Raising Lifelong Learners

At some point most parents of gifted kids will ask, "Does my gifted child really need a label?" In this audioblog episode, Collen tackles this question and looks at the pros and cons of giving your gifted child the "label."

How do we best support the unique social and emotional needs of gifted and twice-exceptional kids? In today's episode, Emily Kircher-Morris of The Neurodiversity Podcast joins Colleen to discuss the specific, intense needs of our neurodiverse children and how we can best help.

Homeschooling a gifted/2E child is often far more about helping our children develop confidence as learners than it is teaching any one subject. In this episode of The Raising Lifelong Learners Podcast, we talk about the relationship between confidence and learning, as well as some of the ways we can intentionally help our children in this area.

In this bonus episode, Colleen and Shawna answer a homeschooling mom's question about doctors, therapists, and homeschooling. What do we do when doctors don't support our decision to homeschool? How can we prepare for therapist visits and doctor appointments? When is it time to switch to a more homeschool friendly doctor?

Have you ever wanted to ask a homeschool graduate what they thought about their homeschool experience? Are you curious about what an adult life after homeschool looks like? Colleen gets all the answers from Samantha Shank, a brilliant homeschool graduate, highly successful business owner, and highly gifted, multi-talented individual.

Education and achievement doesn't have to look like school, and it doesn't have to follow a prescribed path. In this audio-blog episode, Colleen shares the reality of rethinking achievement and how homeschooling helps our gifted children thrive.

Homeschooling high school, particularly when your child is gifted, has its own unique set of challenges and rewards. In this conversation with Heather Woodie, from Blog, She Wrote, Colleen explores the ins and outs of homeschooling gifted high schoolers. Encouragement, practical tips, and real examples you won't want to miss!

Self-care has become an increasingly popular topic in recent years, and for good reason. As parents, we simply have to take care of ourselves in order to take care of our children. But what about our kids? How do we help them learn coping skills and emotional regulation? Join Colleen and Shawna as they discuss practical strategies for their own self-care and for their kiddos.

We are convinced homeschooling is the best way to educate our gifted and 2E kids, through self-directed learning and unschooling. This week, Colleen speaks with Robyn Robertson of Honey, I'm Homeschooling the Kids about unschooling. The conversation continues at https://raisinglifelonglearners.com/episode107

Research shows that parents are pretty accurate when identifying their young children as gifted. Today's episode is an audioblog of a post that first appeared on the website, where Colleen asked parents to think back to when their young children were infants or toddlers and share in their own words what traits and characteristics made them realize their child was gifted. More over at the website, rll.bz/podcast

Today, Colleen speaks with Penny Williams of Parenting ADHD and Autism about how we really need to be okay with who our neurodiverse kiddos are and learn how to celebrate their differences. Parenting them takes intentionality. This is a terrific conversation to glean wisdom from two parents who have faced struggles that are common in parenting atypical kids.

Today, Colleen and Shawna Wingert have a conversation about mindset, specifically to help gifted and 2E families move away from rigid and inflexible thinking. They also discuss the incredible resources inside the RLL membership community, The Learner's Lab.

Today, Colleen speaks with Brian Weisfeld, girls' entrepreneurship advocate and author of The Start Up Squad, about how encouraging an entrepreneurial mindset can be a key component to helping all kids, boys included, to develop important life skills, follow their passions, and reach their full potential.

This week, Colleen has a conversation with Shawna Wingert about connection: how important it is to foster connection with your kids, encourage the relationships between siblings, and build a culture of connection as a family and as part of your community.

Listen as we speak with Cindy West of Our Journey Westward about how she has used project-based learning to interest and excite in her homeschool, and her recommendations on how to get started on the path to this form of learning in your own home.

We're celebrating our 100th episode with favorite snippets and comments from the past 99 episodes, all related to our quirky, gifted, and/or 2e families.

Today's episode is guest-hosted by Shawna Wingert of Different by Design Learning who shares the first chapter of Colleen's book Raising Resilient Sons: A Boy Mom's Guide to Building a Strong, Confident and Emotionally Intelligent Family.

In this podcast, Colleen speaks with Kendra Fletcher, long-time homeschooler and teacher of all things literature, on how enjoying the study of literature helps our kiddos to see it's importance for themselves and for humanity.

In today's episode, Colleen shares an audioblog of a Facebook Live where she outlined how we can engage and empower our kiddos in their own learning.

Today, Colleen speaks with Dennis DeNoia how giving his kids the freedom to pursue their interests has helped them be better learners.

Today, Colleen shares an audioblog - an article by Jen Vail from the website - with ideas on helping when the world overwhelms your child.

In today's episode, Colleen speaks with Jessica Peresta about the importance of music in our families and in educating our quirky kids.

