by Liz Crowder, Director of Admissions & College Counseling
 
“I’m bored.” These two little words strike fear into a parent’s heart. Why? Because we feel like it’s our job to rectify it. While some degree of boredom is good for kids (it helps motivate them to do something about it), at other times, it can signal that intervention is needed.
 
Enter the gifted child. Gifted kids have advanced intellectual abilities and may find regular schoolwork or activities unchallenging, unstimulating, or tedious. So, when they say, “I’m bored,” it could indicate a few things:
 
Intellectual curiosity:
Gifted kids have a higher capacity for learning and require challenging tasks or materials to stay engaged, not simply more worksheets or the opportunity to tutor another child who’s falling behind. They want to learn! If you want to learn about astronomy but are given the task of painting the White House, it might not be too bad initially. After all, you’re at the White House! Important stuff happens here! But after the first week of eight-hour days and an eighteenth bucket of white paint, the thrill is gone, as BB King would say. A gifted student might find themselves painting the building with a series of stars, perhaps Orion or Cassiopeia.
 
It’s too easy:
When students feel unchallenged, they may express it as boredom. When this happens month after month, their motivation can drop, leading to boredom and frustration. To prevent underachievement, these students need differentiated instruction or more complex tasks. These kiddos are used to doing their work without much (or any) effort. The one skill they develop from this environment is the ability to “call it in.” Only later, maybe in college, do they have to study. It’s a shame to have students wait twelve years or more to feel engaged and learn something. But how many gifted children have dropped out of school before then?

It’s too hard:
Sometimes students find themselves in academic situations that are more challenging than they bargained for. It may be that they never had to work at learning before or having to spend time memorizing vocabulary for a foreign language is tedious. For them, it may feel like boredom, so that’s the word they use. But actually, they’re finally facing a difficult task. Ask what they find boring about what they’re doing, and the answer might surprise you. It may be that they’re being challenged, a feeling they haven’t experienced before.

Loneliness:
Due to unique interests, advanced abilities, or feeling that those around them don’t understand them, gifted children may feel isolated. When they say they are bored, it could indicate that they are not connecting with others on a social or emotional level. Finding a school with other intellectually curious kids can help build those social connections. One of the most beautiful phrases from a gifted child’s mouth is, “I found my people!”
 
I can do it myself: 
Gifted children often have a strong desire for independence and self-directed learning. If they feel restricted or limited in their choices or are not allowed to pursue their interests, they may express boredom. Too often, America’s educational system is fraught with a rigid approach to education with checkboxes to click off. Fortunate are the children who attend schools where a curious class can dive deep into an area of passion beyond teaching for the test. Projects of their choosing or papers on topics of their choice can go a long way toward keeping a gifted child feeling engaged and having a sense of agency in their learning. 

Screens:
Finally, we can’t forget screens. The real world moves slower than a YouTube video or video game. Students who spend a significant amount of time on screens daily find slower-paced activities boring compared to screens stimulation. If you find yourself in this situation, find a week that works for your family, and try a screen-free week. Keep a journal to see how your child feels at the beginning of the week and how that compares to the end of the week. Maybe at the end of the week, they’ll have picked up toys or books that have been gathering dust on the shelves.
 
When a gifted child says, “I’m bored,” it can carry a deeper meaning than simply being bored in the traditional sense. As parents and educators, we need to pay attention to these cues. Addressing unique needs for intellectual challenge, social connection, and autonomy can help prevent gifted children from experiencing disengagement, underachievement, and other negative impacts on their overall development. While many parents and educators might think that gifted kids will be okay because of their ability to learn, they are often at risk for finding stimulation in ways that can be troublesome: drugs, skipping school, and disconnection from education in general. So perhaps when we hear our child say, “I’m bored,” it should strike a little fear into our hearts. And who knows, finding a way to engage them in an area of passion (or even interest) might go a long way toward a happy, productive young adult one day.

I can’t believe that we’re in our last month of the school year. The last two years have felt like both a week and 10 years at the same time - the only way I can describe it is: time warp. As we enter the end of the school year, we begin to think about the summer and our classes for next year.
 
