WHEN SOMETHING ISN’T QUITE ADDING UP
The Parent Library
Sometimes your child is bright but struggling. They can focus for hours on one thing but not another. School looks fine on paper, but getting through it takes far more effort than anyone realizes. Boredom hits only a couple of months into the school year.
The Parent Library is a collection of practical, psychologist-written resources to help you make sense of learning, attention, executive functioning, giftedness, and assessment.
Learning & Academic Success
When school seems to be harder than it should be.
Explore why a capable child may struggle with reading, writing, math, memory, processing speed, or keeping up with academic demands, even when their grades look fine.
ADHD & Executive Functioning
When knowing what to do and doing it are two different things.
Understand attention, organization, planning, working memory, task initiation, motivation, emotional regulation, and the many ways ADHD can show up in everyday life.
Gifted & 2e Learners
When high ability comes with a more complicated learning profile.
Explore giftedness, twice-exceptionality, uneven development, ADHD and learning differences in gifted children, and questions about school fit and programming.
Understanding Assessments
When you're wondering whether an assessment would actually help.
Learn when assessment may be useful, which type of assessment fits which question, what testing can tell you, and how to turn results into meaningful support.
FROM THE PARENT LIBRARY
Featured Articles
Practical guidance, expert insights, and real-life strategies to help your child learn, grow, and thrive. New, practical resources added every two weeks.
LEARNING & ACADEMIC SUCCESS
My Child Is Smart. Why Is School So Hard?
When a bright, capable child finds school unusually hard, there may be more beneath the surface. Attention, learning differences, anxiety, executive functioning, or giftedness can all affect learning.
ADHD & EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING
ADHD or Anxiety? How to Tell What May Be Affecting Your Child at School
ADHD and anxiety can sometimes look very similar from the outside. Both can affect attention, organization, work completion, and confidence.
UNDERSTANDING ASSESSMENTS
Does My Child Need a Psychoeducational Assessment?
8 Signs It May Be Time
When school feels harder than it seems it should, it can be difficult to know whether your child needs more time, more support, or a closer look at what is getting in the way.
LEARNING & ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Signs of a Learning Disability: What Parents May Notice at Different Ages
Early on, the signs may appear in learning letters, sounds, numbers, or writing. Later, difficulties may become more noticeable as reading, writing, math, and independent learning become more demanding.
Read the resource →
GIFTED & 2E LEARNERS
Should I Assess My Child for Giftedness?
Not every bright child needs testing. A gifted assessment is most valuable when the results can answer a question, guide school planning, clarify an unusual learning profile, or meet requirements for a specific program.
ADHD & EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING
They Know What to Do — So Why Can't They Get It Done?
When a child understands the expectation but repeatedly struggles to start, organize, remember, or follow through, executive functioning may be part of the picture.
LEARNING & ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Dyslexia Signs Parents Often Notice Before a Diagnosis
Dyslexia can look different from one child to another, and some children compensate well enough that difficulties are not obvious at first. Does reading, decoding, spelling, or fluency remain difficult despite appropriate teaching and practice?
Sometimes, the Question Starts With Something Small
Maybe it's something you've noticed for months.
These observations don't automatically point to a diagnosis and they don't always mean an assessment is needed.
But they can be useful clues.
The Parent Library is designed to help you understand what might be worth looking at more closely, what you can try now, and when getting more information may be helpful.
“They understand it when we talk about it, but their work doesn’t show it.”
“She gets good grades but school takes everything out of her.”
“He can focus for hours on things he loves.”
“She’s incredibly bright. Why is this so hard?”
ABOUT THE LIBRARY
More Than Definitions
You can find a definition of ADHD, giftedness, or a learning disability almost anywhere.
Understanding what those concepts might actually look like in your child's everyday life is often much harder.
I created The Parent Library to bridge that gap.
The resources here focus on the details that often come before an assessment: the confusing patterns, unexpected contradictions, and moments that make parents wonder whether something more is going on.
Each resource is written by a Registered Psychologist with a Masters Degree in Education and 10+ years of assessment experience. Every topic is designed to help you understand the possibilities without feeling like every difficulty needs a diagnosis or that every concern requires formal testing.
UNDERSTANDING THE PATTERN
More Information Often Helps
The Parent Library can help you understand possibilities, but it can't tell you exactly why something is happening for your child. When concerns are persistent, affecting school or daily life, or simply don't make sense given your child's abilities, an assessment can sometimes provide the missing information.
At Blue Spruce Psychology, assessment is used to understand the whole pattern, strengths as well as areas requiring support, and to turn that information into practical recommendations for everyday life.
Psychoeducational Assessment →
Learning, academic skills, cognitive abilities, attention, executive functioning, and learning disabilities.
ADHD Assessment →
Attention, executive functioning, self-regulation, and whether a child's pattern is consistent with ADHD.
Gifted Assessment →
Understanding advanced cognitive ability, gifted identification, and questions related to gifted programming.
Not Sure Where to Start?
You don't need to know which assessment your child needs, or whether they need one at all, before reaching out.
If you'd like to talk through what you're noticing and whether assessment might be useful, I’d love to hear from you.