What does meaningful support for gifted students actually look like? Deniz Baloglu, founder of Navigator of Giftedness, brings both professional insight and personal experience as the parent of a gifted child. In this thoughtful Q&A, she discusses common challenges families face, the importance of finding the right mentors, and how her son’s math enrichment with Pacific Preparatory helped turn learning into something joyful and deeply engaging.

Cramming is like trying to eat an entire pizza in one bite—it just doesn’t work. Overloading the brain with too much information at once makes it harder to retain and apply what’s been learned. According to the American Psychological Association, spaced repetition—reviewing material over time—is far more effective for long-term memory than last-minute cramming.