I don't have to.
I live in one of those areas that it is possible that at least 30% of kids in a class is at least mildly gifted. I also work with people with Ph.D in fields that is highly quantitative. So I assume most of my friends' kids are at least MG until proven otherwise.
Now, PG or EG is another matter. Those are still rare. But they all have parents who are super aware, I have yet to run into a case that I feel the need to point it out.
Very good point. I think it does indeed depend on where one is. Our area is very similar in that parents are highly educated (with a very high percentage holding advanced degrees), schools are considered among the best in the state, and many students would qualify for GT programs. We actually don't have any GT program and one of the reasons is that too many kids would qualify so it makes sense to use an alternative strategy which is for each and every teacher to offer in-classroom differentiation. But the result is pretty poor for a variety of reasons.
It also depends on the culture of each community. I hardly ever hear local parents mention the g word. We do talk a lot about how to "challenge" the kids and let them "develop their full potential" and "learn at their pace".
