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Homeschooling a Highly Creative Child

Making Peace with Your Creative Child’s Clutter

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One of my blogging friends, Jimmie, wrote What My (Messy) Artist Daughter Has Taught Me. I totally got that post as I had been thinking about the struggles of being a neat person who likes everything in its place when your child isn't anything like that. It sounds like my Caroline and Jimmie's Emma are a lot alike. Creative, empathetic, and funny describe Caroline for sure.Jimmie wrote: But Emma is not bothered by messes. In fact, she says she likes to have all of her possessions visible (on the desk or on the floor) so she can know where … [Read more...] about Making Peace with Your Creative Child’s Clutter

Homeschooling a Creative Child for the Future

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David knew when he was still quite young that he would be an artist or architect of some kind. I knew from an early age that I was good with words and wanted to be a writer (but ended up a teacher for reasons of economic practicality).So two creative people met and married and - surprise! - we have a child who is also very creative. We are a highly creative family and even earn a living through our creativity. Over the years we've learned to structure our daily life around our creativity.Observing Caroline's creativity and being married … [Read more...] about Homeschooling a Creative Child for the Future

Understanding Why Your Creative Child is Lazy

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Creativity is an often admired but frequently misunderstood trait. Most of the time it doesn't matter if creative people are misunderstood. They simply go about their business and accept that not everyone is going to understand them. It might sting a bit, but they learn to live with it. But if you are parenting a highly-creative child, it's important that you understand the way she (or he) is wired. I believe one aspect of creativity that many parents don't fully understand is why their creative child is lazy.To clarify, what do I mean by … [Read more...] about Understanding Why Your Creative Child is Lazy

The 100 Best Art Supplies for Creative Girls

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Because I've been blessed with a creative and artistically gifted daughter, I've learned a great deal about art supplies over the past several years. As a highly creative family, we've cycled through many different phases and interests. I thought I would share what Caroline, in particular, has enjoyed using. If you have a girl in your life who enjoys artistic endeavors, then this post about the best art supplies for creative girls is for you!I've put together this list based on what has been particularly popular in our home. It includes … [Read more...] about The 100 Best Art Supplies for Creative Girls

Why I Embraced “Twaddle” for My Creative, Right-Brained Child

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The explosion of the Charlotte Mason phenomenon in homeschooling brought about the widespread use of the word "twaddle" when referring to less-than-desirable literature for children. There was (and continues to be) much discussion about what Charlotte Mason meant when she wrote about twaddle and how that translates into reading and homeschooling today.The campaign against twaddle has been so continual and effective that some parents now live in mortal fear of ruining their child for life if they aren't careful to keep things "twaddle free" … [Read more...] about Why I Embraced “Twaddle” for My Creative, Right-Brained Child

Caroline’s Creative Endeavors

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I mention frequently that Caroline is creative and spends a lot of her time doing artistic things whether it is building on the computer (Minecraft, Roblox, Animal Jam, etc.) or with real life media. I've asked her a few times if she'd like to share photos of some of her creations with you, but she never was ready. Until yesterday! Yesterday she came to me and said she would like to take photos and share so today we took a whole bunch of photos so you can get a peek at what she's been up to the last few months!She's very much a night owl … [Read more...] about Caroline’s Creative Endeavors

Can Minecraft Be Educational? Yes, But Not in Our Home

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Minecraft is a powerful learning tool. Although I was highly skeptical of it when my daughter first expressed an interest, our family's experience with Minecraft completely changed my mind. So can Minecraft be educational? Absolutely. But not in our home. I have, in fact, purposely resisted the temptation to turn Minecraft into an educational activity.But wait. I just said it was a powerful learning tool and now I'm saying it's not an educational activity in our home. What do I mean by that? Educational Tool versus Learning Tool If you … [Read more...] about Can Minecraft Be Educational? Yes, But Not in Our Home

10 Great Amazon Purchases for Our Creative Homeschooled Girl

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Although we are pretty minimalistic with buying specific homeschooling materials, we have made some great purchases on Amazon for our creative homeschooled girl. I don't think it's necessary to spend a lot of money on homeschooling, especially in the elementary grades. The things we do use, I am willing to spend a bit more because I KNOW they will be used. That said, Amazon and Amazon Prime are a big part of our life. Even though as small business owners we support local businesses as much as possible, Amazon makes my life so much easier since … [Read more...] about 10 Great Amazon Purchases for Our Creative Homeschooled Girl

Online Art Classes for Beginners

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Caroline's favorite learning topic is art. Her second favorite topic is art. And so on. She's my creative, imaginative girl. When I had the opportunity to check out Sparketh which offers online art classes for beginners, I thought this would be a good opportunity for her to explore!I received a Sparketh membership in order to complete this review. I was compensated for my time to write this review. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review. Online Art Classes for Beginners Sparketh offers online art classes … [Read more...] about Online Art Classes for Beginners

Daily Life and Priorities in a Creative Family

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One of my homeschool parenting aha moments came when I realized we had the freedom (and responsibility) to fully embrace that we are a creative family. Prior to that moment I had always felt that I needed to structure life and homeschooling responsibilities in such a way as to allow time to be creative as much as we could fit it in. Instead I realized that above all else we are a creative family and the rest of life needed to be structured around that fact. Being a Creative Family It might not sound like a big deal, but the shift in my mind … [Read more...] about Daily Life and Priorities in a Creative Family

Homeschooling Curriculum for Gifted/2e Visual-Spatial Learners

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This year my curriculum post is going to be a bit different. (You can see my past ones here, here, here and here.) I'm writing about homeschooling a gifted/2e visual-spatial learner. Kind of specific, don't you think? And yet that is the world that we live in at our home. :-)We've undergone a significant shift in our homeschooling philosophy over the past year as we've come to a greater understanding of Caroline's giftedness/2e situation and more about the fact that she is a visual-spatial learner. I can easily see at least 100 reasons to … [Read more...] about Homeschooling Curriculum for Gifted/2e Visual-Spatial Learners

Our Family’s Positive Experience with Minecraft

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I freely admit that I was skeptical about the value of Minecraft. Part of that was my own inherent bias since I've never been inclined to play video games. But after reading more about it, we decided to load the Minecraft - Pocket Edition onto our Kindle to see if Caroline would enjoy it. (She was seven and a half at the time and is now almost eight and a half.) It was cheaper to spring for the Kindle version than the PC version so we started there. I really wasn't sure if she would even like it.Wow. Minecraft has rocked our world in many … [Read more...] about Our Family’s Positive Experience with Minecraft

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