Listen today as Colleen offers 7 tips and strategies for boosting emotional resilience in kids, and learn how to help them adapt to overcome challenges.

In this episode, Colleen speaks with Suki Wessling, homeschooling parent, writer, musician and online instructor at Athena Academy about helping our kids to learn to set goals and flourish as authentic individuals in lives of their own design.

Every family can use some help finding activities, especially those that help our kids to flouish! Listen today as Colleen shares an audioblog — an article by Jennifer Vail that first appeared on the site — stock full of ideas to help your kids thrive when they are stuck inside.

In this episode, Colleen speaks with Celeste Davidson, author and professional writer-educator of Bardsy, a unique virtual community where supportive members gather to enjoy, create and share stories while also gaining access to interactive courses and tools to build their writing skills.

Today, Colleen discusses some of the specific social and emotional needs our gifted kiddos may have and how we can help and nurture them through these struggles.

In today's episode, Colleen speaks with her mentor, Dr. Jim Delisle, about the social and emotional needs of gifted children.

An audioblog of a post originally published on the website by community manager Jen Vail on 100 hints that your child might be gifted.

In this episode, Colleen speaks about anxiety with Dr. Dan Peters, psychologist, author, and a leading expert on gifted families.

Today, Colleen shares her plans and favorite resources for the 2020/2021 homeschooling year to motivate her four, mostly interest-led, kids.

Today, Colleen speaks with Seth Perler, executive function coach, educator, and vlogger who genuinely cares about seeing outside-the-box kids succeed.

Today, listen as Colleen shares an audioblog — an article that first appeared on the site — detailing how we can help our kiddos with socialization.

Today, Colleen chats with Mary Wilson about "found" poetry, book/movie matchups and the adventures possible with book clubs that will bring whimsy and delight to readers of all ages and ability!

In this episode, Colleen gives a picture of what perfectionism looks like with gifted kids, what the effect can be on them and offers ten practical tips to help your child manage perfectionism, even in the areas they naturally excel in.

In today's episode, Colleen speaks with Blake Boles, author of "Why Are You Still Sending Your Kids to School?' about self-driven learning for our kids.

Today, Colleen shares an audioblog written by Jennifer Vail, who details her family's struggle to understand the cause of their son's baffling behavior.

Colleen speaks with Trent Thompson on how College For All can help students earn college credit towards bachelor's degrees while still in high school.

Today, Colleen shares an audioblog — an article that first appeared on the site — written by Cait Curley on parenting the asynchronous gifted child.

Colleen explores gentle parenting, natural homeschooling, simple living, "adventuring" and more with Rachel Rainbolt of Sage Parenting.

Today, Colleen shares an audioblog - an article that first appeared on the site - to encourage you that you are NOT alone, tired mama of gifted kids.

In this episode, Colleen meets Maya & Nina Serna who have developed the mobile app, Homieschooler, to make record keeping simpler and transcripts easier to generate. Listen in to hear about these highly motivated teens and the tool they created that makes self-directed learning easier to track.

In today's episode, Colleen shares an audioblog — an article that first appeared on the site — written by contributor and community manager, Jennifer Vail. She details how she came into homeschooling under duress but as a result, found a true, loving adventure with her quirky son.

Today, Colleen speaks with Michelle Tanner and her profoundly gifted son, Elliott, about the wonderful journey they've taken to radically accelerate Elliott to college at the tender age of 11.

Listen as Colleen explains what resiliency is, how it can be nurtured in our kids and how we should work towards more of it for healthier families.

In today's podcast, Colleen speaks with Kara Anderson, author of More Than Enough: Grow Your Confidence, Banish Burnout and Love Your Homeschool Life. You'll find that these two friends have a lot to say about how you aren't alone and there are plenty of ways to feel stronger and more encouraged.

Parenting is tough. No matter how rock-solid your discipline strategies are, you probably lose your temper and yell from time to time. Even the most well-meaning of parents may find themselves yelling at their kiddos in a moment of angry frustration. In today's episode, Colleen shares an audioblog — an article that first appeared on the site — offering some of her favorite tools and tips for peaceful parenting.

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 self-directed learning is a most successful model of education, empowering kids to take ownership of their learning from young ages.

Research shows that when we encourage our learners to pursue their interests and utilize their strengths in their learning, we can also see gains in areas that they aren't as strong in. Colleen dives a little deeper into understanding what strength based learning is and how there are simple, practical steps we can take to nurture our kids' strengths.

In today's podcast, Colleen talks with Shawna Wingert of Different By Design Learning about taking a strength-based approach and using it in our homeschooling in a way that encourages and empowers our differently-wired kiddos in their learning.