Executive Function Strategies Blog

School should be easy for a child who is gifted, right? On the surface, that's a simple answer: "Of course!" But if we take a closer look at a typical school experience for a gifted child, we often see some version of the following scenario...

Imagine you are an 8th grader and that school has always been easy for you. You seemed to almost instinctively understand the material in your classes and if you didn’t, you caught on within a couple minutes. You quickly memorized facts, aced tests without ever studying (or even remembering that you had a test that day!), and most of the time you zipped through your homework while you were at school, without ever having to transport anything in your backpack.

Then one day, a few weeks into 9th grade, the material got harder.

Editor's note: This week, we feature guest blogger Venetia Muench, a mom with two 2E sons who has learned how to navigate the school system in order to find the most effective support for her children. Please see her full bio below.

Raising a gifted kid is easy. They always overachieve academically. Parents of gifted kids can just sit back and watch them sail through life...right?

Wrong - in fact, not even close!

Parenting a gifted child is a challenge. Their social, emotional, and intellectual differences require continuous involvement and advocacy to help them be happy and successful in school and life.  Some educators think that because of their intelligence, being gifted is easy and interventions aren’t necessary. Misconceptions like this about gifted kids often make parenting them a lonely experience, as well.