We love seeing kids return in the fall! Some have grown a foot over the summer, some have matured, and most have wonderful stories to tell about their summer experiences. It’s fun to see what the summer months bring. One of the many things I love about our school is that we get to watch the kids grow up academically year over year. As many of our teachers teach students multiple years, we know where they were in May and where they should be in September. It is always interesting to see who comes back academically after the summer.  
 
The “summer slide” is a term we use to describe academic loss students experience over the summer. Curricula that build on itself (e.g., math) is written so that the first unit is a review from the prior year. It is fascinating to watch how every child is different. Some return having learned new skills, others return where we left off, and yet others return having lost a month or two of skills. I do believe that summers are a great time to explore and relax, but also a time to do more than play video games. What kids are able to do depends on many factors, including where they are emotionally, after the last two years. If you’re at a loss for what to do and you and your child have time on your hands, read on. 
 
I like to leave time for exploration and fun, so these are recommendations to pick up in the fall where you left off in June and understanding that there are only so many hours in a week, I like to focus on the areas of most impact.
 
Reading: This activity helps kids across the board in humanities, English, science, and math classes with reading comprehension and reading fluency. Whether by Kindle, audiobook, or old-fashioned paperback, there can never be enough reading books that your child is interested in trying. See if they will stretch themselves a little with more challenging books. I like these reading lists. 

• Suggestions from the American Library Association:
  • K-2nd
  • 3rd-5th
  • 6th-8th
• The Mensa Excellence in Reading program also has a set of reading lists by grades:
  • K-3rd
  • 4th-6th
  • 7th-8th
  • 9th-12th
• The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) also has reading lists with recommendations.

 
Math: The Northern Virginia area can be pretty competitive when it comes to math. I am a fan of developing problem solving skills rather than advancing through math curriculum at a pace faster than a child is ready. For problem solving practice I like the following:

• 1st - 3rd grades: 
  • Beast Academy by Art of Problem Solving - either the online or workbook versions
  • Puzzles and Thinkfun-type games
• 4th - 8th grades: 
  • MOEMS practice problems (E for 4th-6th and M for 7th-8th) - work on one weekly for 30 minutes
  • Puzzles and Thinkfun-type games
  • If your child is in 6th - 8th grades and still struggles with the multiplication tables, this may be an area to work on over the summer.
• High School: High school is different for math since kids start driving and there may be SAT/ACT prep that they’re already doing.

Project or activity of your child’s choosing: Whether it’s a list of documentaries to watch, trails to hike, helping out, learning how to cook, tinkering or coding, or picking up a new sport, ask your child if there is anything he/she wants to learn. This activity is about being creative and exploring. 
 
Summer is for fun, and I hope that your kids find enjoyment in books and in problem solving this summer!

​

Did you know that Ideaventions has a long history of PreK- 3rd education beginning with the founding of our out-of-school programs in 2010? We pioneered a very successful, multi-year, mini-Einsteins science curriculum and have taught thousands of students to enjoy discovery and exploration. Read on to learn more about how we are bringing this back to our school!​

When we decided to expand to high school in 2016, we also decided that our final goal was a K-12 school and that we would add the lower elementary school grades after our second graduating class. We believe in building our school the way you would approach an engineering project - develop the components slowly, improve and modify, and then integrate them together. Well, we’re here! We’re about to graduate our class of 2022 and we are turning our sights to 1st to 3rd grades!

Adding the lower grades is different from the high school grades since we can’t add one year at a time, so we wanted to complete our high school program first. We are starting with 1st through 3rd, then we’ll add Kindergarten in two years, which will complete the range of grades from K - 12. 

We are so excited to begin work with the lower elementary grades and to innovate in education and support our younger curious learners! Our plan had been to announce the expansion in September and decided to accelerate the launch to support 1st to 3rd graders as we know that we can make a difference in these children’s lives and the sooner we open the program, the more kids we're able to help. 
​
In the tradition of our upper elementary curriculum, we will continue to provide students the opportunity for:

• Play, 
• Outdoor exploration, 
• Guided choice, 
• Project-based learning, 
• Hands-on activities and experimentation, 
• A solid foundation in classical literature, and 
• Innovation in engineering and computer science 

We have seen the tremendous gains that our students make when at our school, and the sky's the limit if we can begin working with the kids at younger ages. Like our upper elementary, middle, and high school programs, we have mixed-age classrooms where we will span two grade levels. 

