As parents, you naturally seek to maximize your child's educational opportunities. I'm asked nearly every day by parents something to the effect of, "What does my child need to work on to get better?" The truth is, the answer to that will be as unique as the child herself. The best place to start is to ponder what you know about the child's passions (if you haven't yet, go check out the Ken Robinson info. on the Social/Emotional page!). Your child's natural passion will be the best, most organic guide on what direction to push his or her enrichment.
That being said, the following are all excellent and readily available avenues for unique enrichment opportunities:
- Destination Imagination (DI)
- Lone Star Challenge
- Chess Club
- Spanish classes
- Drama Kids
That's just the tip of the iceberg. Please explore what programs are available at your child's campus.
I also highly recommend some form of physical activity, as more and more research is supporting the body/mind connection. You can also directly support cognitive/brain growth with some excellent apps and websites. One in particular that I use is Lumosity.com. You can create a free account and work on daily, research-based cognitive exercises designed to improve and speed up thinking (TIP: Stick with the free version!). More apps and games are listed on the Games, Apps and Sites page.
If you are looking for more rigorous, structured or specialized enrichment, there are some places to turn:
- The Davidson Institute: http://www.davidsongifted.org/
- The Gifted Students Institute at SMU: http://www.smu.edu/Simmons/CommunityEnrichment/GSI
- NuMinds Enrichment: http://numien.com/
FULL DISCLOSURE: I am a co-founder of NuMinds Enrichment. Although courses and programs run year round, I participate primarily in the summer and there is no conflict of interest with Frisco ISD.
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