Gifted children are often misunderstood or labelled as problematic. Feed Their Minds offers practical tools for families and teachers.
When we talk about children with high cognitive potential – often referred to by the English term gifted – the immediate image is of a little genius who excels at everything, races ahead and astonishes adults with precocious achievements. But the reality is quite different: these children frequently struggle at school, are misunderstood or labelled "problematic" when, in fact, they simply need a more stimulating learning environment. It is from one such story that Feed Their Minds was born: Raffaella Silbernagl, a cultural entrepreneur and mother of a high-potential child, transformed her personal experience into a startup that helps families and schools to recognise and nurture these talents, building tailor-made learning pathways.
Your child asks questions that catch adults off guard, yet their report card is far from brilliant; your pupil finishes assignments in a matter of minutes, then loses focus and disrupts the class. These are situations familiar to many parents and teachers, and they may point to high cognitive potential: abilities significantly above average, generally identified through standardised tests (an IQ score of 130 or above). Studies tell us that this threshold applies to between 2 and 6 per cent of the population, meaning that in almost every class there is at least one gifted or high-potential child.
But high potential does not guarantee academic success. Gifted individuals think faster and in more complex ways, yet their cognitive and emotional development may proceed at a slower pace: they can feel "different", experience mistakes and frustrations more intensely, and struggle with group dynamics. Without adequate stimulation they risk anxiety, demotivation or low self-esteem, and their potential may remain unexpressed or even be perceived as an obstacle. To complicate matters further, in Italy – unlike other European countries such as France, Spain and Portugal – there is no legislation recognising giftedness as a specific educational need. This gap leaves families and teachers without clear institutional reference points.
The first step – and often the hardest – is recognising high potential. To make this more accessible, Feed Their Minds has developed, in collaboration with the University of Pavia, the Junior abilities game: a free online screening tool designed as an interactive game suitable for children. It is not a diagnostic test, but it works as an initial indicator: it gathers clues and helps establish whether further investigation may be worthwhile.
Once the picture becomes clearer, the work begins with the individual. The startup offers enrichment programmes – creative workshops, mentoring activities, in-depth exploration of specific topics – designed to nourish the children's interests and work alongside school without replacing it. The goal is not to accelerate the curriculum, but to create spaces where these young people's curiosity finds suitable interlocutors and challenges, while also working on transferable skills such as critical thinking and emotional regulation.
The programmes for young people, however, are only part of the work: for parents, supporting a gifted son or daughter is an experience that often leaves them feeling isolated and exhausted. For this reason Feed Their Minds also supports families through individual psycho-pedagogical consultations and group discussions, offering practical frameworks for managing everyday situations – from assignments that are "too boring" to difficulties in relating to classmates.
The third audience is the school. The startup works directly with teachers through training programmes and partnerships with individual institutions, with a practical aim: to help identify high potential in the classroom and, where possible, adapt the teaching approach. It is not a matter of overhauling the curriculum, but of small adjustments that can transform the school experience: differentiating an assignment, proposing an additional activity, rethinking assessment methods.
Among Feed Their Minds' most recent projects is the Sportello dei talenti, a guidance service for those who need help navigating next steps. In essence, it is a consultation to clarify educational needs and identify the most appropriate course of action.
The project is given further grounding by the collaboration with Labtalento at the University of Pavia: sessions are run by the laboratory's psychologists, which strengthens the direct link with academic research. In a field where oversimplifications spread easily, this connection helps to distinguish what can be addressed through teaching strategies and a school-family partnership from what requires specialist assessment.
Talking about high cognitive potential does not mean focusing on a privileged few, but recognising that educational and social inclusion only truly works when it accounts for all differences – including those that do not manifest as obvious difficulties. In several European countries this principle has already been translated into laws and school protocols; in Italy the process remains fragmented and dependent on individual teachers' sensitivity or individual families' financial resources, even though awareness is slowly growing.
Feed Their Minds seeks to fill this gap, turning a shared concern into practical tools: supporting those who live with these situations every day to read the signs, avoid hasty labels, and build, together, more appropriate learning environments.