What does a week look like for our future 1st - 3rd graders? 

• Daily math for 80 minutes, and they will have an opportunity to advance through math levels where they will be introduced to problem solving, and concepts not generally taught to younger grades, like set theory
• Daily language arts for 80 minutes where they will work on handwriting, be introduced to classic children’s literature and short stories from around the world
• Outdoor and movement focus with daily morning walk, daily recess, and 20 minute mid-morning break, in addition to weekly Physical Education
• Weekly computer science
• Weekly visual and logic puzzles
• Community and character education
• Integrated units for history and social studies, fine and performing arts, and engineering
• Integrated science that features hands-on labs and exploration, as well as integration with non-fiction language arts

We were glad to read about Fairfax County’s vote to require 15 minutes of recess daily for middle school students as we believe it is very important for all children to have breaks throughout the day, we just think they need more. All of our students, elementary, middle, and high school students have 30 minutes a day for recess, 30 minutes for lunch, mid-class breaks, and 30 minutes for a morning walk. 

We agree that downtime during the day is necessary for health and wellness, social development, and set the students up for success in academics. Younger children need even more opportunities for movement and our schedule is designed for breaks and movement throughout the day and throughout the week. 

I get so excited when I think of each part of the curriculum, which we have been slowly building over the past eight years. The integrated history units where students immerse themselves in world cultures and civilizations and through integrated projects work learn about engineering, art, music, community, and character education. In science, we will draw on our decade of experience in inquiry-based, hands-on learning where our students will continue to experiment in the science lab. 

As we draw our seventh year to a close we are proud of the strength and challenge of both our liberal arts foundations and how they come together with our engineering and science programs. We are excited to be able to provide these opportunities to 1st to 3rd graders looking for an academic challenge in a caring, hands-on, and creative community. 

First through third grade applications will be accepted starting on Wednesday, April 27.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about research papers and the writing process. Today I will again write about writing, but a different type of writing - writing fluency and finding your voice. Imagine the scene - you need to write something, and nothing is coming out. You stare at a blank Google Doc and there is no inspiration. Well, that has been me for the past few days. Anything I start writing about pales in comparison to the crisis in Ukraine, so I delete it and say a prayer for the people of Ukraine and for world peace.
​
I can picture teens going through a similar experience as they work on writing assignments that are difficult. Some people love writing, and it comes easily to them, for others it’s more challenging. We are very fortunate to have a high-school English teacher who was trained in the Writing Project, and she has brought her magic to our school. I call it magic because I have witnessed students who struggled with writing for years, blossom in her classroom. I have seen students for whom writing is a non-preferred activity, as well as beautiful, eloquent writers who can manipulate language artistically, become paralyzed as they approach each assignment as if it were an Olympic performance. 

In Ms. Anne’s classroom students keep a blog about something that interests them. By giving students a choice to write about something they love and are interested in, they find their voice. Not only that, but they also learn to enjoy writing. Through their blogs, our students identify something that piques their interest that they will write about for the year. Since it is a subject that they know about, the writing is not measuring knowledge, it’s a type of journal about something they love. It’s all typed so their hands shouldn’t get tired. In this way, the focus is fluency, and like anything in life, the more you do something, the better you become at it. The goal is to give students an opportunity to write and write often. Through this practice they will become better writers. All that we ask of them is to give the process a chance and to try to open up on paper. “Talk” to the page (or computer) the way you would to a friend. And if you have a hard time getting started, set a timer, and just write for that period of time. It doesn’t have to be perfect, and it doesn’t have to be error free. There is no judgment, just effort, and it’s about something you like. The objective is to get your thoughts on the page. 

