

Raising Lifelong Learners
Colleen Kessler
The Raising Lifelong Learners podcast helps 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.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 17, 2023 • 1h 13min
RLL #208: Helping Your Differently Wired Kids Fall in Love with Reading
Today we're doing something different -- we're sharing a talk that Colleen gave at the Great Homeschool Convention with Sarah Mackenzie of Read Aloud Revival. They address both sides of the reading spectrum, with Sarah discussing struggling readers and then Colleen shifting the conversation to advanced readers. You will leave with ideas and strategies that will help your kids wherever they are. The Raising Lifelong Learners Podcast is brought to you by CTCMath. Find out more at https://www.ctcmath.com/purchase/homeschool50?tr_id=RLL.

Aug 9, 2023 • 30min
RLL #207: Create the Best Homeschool For Your Family
You have neurodiverse children. They are gifted, they are twice exceptional, they have anxiety, perfectionism, sensory struggles, or perhaps they're on the autism spectrum. They have any number of neurodiversities. I am right there with you. I believe with my whole heart that homeschooling is the best possible educational choice for kids like ours. And I'm here to help you with that. So today we're going to talk about opening your mind to new possibilities. It's a different kind of education, and it's exciting. The Raising Lifelong Learners Podcast is brought to you by CTCMath. Find out more at https://www.ctcmath.com/purchase/homeschool50?tr_id=RLL.

Aug 2, 2023 • 27min
RLL #206: Guide Your Kids on the path to Self-Discovery
Self-discovery is a powerful tool we can use and harness to help our kids feel good about themselves and be successful and to help all of us in the family thrive in our atypical, differently-wired homeschool. Colleen will be sharing ways we can guide our kids in ways that help them discover who they are and how their brains are wired. The Raising Lifelong Learners Podcast is brought to you by CTCMath. Find out more at https://www.ctcmath.com/purchase/homeschool50?tr_id=RLL.

Jul 26, 2023 • 33min
RLL #205: Create a Multimodal Learning Environment
The concept of multimodal learning has so many potential benefits for our neurodivergent kiddos that it's empowering, really. Multimodal learning means using a variety of different styles, a variety of different senses, and a variety of different strategies in what you do. In today’s episode Colleen will explore what that looks like in your homeschool. The Raising Lifelong Learners Podcast is brought to you by CTCMath. Find out more at https://www.ctcmath.com/purchase/homeschool50?tr_id=RLL.

Jul 19, 2023 • 31min
RLL #204 - Giving Your Child Life Skills | Metacognition
Metacognition is the ability to think about our own thinking, and that is exactly what Colleen will be talking about in today’s episode. Metacognition impacts many areas of our child’s development. Colleen will be discussing how we can implement different strategies into the homeschool day to develop this ability in our kids, which will help them in all areas of life including family relationships, school, work, and socially with peers. The Raising Lifelong Learners Podcast is brought to you by CTCMath. Find out more at https://www.ctcmath.com/purchase/homeschool50?tr_id=RLL.

Jul 12, 2023 • 39min
RLL #203 - Strengthening Executive Function Skills: A Conversation with Sarah Collins
In today's episode, Colleen and Sarah Collins of HomeschoolOT discuss how executive function skills are essential when homeschooling neurodivergent children. They chat about ways to support our children, such as equipping them with the necessary tools and knowledge and building their metacognitive and self-awareness skills. The Raising Lifelong Learners Podcast is brought to you by CTCMath. Find out more at https://www.ctcmath.com/purchase/homeschool50?tr_id=RLL.

Jun 7, 2023 • 30min
RLL #202 - Strengthen Executive Function Skills
On today's podcast episode, Colleen talks about the eight main executive function skills. She'll help you to identify the ways deficits in these areas impact your child's day-to-day life and show up in their struggles. She's also got some ideas for building each of these skills with your kiddos. The Raising Lifelong Learners Podcast is brought to you by CTCMath. Find out more at https://www.ctcmath.com/purchase/homeschool50?tr_id=RLL.

May 31, 2023 • 34min
RLL #201 - Helping Your Impulsive Child
Today on the podcast Colleen discusses how to identify the signs of impulsive behavior in children and how to distinguish impulsivity from other common behavioral factors. She also shares some of her favorite tips for supporting your impulsive kiddos and teaching them strategies they can use to handle the common challenges that come with impulsivity and other co-occurring neurodivergencey like attention deficit disorder and autism. The Raising Lifelong Learners Podcast is brought to you by CTCMath. Find out more at https://www.ctcmath.com/purchase/homeschool50?tr_id=RLL.

May 24, 2023 • 34min
RLL #200 - Sneaking In Summer Learning
Will you continue "school" during the summer? Or will you learn in other, less formal ways? In today's podcast episode, Colleen shares what summer looks like for her family and how they use it in ways even homeschoolers might find surprising! The Raising Lifelong Learners Podcast is brought to you by CTCMath. Find out more at https://www.ctcmath.com/purchase/homeschool50?tr_id=RLL.

May 17, 2023 • 33min
RLL #199 - Managing Perfectionism | Strategies for Parents
Children who struggle with perfectionism have unrealistic standards for themselves or others. They believe that they must be perfect to be valuable and worthy of love. This can result in negative self-talk, fear of failure, relationship challenges, and even mental health issues. Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia are often related to struggles with perfectionist thoughts. Even parents with good intentions and high expectations can inadvertently promote perfectionistic thoughts or perfectionistic behavior in children who believe they must earn love by being a higher achiever. Do you have a child who struggles with perfectionism or perfectionistic tendencies? In this episode, we'll talk about how to identify perfectionistic behaviors. I'll share some of my favorite strategies for helping our kids identify and counter their perfectionistic thoughts and patterns. The Raising Lifelong Learners Podcast is brought to you by CTCMath. Find out more at https://www.ctcmath.com/purchase/homeschool50?tr_id=RLL.