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Resources for Challenge and Enrichment Opportunities

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Below you will find resources for additional challenge and enrichment that may interest your gifted learner.  I will update these resources throughout the year.

Enrichment Resources

APS Gifted Services – Supporting Gifted Children at home This is an extensive list of online resources across grades and content areas. You will find many of the same suggestions; however, if you have students at home in K-5 or 9-12, check this list out as my focus is more opportunities for middle school age.
Khan Academy Resources for students and parents to find challenges in various areas of math, science, and design thinking.
PBS Learning Media, Middle School Interactive lesson plans, videos, and more across several disciplines. Also some cool current event videos and quizzes.
Smithsonian Learning Lab Discover all the resources the Smithsonian has to offer as you dive deep into an interest area. Then create collections of the information you gather. Then you can share your collection or learn from others’ collections.
TED Talks to Watch with KidsTED Talks by Brilliant Kids and Teens Feed your student’s curiosity. Watch with your student and inspire deep conversation, or have your student form an interest group among friends to watch and discuss specific TED Talks.
Common Sense Media’s Top 10 Podcasts for Tweens and Teens So many opportunities in podcasts to learn, inspire, and discuss. Pick an episode to listen to on a walk or as a family. Build a discussion group with peers based on a specific podcast.
Wonderopolis Each day a new “wonder” is posted. This is a great chance for the curious learner to look into several different fun facts and have follow up resources to learn more.
CrashCourse YouTube channel that has a huge library of videos on a variety of topics and disciplines.
GeographyNow YouTube channel that has a collection of informational and fun videos about different countries around the world.
Renzulli Learning When it comes to gifted education, Joseph Renzulli is kind of a big deal! Renzulli Learning is an online interactive system that helps students develop a learning profile and then have access to helpful resources and ideas based on the individualized learning profile. This is usually quite expensive, so this unique opportunity to try it out for free is pretty exciting!***If you’re interested in trying this out, send me an email so I can send you an access code.
Virtual Field Trip Ideas and Links Bummed that you can’t travel right now? Try these virtual field trips and visit the Louvre without waiting in line! Try them out and tell me which trips are your favorite. I personally am loving some of the interactive zoo experiences.
The Gifted Guy Enrichment Check out fun videos that teach a student how to learn chess, or how to do sodoku, or how to create your own School House Rock, etc. There are a lot of fun chances to learn how to do something that stimulates your brain.
Google Arts & Culture Zoom in on famous pieces of art to learn more about the work and the artist. You can also participate in fun quizzes.
PBS Think Math Take on some real world applications of mathematics and think more deeply about how to apply that math skill you wondered “When will I use this in real life?”
NCES Kids’ Zone A Fun place to try out some statistics games, look at different schools, and even learn about different colleges with the college navigator.
KenKen Puzzles! Test out your math skills, stretch your brain, and have fun! Here are KenKen puzzles for all grades.
Brilliant Try out a daily challenge!
Skill Share Creative Writing Want to develop as a creative writer? Check out this site with videos and daily tips on how to build your craft.
NASA Stem Engagement Want to check out some STEM activities? NASA has you covered! Become the next generation of explorers with NASA Education Outreach.
Try Engineering Explore different fields of engineering and activities that will challenge you with problem solving.
Smithsonian’s History Explorer An excellent place to learn more about a time, event, person, or group from history that you have been curious about.
Ken Burns In the Classroom One of the masters of documentaries! You can explore a time period in history through his documentaries and analysis of primary sources.
Extra History Interested in military history? Here is the YouTube channel for you!
National Geographic Kids National Geographic Kids is a great resource with activities, videos, and games on a variety of topics.
Dyson’s 44 Experiment Challenge Cards The Dyson foundation has put together some engineering and science challenges for kids to try. These are challenge cards with directions and explanations – easy to follow and try out!
Write. Right. Rite. Check out amazing author Jason Reynolds’ video series that helps creative writers practice their craft. Each video ends with a prompt to guide young writers in playing around with different aspects of creative writing.

Competition Opportunities

International Academic Competitions Daily Picture Quiz Try these daily picture quiz challenges, and then send in your answers to IAC. They will announce winners each month and send out prizes. Daily quiz challenge opportunities
Philosophy Slam Are you a deep thinker and love to discuss all topics in a philosophical way? Check out this competition. National winners are announced later in the year and receive prizes. ***Stay tuned for updated information.
National Singing Competitions If you are a good singer, this organization has a few different competition opportunities for you to check out. Submissions depend on competition.
Codeavour 2021 Codeavour 2122 AI is an international online AI and programming competition for kids to encourage them to bring out their inner programmers and make innovative AI projects with PictoBlox, while also bringing solutions to real-world problems. Deadline: TBD
Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Contest This is an international organization of teens who care about how climate change is affecting the environment, specifically the ocean. It started in Boston, Mass. and has grown through outreach. Entries for the different categories are accepted through June. There are prizes for junior and senior division winners.
SCOPE Contests SCOPE is run by scholastic and offers several different writing contests. Entries are on a rolling basis for the contest you are entering.
PBS Global Design Squad PBS offers a design challenge for kids to try out. You upload your design and explain how it solves a problem. They usually reward stickers to most creative.
picoCTF picoCTF is a free computer security game with original educational content built on a capture-the-flag framework created by security and privacy experts at Carnegie Mellon University. TBD
3M Young Scientist Lab Challenge Film yourself solving an everyday problem with a creative solution. Opens early-mid Dec.
RFK Speak Up, Sing Out Produce an original song that brings attention to a human rights issue. Submissions are due May 11th, 2022

Reference: Partington, Katherine (2020). https://dorothyhamm.apsva.us/gifted-services/at-home-enrichment-and-challenge-opportunities/