Can you please give my child a bit more challenge?

You may have noticed it in your child: the hunger for learning is strong, but school doesn’t always seem to satisfy it. You hear comments like, “I already know all of this,” “School is boring,” or “I’m bored in class.” Sometimes it becomes even clearer: “School is stupid,” or “I don’t want to do homework.” Maybe you even see your child gradually losing interest in school altogether.

For many parents of cognitively gifted children, this is a familiar situation. The question arises: how can you make sure your child is sufficiently challenged at school so that motivation and joy in learning remain alive? How can you work together with the school to create the right kind of learning stimulation?

Talk to the School in Time

Don’t wait until the parent-teacher conference to ask during the report discussion whether your child could use a bit more challenge. It’s better to approach the classroom teacher or care coordinator earlier and request a meeting. After all, this is about your child’s well-being and development—important enough to address right away.

A good opening question for such a conversation is: “Do you see the same child at school as we see at home?” Sometimes a child doesn’t stand out in class as a strong learner or mainly shows disruptive behavior. Together, you can explore motivation, self-confidence, and learning style. Try to map out what your child already knows, which learning goals have been achieved, and where there are still needs. Sometimes this requires a short observation period, both at home and at school.

With that information, the teacher can make a tailored proposal and differentiate within the classroom. Make clear agreements about what will be started and when, so you can follow up and support from home. Important to know: an IQ test is not required and should never be a prerequisite. Schools can already implement many interventions that make a big difference in your child’s well-being, motivation, and engagement.

But What Does “More Challenge” Actually Mean?

Doing more of the same exercises or following the standard differentiation offered in textbooks is often not enough. The “extra workbook” that sometimes appears from the cupboard—where your child works alone in a corner—usually doesn’t help either.

For cognitively strong children, this doesn’t provide real challenge: they can often complete the tasks easily but don’t gain deeper learning experiences from them. Their abilities remain underused, and motivation doesn’t necessarily increase. On the contrary, such solutions often fail to improve learning or work habits.

Moreover, many children find it unfair when they get more work than their classmates, on top of the material they already master.

Curriculum compacting

Because extra worksheets often feel like a punishment and seem unfair to your child, curriculum compacting is one of the most effective strategies (Renzulli et al., 1982). Compacting means that the teacher shortens or omits material your child has already mastered. This way, your child doesn’t get more work than the rest, but rather a fairer and more suitable learning plan.

In practice, this often means your child receives a shorter explanation and has to complete fewer exercises. For example, while the class may do ten assignments, your child might only do three to five. Repetition is often unnecessary and can be omitted entirely.

To accurately assess which material your child has already mastered, the school can use pre-tests at the start of a new topic or mastery checks at a higher level. This helps determine which parts your child can skip—and where genuine challenge is still needed.

Enrichment

By compacting, time is freed up for enrichment. Enrichment activities ideally take place within the zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1978): the level just beyond what your child can do independently, but achievable with temporary support. In this zone, children are encouraged to practice new skills such as perseverance, coping with mistakes, focus, and planning.

The role of the teacher or mentor is crucial here: by providing explanations, asking guiding questions, or breaking a task into smaller steps, your child receives exactly the support they need. Because every child is different, a tailored approach is essential for effective enrichment.

Today, especially in primary education, there is a wide range of enrichment materials available and many ways to use them. Sometimes enrichment means curriculum extension—exploring classroom subjects like mathematics, language, science, or history in greater depth. Other times it means broadening—offering new domains instead of the regular curriculum, such as a research project, learning a new language, studying literature, or completing a task related to a personal interest like art, music, or technology.

It’s important to find an approach together that fits your child and is manageable for the school. Enrichment materials are often prepared and guided by a support or learning specialist. If a school has little experience with this kind of provision, it’s wise to start small—perhaps with one subject or one method. As expertise grows, the range and variety of enrichment can gradually expand.

How do you know if the enrichment provides enough challenge? A good indicator is when your child truly has to think about the solution, feels a bit of frustration, or makes mistakes. That’s actually a positive sign—because you’ll often see your child flourish the moment they finally succeed at a difficult task.

Grouping

Some schools offer cognitively strong students a gifted enrichment class, often called a “kangaroo class” in Flanders. Usually, this takes place for one to two hours a week, but for many children, it feels like a real moment to recharge. They can connect with intellectual peers, work at a faster pace, explore certain topics in more depth, or engage different talents and skills.

