by Hannah, Yunasa Camper Do you fit in? Do you have friends? Do you filter your feelings, your thoughts, your ideas or your words when around others? Have you “played the part” to be accepted? Are you worried about losing your true self? Do you wonder...
by Michelle Bodwell, LMFT, ATR As parents of gifted children, we all have our own memories of the moment or moments which led to our realization that we had a gifted child. Whether it was the comment of another, the feedback from an evaluation, or our...
by Tiffany Kwong, Operations Manager I have a confession: I love the holidays. I’m one of those people who will try to incorporate some kind of festive craft or hands-on activity into every major holiday. Believe me, I have an entire closet devoted to materials for...
by Bonnie Raskin, Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship Manager As the program manager for the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship, I am often asked by the CDB community if Advanced Placement (AP) classes and the culminating AP exam is the best “fit” for a gifted student. AP courses...
by Zadra Rose Ibañez, Director of Operations Executive skills are those cognitive abilities and habits that allow us to be organized, to plan and implement action. They are essential to being productive and to completing goals and projects. We learn these very early on, from rote...
by Morgan Carrion, Assistant to the President “The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside by a generous hand. But- and this is the point- who gets excited by a mere penny? But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that...
by Alexis Hopper, Program Coordinator Of all the meanings and usage of the word “bridge," my favorite has to be “a time, place, or means of connection or transition” (Merriam-Webster’s dictionary). Academy’s teacher workshop, held this past Saturday at our learning space in San Marino, was just...
by Niña Abonal, EXPLORE Program Coordinator January not only kickstarts the New Year, but also the beginning of the National Mentoring Month campaign. Since 2002, former President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama have endorsed the movement to increase public awareness about the importance of...
by Kelly Gray, Administrative Assistant The end of one year and the beginning of a new one always bring about the opportunity to reflect, as well as make resolutions for the future. At the end of 2016, IEA staff took some time to look back our...
Here were the Institute for Educational Advancement's top blog posts in 2016: 25 of Our Favorite Gifted Kid Movies Our social media community and the IEA staff weighed in on their favorite movies featuring gifted children and young adults. Podcasts for Gifted Learners Gifted children love to learn and...
by Hari Bhimaraju, 2016 CDB Scholar I wanted to share with you all a very special experience I had recently! I just came back from the White House and let me just say AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!! Starting Thursday morning and ending Friday night, those were some of the most fantastic...
by Jennifer de la Haye, Program Coordinator Many gifted children are profoundly empathetic and often feel helpless when they ponder the lives of homeless people, refugees, families who lack food and water, and other vulnerable populations. I know a child who cries every time he sees...
by Qiao Li, Coordinator Learning about the brain development of gifted children gave me a deeper understanding of their heightened experience and unique learning needs. At IEA’s monthly Gifted Support Group, Dr. Nicole Tetreault, Dr. Joanna Haase, and Dr. Sharon Duncan from Gifted Research and Outreach (GRO)...
by Nicole LaChance, Marketing & Communications Coordinator Most of us know the incredible story of Malala Yousafzai who, after being shot while trying to attend school, became a world-renowned activist for girls’ right to an education. Fortunately, there are several children like Yousafzai who do not...
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we would like to take a few minutes to give thanks to our IEA community. Thank you to all the parents and volunteers who devote their time and resources to help IEA run smoothly. From organizing files in the office...
by Nicole LaChance, Marketing & Communications Coordinator Earlier this month, a few IEA staff members attended the National Association for Gifted Children’s 63rd Annual Convention. The theme of this year’s gathering was “Imagine the Possibilities,” with a focus on what could happen if all gifted children...
by Tiffany Kwong, Operations Manager I love when the holiday season starts to creep in. Leaves begin to change color, harvest wreaths adorn entryways, and suddenly all of your favorite treats are now apple- or pumpkin-spice flavored. For me, this is the time of year when...
by Nicole LaChance, Marketing and Communications Coordinator When I saw the topic for this month’s Hoagies Gifted Education Page blog hop was “Emotional Intelligence” I have to admit I was a bit stumped. Not a topic with which I’m very familiar, I was overwhelmed with the...
by Ellen Gruber, Development Coordinator Twinkling lights and delicious Mediterranean cuisine set the stage for an evening of fun and inspiring conversation among the IEA community at our benefit dinner and silent auction hosted at Eden Garden Bar & Grill in Pasadena. Enthusiastic student volunteers from...
by Zadra Rose Ibañez, Director of Operations With elections right around the corner, and the MLB Playoffs in action, I have been thinking about a topic which often intrigues me: Us and Them. Simon Sinek, in his presentation titled, “If You Don’t Understand People, You Don’t Understand...
by Kelly Gray, Administrative Assistant It’s common knowledge that kids can benefit from participation in sports: weekly exercise, the opportunity to make new friends, development of leadership skills, and much more. However, what may not be so well-known is that participating in sports can have an...
by Nicole LaChance, Marketing & Communications Coordinator It’s a question almost every parent of a gifted child struggles with at some point: should my child skip a grade (or more)? For many gifted children, grade acceleration is beneficial. Students are placed in classes where they are...
The Institute for Educational Advancement (IEA) is excited to announce that 30 middle-schoolers across the country have been named 2016 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...
by Niña Abonal, Program Coordinator Debbie Abilock (1999), the Co-founder of Educational Vision & Content, identified five facts about gifted readers: Gifted readers are skilled, flexible readers who read often; Gifted readers monitor their reading; Linguistically rich texts are especially suited to gifted readers; Gifted readers use...
by Jennifer de la Haye, Program Coordinator This year, IEA’s theme for both the Bradley Seminar and Yunasa Summer Camps was “Finding and Cultivating Your Voice.” In a culture that has become image-obsessed, where we often exist behind a meticulously crafted social media identity, and where...