Exquisite Minds: Creative and Gifted Children

Exquisite Minds believes in the importance of cultivating creativity in bright and gifted children. We believe creativity can solve almost any problem; rather than why something can’t be done, it’s how it can be done. Exquisite Minds offers support to parents and educators who want to challenge children to find new and constructive ways to look at the world.

Developing Empathy in Children by Using Fiction

Reading literary fiction plays an important role in developing empathy in children. Here's how and why to use literary fiction...
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Good Study Habits: How to Help

Parents can help with good study habits by creating a comfortable environment and a set routine which allows for the least amount of dissent. As we know, studying hurts, but failing hurts worse.
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Teaching Creativity

Michael F. Shaughnessy, a columnist with educationnews.org recently conducted an interview with Abby Connors who wrote the new book, Teaching Creativity. I found this to be an excellent interview and well worth reading. Below is an excerpt from the interview about approaching …
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Changes in Teaching

Where has the creative teacher gone and how is this loss affecting our children? Changes in teaching: When I first began my teaching career teachers were allowed to manipulate the provided curriculum, teachers could even write their own lessons and supplement with …
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Are Chinese Mothers Better?

Naysayers will state, "Ok, so Asian parents get their kids to succeed, but at what cost to the child?" The answer to that question is one only their children can answer.
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Talking to Teenagers

As adults, we recognize the range and depth of negative emotions we experience on hearing tragic news like the senseless, horrific acts of school shootings. We process our feelings by labeling and discussing them. Your teen child is also aware …
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Hold Off on Techie Toys for Toddlers

Most of us try to be creative in our gift giving. However, Mark Scheerer, with Public News Service NY, reminds us (and Santa) to keep it simple when it comes to kids. An interesting quote from his article is this: …
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Understanding Your Child’s State Test Scores

Most national exams are NRTs, most state tests are CRTs. State test scores can be important for parents to know. Your child's state scores are used for...
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Overscheduled Kids: When is it too much?

How many children’s activities can you handle without over-functioning? How do you know when you have overscheduled your kids?
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Blue Light and Kids

Adults know phone use interferes with sleep, and yet we have issues with putting our own phones away at night. So, we understand how a child’s phone can interfere with a quality night’s rest and therefore, affects their school day.
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Why Nurturing Creativity in Kids is so Important

By Ben Michaelis, Ph.D. Recent academic studies have shown that American kids are no longer as creative as they once were.  This should not come as a shock to anyone, as we live in an era obsessed with numbers, data, …
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