It’s that time again, folks. As we welcome a new year and say goodbye to 2015, it’s a perfect time for reflection. I love to look back upon the previous year, particularly now that we are homeschooling. The past two years have been filled with growth and learning, not just for my children but for myself. Last year, I wrote a post with the top My Little Poppies gifted posts of 2014, and I wanted to do the same this year.
Top 10 Posts for Moms of Gifted Kids
Today, I am sharing My Little Poppies’ top 10 posts for moms of gifted kids. These posts are the most popular posts from 2015 among our readers. When you finish reading, hop on over to this post to see my favorites from 2015!
When you finish reading through our top posts, I’d love for you to share your favorite. Which one did you enjoy the most and why? I love hearing from you!
1. Gifted Overexcitabilities in Real Life: OEs IRL
This post was part of the Hoagies’ Gifted Education Page September 2015 Blog Hop: Overexcitabilities and boy did you guys like it! In the beginning of the post, I give a brief overview of where the term overexcitabilities came from, and a teeny-tiny bit about Dabrowski’s theory of personality development and then I share what each of those overexcitabilities actually looks like, in our home.
2. Five Things You Should NEVER Say to an Unexpected Homeschooler
This post was part of a November 2015 iHomeschool Network link-up that completely snuck up on me. I had been distracted by the holidays and I did not realize the post was due. Because of this, I wrote the post quickly. The words flowed easily because this is a subject near and dear to my unexpected homeschooler heart. This post showed me, once again, that we are not alone. There are oodles of “suddenly unexpectedlies out there!
3. Asynchronous Development and the Gifted Child
This one, right here, might be my favorite MLP post because its message is an important one:
As an educator, gifted advocate, and mom to a profoundly gifted twice-exceptional son, I wish these myths were extinct. These myths have been around forever and overcoming them feels insurmountable at times. But I know that all change starts small. So, if I could just get folks to understand just one thing about giftedness, it would be this: asynchronous development. One of the hallmarks of giftedness, asynchronous development refers to the uneven intellectual, social-emotional, and physical development that is so common among gifted children. Put simply, gifted children are often out-of-sync. While the average child develops relatively evenly, the gifted child can be many ages at once. And the more gifted the child- the further to the right on the bell curve- the more asynchronous the child may be.
4. 40+ Sites to Bookmark if Your Child is GIFTED
It is important for parents of gifted and twice-exceptional children to know that they are not alone. You may have yet to meet someone in real life who is on a similar path, but believe me, they are out there. In fact, this is the reason why Colleen and I decided to create Raising Poppies, an online community for the parents of gifted and twice-exceptional children. In this post, I share my favorite resources for gifted learners and I also share some of my favorite gifted and twice-exceptional blogs. You are not alone!
5. Giftedness: To Test or Not to Test?
I receive a lot of questions here at My Little Poppies, but the top question is often about testing. Is it worth it? Will it help? There is no right or wrong answer, but the decision has to be made based on your unique child, family, and educational situation. Ultimately, the decision to test is a personal one. This post was part of the Hoagies’ Gifted Education Page February 2015 Blog Hop on testing. In the post, I share how our family came to the decision to test.
6. Her Homeschool Manifesto
I just wrote this post, folks. You guys loved it! Honestly, I know why you loved it. The manifesto is pretty awesome. My daughter’s manifesto is something I will never forget. I have it safely tucked away in her memory box in our attic, among other important treasures from her childhood.
7. I’m Sensitive. What’s YOUR Superpower?
This post struck a chord with all of my fellow sensitive souls. It took me decades to embrace my sensitivity as the strength that it is. It is only in hindsight that I see how it has shaped my journey in this life. It has blessed me with amazing friendships and connections, and it has helped me both professionally and as a mom to sensitive souls.
8. Perfectionism, Fear of Failure, & The Gifted Child
In this post, I talk about our family’s journey and our struggle with perfectionism:
Perfectionism is a common gifted trait, mentioned repeatedly throughout gifted literature.Perfectionism, properly channeled, can be an asset as it can drive a child to be motivated and to work hard. However, perfectionism has a dark side, too. Perfectionism and it’s partner-in-crime, fear of failure, can contribute to task avoidance, underachievement, and a reduced self-concept. Gifted children are often said to have a heightened awareness of the world around them, and that includes an awareness of their risk of failure in a given situation.
9. The Evolution of a First-Year Homeschooler
Homeschooling is an amazing journey, especially when you are an unexpected homeschooler. I wrote this post early in 2015, as a way to reflect upon our first year. It was a fun post for me to write because I was able to see our growth as a homeschooling family. Now, as we are deep into our second year, I continue to see the growth and evolution of our homeschooling routine and philosophy, especially as I add a second child to the homeschooling fold!
I have been having trouble with slot number ten, folks. These two posts are neck-in-neck and every time I look, they switch places. I’ve decided to declare it a tie and place them both at number ten.
10. The Space Between: The Luxury of Discovering Your Own Happiness
This post and its resource page are important to me not only as a mom but as a human. I truly believe that our current go-go-go culture is damaging. So many people today are not happy. They do not feel fulfilled. Parents, already stressed and sleep-deprived, rush to fill every available space with activities and enrichment opportunities. Unstructured time is seen as a waste of time. Play is under-valued. Nature is not appreciated. What is going to happen to all these kids who are shuttled from place to place to place when that shuttling stops? Are they going to be overscheduled, frazzled adults? Will they be looking for external validation all the time? Are they going to know how to relax? Are they going to be able to just be by themselves? What do you think?
10. Gifted Homescholing Curriculum: Pre-K, K, & 2nd Grade
This is the post that I almost didn’t write:
“…when I heard that there was an iHSN curriculum link-up, I initially shrugged it off. When I think of o
ur homeschool, curriculum doesn’t immediately come to mind. I think of us as student-led, passion-led, unschool-leaning homeschoolers of an asynchronous many-ages-and-grades-at-once-kiddo, and as such, I don’t use curriculum in the traditional sense. I don’t plan for the year during the summer. I don’t open chapter one and work through the resource until we have reached the end of the book. Instead, we pick and choose based on interest. We skip through entire chapters. We dabble in this and then lose ourselves in that. There’s a lot of diving down rabbit holes and hands-on learning happening over here and much of it is unplanned.
But, here’s the thing… If you are homeschooling a profoundly gifted child, even if you are student-led, passion-led, unschool-leaning homeschoolers, that kid is going to plow through A LOT of curriculum. I know there are other parents out there who can relate to this and so I ultimately decided to write this here little post.”
Now, it’s your turn…
I’ve just shared the My Little Poppies Top 10 Posts for Moms of Gifted Kids and now I’d like to hear from you. What was your favorite post this year? What spoke to you? It doesn’t have to be from our site- share what touched your heart. I love hearing from you!
