean clothes, a hopeful plan for a smooth morning—and ends with tears, exasperation, and an outfit that looks nothing […]