The Smart Teens' Guide to Living with Intensity: How to Get More Out of Life and Learning

Lisa Rivero is a freelance writer, home education parent, college instructor, and life-long learner. Rivero spent her childhood on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota before moving to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to attend college. She has an M.A. in Literary Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a B.A. from Marquette University. Her professional interests include gifted education, home education, creativity, literature and the humanities, and the challenges faced by all families in this fast-paced and often perplexing 21st-century life. Rivero's interest in gifted education began when her son was an early entrant to kindergarten. After two and a half years of public school, where he was in a program for highly gifted students, and one and a half years in a private gifted school, her son began to learn at home rather than in a school classroom. Although the family never planned to homeschool long-term, Rivero's son made the decision to homeschool through high school. Homeschooling allowed him to learn and socialize at his own pace and in a way that met his needs, as well as gave him the time and freedom to know himself and to explore his interests. While Rivero knows that home education is not the optimal choice for every gifted child, she believes strongly that learning at home is an important and sometimes lifesaving option for families of gifted children, and it is often the best education for children who have a great passion and drive to learn.