I have used this same technique in the Economics class I teach. As I tend to work with 10th and 11th grade students, they have already had Ms. Anne for at least a year. I reserve a few class periods each year for current events. We read an article from the Wall Street Journal related to what we are studying in class, and then we “write a response.” Students are used to having prompts to answer, but I want them to get used to formulating opinions and working in ambiguous, open-ended situations as we mirror what the professional world is like. Usually, the ones who struggle most with this type of assignment in my class are my high achievers, and they want to know the rules in order to do well. My response is usually the same, pretend you are in Ms. Anne’s class, and just write for the next 15 minutes. I just want to know what you’re thinking. We’ll go from there. There’s no right or wrong. 
So, for this week’s post, that’s what I did. I have pretended to be a student in Ms. Anne’s class, and I have “just written” for 30 minutes. Next time your child is struggling with putting something down on a page, ask them to tell you about something they love - be it a video game or a friend. As they start telling you about it, ask them to write it (type it) for you for five minutes.

If you’re curious about some of our students’ blogs - here are some of the ones that were published externally:

• Finish Line - The History of NASA's First Black Female Engineer
• Doudnapedia
• Remember What She Did - Rosalind Franklin
• Plight of the Planet
• Runtime Error
• A Cartoonist’s Playground
• defaultUser
• Gas Fumes

The teaching of math is fascinating. It is fascinating and complex. More than any of our other content areas, we have learned so much from our journey. A few years ago, at an MIT Club dinner, the gentleman next to me asked “Have you figured out how to teach problem solving?” My answer was quick, and I was excited to hear his response, “No, not yet, do you know how?” Alas he didn’t, and it led to a fun conversation about the teaching of math. Problem solving is at the core of math, and we’re still working on figuring out how to teach it to a broad range of students. Our experience has been illuminating, and a fun challenge to tackle.

When we designed the school, we read the research and work done by Patrick Suppes at Stanford University’s EPGY and by Julian Stanley at Johns Hopkins’ CTY to inform our approach that allowed students of varied math levels to progress at their own pace so that they could reach mathematically challenging material that would keep them engaged. Math, unlike other subjects taught in school (with the exception of foreign languages), builds on itself and requires a mastery of prior material to fully understand the new material being presented. In theory, self-paced math using adaptive technologies appears as a perfect solution. In practice, we found that it works for a smaller percentage of the population than we expected from the research, and even for those students for whom it works, they prefer the interaction with a person. 
The beauty of our school being a 4th-12th school is that it’s like a longitudinal study; You see how choices made in elementary years affect performance in high school. Here are some of our findings:

• Students’ trajectories in math vary. Some blossom in high school, while some race through arithmetic and “hit a wall” in high school.
• When working with larger groups, we are challenged to present math as an area to delve deeper into rather than a ladder to climb as quickly as possible.
• For some kids the “math world” comes together with calculus, when they see how it all fits together.
• In lower grades, topics learned in the math classroom don't readily transfer to the science classroom for all students.
• Some students have minds like steel traps that once the material is presented, that is all of the practice that they need, while others need a fair amount of repetition to master a concept.
• Confidence in math matters. Too fast, too soon can erode that confidence. Too much pressure to perform can also erode that confidence.
• When students make errors, analyzing if there is a commonality in the types of errors or response of the student is important in building self-awareness and confidence. 

 
For today, I will expand on this last bullet point, and we’ll visit other learnings in later posts. We have found some common areas of struggle in math which include computation errors, copying mistakes or not showing work, anxiety and freezing when working on a problem, and not understanding what the problem is asking. This is not an exhaustive list, and each could be the subject of its own post, but we’ll briefly explore each one.
 