If your child’s school doesn’t offer such a program, there are often external enrichment classes available during school hours. If you notice that your child would benefit from this, be sure to discuss it with the school—participation requires permission from both the teacher and the school management.

Acceleration

Another option is acceleration—allowing your child to move through the curriculum at a faster pace. This can take many forms: for example, in primary school, mastering multiplication tables within six weeks, or in secondary school, working independently and at one’s own pace on subject matter. The time gained can then be used for enrichment.

Research shows that acceleration is the most effective intervention known for gifted students, with a clear and lasting positive impact on their academic performance (Steenbergen-Hu et al., 2016). When a student’s learning lead becomes very large and compacting or enrichment are no longer sufficient, options such as subject acceleration, completing two grade levels in one year, or whole-grade acceleration—shortening the overall curriculum—can be considered.

Because these are significant decisions, they should be made carefully and in consultation with the student, parents, teachers, school leadership, student support services, and, if needed, an external expert.

For students in their final year of secondary education, there is also the possibility of taking courses at a college or university, with permission from the class council and school management. As of September 1, 2025, a similar arrangement applies in primary education, allowing sixth-year pupils to take secondary school subjects.

What if the Challenge doesn’t Work?

If the school does provide enrichment tasks, but you notice that your child doesn’t get around to them or doesn’t want to complete them, start by checking a few things: Is there enough curriculum compacting? Does your child understand the instructions? Is motivation present? And is there guidance when your child gets stuck? That’s often where the real learning happens—learning to persevere, even when things get difficult.

Enrichment work should therefore not be optional. It’s important that your child receives clear instruction, support, and feedback—from both the teacher and you as a parent. Encourage your child not to give up as soon as it becomes challenging, but to persist with help. The issue isn’t that it’s too hard; rather, your child needs support to move forward.

Psychoeducation also plays an important role here—helping your child understand concepts like mindset, the learning pit, and the idea that learning requires effort (Dweck, 2006). Sometimes that means breaking a task into smaller steps, practicing several times, daring to make mistakes and learn from them, or trying out new strategies. These are precisely the skills your child still needs to develop.

For children who seem to have completely disengaged, it can be helpful to start with material that closely matches their interests (Renzulli & Reis, 2010). This often boosts motivation and can help re-engage them in learning.

Sometimes, enrichment activities reveal underlying learning difficulties that were not previously apparent. In such cases, it’s advisable to consider diagnostic assessment and seek guidance from an expert.

It’s also important to recognize that schools differ greatly in their experience and expertise regarding cognitive giftedness. Not every school has a well-developed policy or a consistent approach across grade levels. If you find that the options for your child remain very limited, it may be worthwhile to explore a school that is further along in this area—one with a clear policy on supporting cognitively strong learners or a designated giftedness coordinator who can collaborate with you to find appropriate solutions.

Conclusion

As a parent, you play a key role in this process. You’re often the first to notice when your child is struggling, and you can help bring those signals to the table—working with the school to find solutions and creating space at home for curiosity and enrichment. By encouraging your child to persevere when things get difficult, you strengthen not only the partnership with the school but also your child’s confidence and motivation.

Asking for more challenge is not a luxury—it’s a necessary step to keep the joy of learning alive. Curriculum compacting, enrichment, grouping, and acceleration can truly make a difference. By working together with the school to find what helps and continuing to support your child at home, you build a strong foundation for growth, resilience, and lasting enjoyment in learning.

References

• Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset. The new psychology of success. Random House.

• Renzulli, J., & Reis, S. (2010). The schoolwide enrichment model: A focus on student strengths and interests. Gifted Education International, 26(2-3), 140–156.

• Renzulli, J. S., Smith, L. H., & Reis, S. M. (1982). Curriculum compacting: An essential strategy for working with gifted students. The Elementary School Journal, 82(3), 185–194.

• Steenbergen-Hu, S., Makel, M. C., & Olszewski-Kubilius, P. (2016). What One Hundred Years of Research Says About the Effects of Ability Grouping and Acceleration on K–12 Students’ Academic Achievement. Review of Educational Research, 86(4), 849–899. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654316675417

• Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.

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