Maybe its just me but my general attitude is-- Who cares what people think and if they ask, then they get an answer. But alas, I am also the parent who has raised my daughter takes pride in her nerdy ways. So when people ask me what it is I tell them its basically the Doogie Howser society where she can meet other nerdy birdies like her (She has an angry birds cap that says nerdy birdy) and she will have opportunities to do things that she thinks is fun that other kids think is boring. For most people, that's enough and if they are really interested I give them a real explanation. The best thing you can do for your kid is to make the right kind of big deal out of things. Its a good big deal to be accepted into the Davidson Institute. Don't try to hide their accomplishment. You don't have to use the word gifted if they don't care for that term, but most schools recognize performance at high levels when it is thrown in front of their face.
I agree...I don't care what other people THINK. I do care how we are treated though. I am fortunate that our religious community very much supports learning. Really, it's the "right" response (IMHO) when hearing that there is a child who just loves to learn and do his thing. At DS school, the teachers and board of ed really do not like gifted children. They are all tied up in perceived issues about equality, opportunity and other issues. (The super sad part about this is that the low SES kids who are gifted and being literally starved - educationally - because of this attitude.) When I notified the principal that DS was accepted into DYS her response was, "fantastic! that's so exciting! you are so fortunate that you could afford the testing to find out if he was eligible. how wonderful it would be if many of our other gifted children could afford testing too." The staff enjoys actively ignoring gifted children. But not my kid now!
ugh
