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.
Did your child recently bring home literacy and math screener results? Find out what that means and what comes next
Browse Articles
Practical guidance, expert insights, and real-life strategies to help your child learn, grow, and thrive. New, learning-based resources added every week.
What Happens During an Assessment?
Explore what happens during psychoeducational and ADHD assessment sessions at Blue Spruce Psychology in Calgary, including activities and questions.
Understanding Psychoeducational Assessment
A psychoeducational assessment helps explain how a child thinks, learns, and manages school demands. It can identify learning disabilities and giftedness, evaluate ADHD when appropriate, and clarify factors that may be affecting progress.
Should I Assess My Child for Giftedness?
If your child seems to learn unusually quickly, reasons well beyond their age, or needs more challenge than they are getting at school, a gifted assessment may be useful.
Does My Child Need an 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.
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.
Autism Assessment
Understanding autistic traits, exploring questions about autism, and identifying supports that fit your child’s needs.