• Computation errors: Most kids develop number sense and the math facts through the math curriculum by 6th grade. However, there is a minority of kids who I still see computing on their fingers in a high-school physics class, losing focus on the actual physics problem that they were trying to solve. Access to more advanced math and science classes was hindered, not because of an understanding of the physical concepts, but because they don’t have a sense of the order of magnitude to expect or spend so much time dealing with the numbers that they forget what they were solving for. Those multiplication tables do matter after all.
• Copying mistakes or not showing work: These kids tend to rush through the work to try to get through it as quickly as possible. In elementary and middle school math, it can work for them. However, by the time we get to mid-high school level math and science classes, a point here and there does add up. Kids tell me that it doesn’t matter, they understand the concept. I partially agree - yes, understanding the concept is important, and you can demonstrate that you know it by showing your work so you can get most of the credit. However, if you dream of a career as an engineer, financier, or doctor, mathematical precision matters. I want the engineers designing the plane I’m going to get on to be precise, and I want my anesthesiologist to be precise. Precision has to start somewhere. 
• Freezing when doing math: My trickiest students have been some of the students who teachers would normally describe as the “best” students in a class. In the elementary years, they take notes, they do their homework, they study, and they do well on assessments. They are well behaved, they smile, … and they generally don’t like to ask questions. All of the external signs they project in the classroom exude confidence and mastery, except for not asking questions. It’s not until they reach a certain math level, usually by Algebra 2, sometimes sooner, that we see the cracks. It’s like watching a duck on water, calmly on the pond but furiously treading water below the surface. For some kids it comes from an internal and/or external quest for perfection, for others it’s caused by their competitive drive to go faster, and yet for others, it’s because they compare themselves to their classmates. The causes are complex and working through it is difficult.
• Not understanding the problem: This is where reading meets math. The language in math textbooks corresponds to age-equivalent language. There is also vocabulary that is part of every field of study. We have seen a correlation between reading comprehension and the math classroom. 

​An observation in teaching that took me by surprise, that shouldn’t have, is that I always need more time. I feel that I could fill an entire year of school with just one area of exploration, and we could have great fun exploring. Next year, we are adding an extra math period for math that will give us time to explore additional topics not covered in elementary and middle-school math curricula, such as set theory and proofs. That extra time is also being built in so that students have an opportunity to explore how they learn math. See you next week as we continue to explore math!

About six years ago, I took my son to a summer seminar about The Lord of the Rings. What greeted me (ahem, us) were hundreds of books related to J.R.R. Tolkien. There were the books he wrote, books he read, books about the books he wrote, books about his invented languages, books about his life, books about Oxford, books about the Inklings, and many more books. It was at that moment that I wondered, “Why does my son get to have all of the fun, while I sit at the local Starbucks working while I wait for him?” Being a teacher, I knew that having an adult in a class can offset the balance of a class, but it never hurts to ask. 
 
See, I love books. I love books, shoes, and purses, in that order. I couldn’t walk out when all of these books were there and were going to be explored -- without me. After quickly figuring out that I could do the work I was supposed to work on at night, I asked my son if it was ok if I asked to sit in the class (I didn’t want to embarrass him) and when he agreed, I approached the teacher. I told the teacher that I would pay for my registration, and I promised to not say a word. I just wanted an opportunity to sit in a corner in the back of the room and learn. I promised to be a really good adult. Let’s just say that the class did not disappoint and after learning what is philology, I am now a proud owner of a 20-volume set of the Oxford English Dictionary, which I have been able to collect as libraries have sold off their copies. If you know Tolkien, you know why that is relevant. 
 
That teacher was Mr. Gardner, who is now one of our high school history teachers at Ideaventions Academy. After sitting in that Tolkien class, and the next one he taught on the Vikings, I realized that I had a gaping hole in my education. I enjoyed history when I was in middle school but did not take any history classes in college because I was afraid of taking the academic risk. The level of academic writing required in college history classes was too intimidating. I didn’t want this for our students, and we are so thankful that Mr. Gardner agreed to come and share his expertise, knowledge, and passion for history with our students.
 
Why research-based history papers?
We believe that learning how to write research papers is a multiyear process and no student shows up in high school or college knowing how to write one. It is our job as educators to expose students to long-term assignments where they are challenged to write a variety of papers, and history is a content area where they can develop the skill of writing research papers.
 
As a math and science school with a fair number of students who aspire to be engineers, we emphasize the importance of being able to communicate both orally and in writing. As students enter high school, we invite them to challenge themselves by taking one of our intensive history classes, where they will experience the conditions to develop grit and practice perseverance. Students in this class are exposed to college and post-college level texts, learn how to pick a topic, learn how to form a thesis, learn how to read complex texts within a timeframe, and learn how to write a paper that is organized, tells a story, and uses precise language and dates.
 
