As we enter into 2018, I'd like to establish a strong daily habit of creating. In the beginning, this will mostly be rough sketches, but as I develop my habit, I'm hoping it will lead to deeper and more robust work as I find my personal style and voice.
Day 13: Guarded
Almost half way! Woo hoo!
Continuing to play with black and white compositions of environments and characters. Trying to keep it simple without being simplistic or plain using textures and distinct value shapes.
Woo hoo! I'm happy to be participating with everyone here this year. It's fun seeing everyone's interpretations so far! 
Day 01: Poisonous
Here's another sketch of an invented landscape using simple shapes, trying to capture a sense of light and composition with clean, straight edges a little texture, and decisive choices.
Chicken. Decided to switch things up a bit and go with ball-point pen, which is more comfortable to me. I'll probably continue to play with different "ink" mediums, but in the spirit of getting things done, I opted for comfort over novelty today.
It's so fun seeing everyone's interpretations of the prompts and all the different styles out there!
I am neither a teacher nor a parent, so my experience is extremely limited in this realm, but reading your post I thought of something that happened to me when I was around 11 years old that I think has stuck with me my whole life.
I was always drawing cartoons as a kid, I was influenced by the newspaper strips and tried to emulate the cartoons I liked. All the adults around me always thought I was good at it and it was like, oh great, you have this talent. So my aunt suggested that I send some work in to Disney. I put together some pieces and my parents sent it off. I had no idea what to expect, but someone from Disney wrote back, a brief note, but they told me that it was great that I was drawing, and if I was serious and wanted to be an animator someday, that I should learn to draw from life. They explained a little bit that even though animation isn't realistic, the practice of drawing from life was essential to being a good animator.
I guess the point is that for me, it wasn't so much about having someone critique me, but the fact that A. they wrote back B. and that they gave me a sense of direction. I wish I had more of that when I was growing up, adults who told me that they believed in me and had the knowledge to guide me to challenge myself.
I think it's awesome that even though you're far away from her, you are so eager to help!
Day 14: Clock
Brother Leonardo was running out of time
