08 Dec 7 Milestones Made Possible by You!
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01 Dec Surviving the Holidays with a House Full of Gifted Folks
The holidays are a time for rest and relaxation – if you can find a minute between making travel arrangements, hosting family and friends visiting from out-of-town, and finding the perfect gift for everyone on your list! The stresses that inevitably accompany the holidays can...
24 Nov Helping Your Gifted Child Succeed in a Competitive Activity
By Jennifer Kennedy Jennifer danced competitively for nine years growing up. Her dance career finished on a high note as a four-year letter winner on her college dance team. Many gifted children are perfectionists who put a lot of pressure on themselves to perform at the highest...
17 Nov Lost In Translation: From Gifted Education in Mandarin to Understanding Giftedness
By Qiao Li One of the first assignments I received upon joining the IEA staff was to provide a Chinese translation for our program flyers. Being a native speaker, naturally I thought it wouldn’t take more than a few hours, but when I started looking on...
03 Nov I Don’t Deserve This: Gifted Self-Doubt
By Jennifer Kennedy I have a confession to make: I don’t always feel good enough to call myself gifted. I was identified as gifted as a child, but I never really felt like that label belonged to me at all. Other kids were smarter than me. Other...
27 Oct Imagine the Impact 2015
The long-awaited Pasadena rain abated just in time for an evening filled with laughter, learning and storytelling during IEA’s “Imagine the Impact” fundraising event at the Brookside Golf Club. Long-time IEA supporters and advocates were joined by new faces as we welcomed friends and family...
13 Oct 2015 Caroline D. Bradley Scholars Named
The Institute for Educational Advancement (IEA) has named 29 young people across the country as its 2015 Caroline D. Bradley Scholars. IEA’s Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship, the only merit-based, need-blind high school scholarship in the country, awards highly gifted students nationwide with a four-year scholarship...
06 Oct What My 4-Year-Old Niece Teaches Me about Life
And How That Can Help Gifted Kids By Jennifer Kennedy "Sometimes you need to talk to a two-year-old just so you can understand life again." – Unknown My niece is four years old. She has special needs that cover a wide variety of areas. Every time I am...
22 Sep Starting the School Year Off Right
By Mark Erlandson Mark Erlandson, the parent of a gifted student who presently attends a boarding school out East, is a former lawyer and public high school English teacher from Wisconsin starting a new business as a legal writing consultant. Sad as it may be for some...
01 Sep The Bright Side of Overexcitabilities in Gifted Children
Gifted children often experience overexcitabilities, also called intensities. These areas of heightened stimulation are categorized in five areas: psychomotor, sensual, imaginational, intellectual, and emotional. Though overexcitabilities are not, in and of themselves, negative characteristics, they are often discussed as though they are problems to solve. However,...
31 Aug August 2015 in the IEA Community
We love celebrating the highlights and accomplishments of the IEA community. We wanted to take the opportunity to showcase this amazing community and what you have done over the past month so that we can all celebrate together. Even as summer wound down and IEA programs...
25 Aug 2015 Yunasa Summer Camps
By Jennifer de la Haye, Yunasa Program Coordinator IEA’s pioneering Yunasa summer camps unite highly able youngsters with experts in the social and emotional development of gifted children. Campers explore and grow the intellectual, spiritual, emotional, social, and physical aspects of their lives. When I sat down...
18 Aug Mindfulness and the Gifted
By Linnea Pyne Linnea is a Certified Mindfulness Facilitator and a Mindfulness coach, teacher, and facilitator. She often teaches Mindfulness at the IEA Academy. Those who spend time with, raise, teach, and care for young gifted people agree that these individuals are different from their peers in...
11 Aug What I Learned at the IEA Academy: A Teacher’s Perspective
By Anna Enger Anna interned with IEA over the summer, working closely with the IEA Academy program. Here she shares her reflections on some of the things she has learned from the experience. Prior to joining the team at the Institute for Educational Advancement, I spent a...
01 Aug Gifted 101
Whether you have a child or student who has recently been identified as gifted, know a child who may be gifted, or have encountered a child who is gifted and have questions, you may need a place to start, a place that gives you the...
31 Jul July 2015 in the IEA Community
We love celebrating the highlights and accomplishments of the IEA community, so we wanted to take the opportunity to showcase this amazing community and what you have done over the past month so that we can all celebrate together. Summer days at IEA continue to be...
21 Jul Book Review: Quiet by Susan Cain
By Jennifer Kennedy Several years ago, as I was looking for content to share on IEA’s social networks one day, I stumbled across a TEDTalk by Susan Cain. I found myself captivated by everything she was saying. She discussed introverts in an extraverted world, and I...
14 Jul What We’re Reading: Summer 2015
Much like many of the kids we serve, the IEA staff is a group of voracious readers. We wanted to share what we’re reading now in case you are looking for some good summer reads. New and Selected Poems, Volume 1 by Mary Oliver “I give my...
07 Jul The Many Faces of Gifted: Matthew B.
Every gifted child has a unique story. The following story is part of a series of posts highlighting gifted children and adults we have found through IEA programs, depicting the many faces of gifted. The IEA Academy – mentioned in this story – provides young...
30 Jun June 2015 in the IEA Community
We love celebrating the highlights and accomplishments of the IEA community, so we wanted to take the opportunity to showcase this amazing community and what you have done over the past month so that we can all celebrate together. Summer is a busy time at IEA...
09 Jun Tales from a Grammar Geek
By Jennifer Kennedy Jennifer is IEA's Marketing and Communications Coordinator and puts her enthusiasm for grammar to good use daily. I have a confession to make: I love grammar; I always have. When I began learning Spanish, I was excited about how much it taught me about English grammar. Proofreading...
02 Jun 10 Lessons for the Gifted Child from Children’s Literature
Literature has so much to teach all of us. Because reading is a cherished pastime for many gifted individuals, we thought we would share some great quotes from children’s literature and beloved children’s authors that teach gifted kids and adults alike important lessons. Be Yourself “It is very...
19 May College Selection and Admissions for Gifted Students: Resources
Kate Duey is the Director of Admission Planning, LLC. She has worked with IEA supporting gifted students since 2009 and has a wealth of knowledge about their unique challenges and their wonderful potential. Kate has a BA from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard...
01 May Beneath the Surface: Twice-Exceptional Students
“The question is not what you look at, but what you see.” – Henry David Thoreau In The Little Prince, the narrator describes a picture he drew as a child. He was rather proud of this drawing and was certain it would inspire fear in those...
21 Apr Gifted Homeschooling Resources
It’s not news that parents of gifted learners are often tired. The seemingly endless trial-and-error of finding the right resources for your child can be as exhausting as it is exhilarating. Even in the boundless age of technology and digital resources, the one clear truth...