The class itself is split into two sessions - the history lesson and the writing workshop. In the history lesson, students are learning about the history that we are studying that year. The papers are done outside of class and use what they are learning in class as a way for students to figure out what area of what we’re learning about they will focus on in their paper. The writing workshop is where we work together on selecting a topic, finding books and journal articles, as well as reviewing outlines and drafts, if ready. In the writing workshop we introduce students to Turabian’s Student’s Guide to Writing College Papers, we hold technical lessons on the Chicago Manual of Style and learn how to footnote a paper. Through discussions, we also learn what goes in the body of the paper, or what is better suited for an appendix, and continue building our glossary of “vague words” that may not be used in papers turned in for this class.
 
How do we do it?
It’s a tricky dance between high standards and encouragement and support. The assignments include two short papers and a term paper each semester, and the topics include a critical book review, biographical essays, thesis-based research papers, and analytical essays. We like to give students a guided choice in determining what or who they will write about, as we have found that if a student is interested in the topic, they will be more motivated to work on their papers.
 
The paper is the final product, and part of what we teach students through working on these long-term assignments is how to plan and manage their time by providing long-term deadlines with the scaffolding of intermediate deadlines. We break up the assignment into two intermediate deadlines, topic selection and outline, with further suggested deadlines. We also recommend dates for when a first draft should be complete, but it is a suggested date, rather than a required date. 
 
The Engineering Design Process in a History Class
What I have learned in teaching students how to work through this process is that it is a process broken down into subprocesses, and this process has many similarities to the engineering design process or the scientific method, which is a description our students understand. 
 
Brainstorming: In picking a topic and researching sources, students start by brainstorming ideas for their paper. They then determine the feasibility by researching the available sources and evaluating whether the topic is too broad or too narrow. 
 
Research: The reading and research phase is probably one of the areas where the most experimentation happens in class. Some students spend substantial amounts of time reading and taking copious notes, running out of time. Others barely take notes, then have to spend hours rereading. We learn that different types of notes work for different types of topics. We have experimented with highlighting, summarizing reading sessions, taking notes on post-it notes, taking notes on note cards. It’s a messy process and yet, we learn so much.
 
Design: Finally, students get to the point where they organize their notes into an outline. They learn that the title is more important than they realized and that everything in the outline needs to support the title and their thesis. They learn that the organization of an outline will help them tremendously when writing the paper - spend some time on the outline (design) and the implementation (writing) will be faster. Early on some students try to take shortcuts and try to write the outline while still reading based on what they think they will find. They also learn that there is a balance between an outline that is a collection of detailed notes (too detailed) and an outline that was thrown together 30 minutes before the due date (not enough detail). We also can’t forget to think about the introduction and the conclusion.
 
Implementation: Now, we finally get to writing the paper (implementation). Many people would be happy writing that first draft, and turning it in. We ask students to work through multiple drafts and classmates who have taken the class before share techniques that they have learned. To encourage working through the process rather than the grade, we allow students to submit a rewrite of their paper and earn an A- if they weren’t happy with their first grade. 
 
Testing and Iterating: Students who take us up on the rewrite, apply the feedback that they receive, and learn from it, begin to see improvements in the next paper. The feedback they receive is extensive, and students learn that red ink is not a judgement on their writing or their worth as a person but take it as coaching and feedback meant to help them grow academically. When we explain that a teacher will only spend that much time giving feedback, it’s because he cares. In this dance of excellence and support, we also allow students to drop the lowest grade for one of the short papers. 
 
We ask students that take the intensive history courses for at least two years to compare their papers from the end of year two to the first paper they wrote. They are shocked at how much they have grown. One student said, “That first paper was embarrassing.” They also experience how much faster they become at writing papers and learn about themselves as researchers and writers. The papers are also not as scary as they were at first. I wish all students in high school had the opportunity to spend this much time learning how to research, write, and communicate. 
 
“There will come a time in most students' careers when they are assigned a research paper. Such an assignment often creates a great deal of unneeded anxiety in the student, which may result in procrastination and a feeling of confusion and inadequacy.” - Purdue Online Writing Lab
 
Our goal is for that time to be in high school and through the support afforded at a school like ours, to avoid the feeling of inadequacy, and build a feeling of empowerment and confidence. If you want to take a look, here are papers that students wrote about The Great War and World War 2 and compiled them into a website. We're still working on sharing the writing from other topics from 2000+ years of history that we have covered in our classes. In the meantime, enjoy reading what our students have written about this particular time in history.  ​​