And I guess I feel it with friends, too. the very existing is bragging thing. I have friends whose kids seem def. more able than mine, but the kids in question are happy in a way mine isn't, so I'm the one being all up in arms about things.
It turns out that MG (moderatly gifted, I guess with in about a half standard deviation of the cut of line) kids are much more able to 'do school' than kids who are farther out. Getting scores that qualify for Davidson YSP mean that he's got beyond what the test can accuratly measure, so he may be far above MG, or far,far,far above MG. Hard to know, but it sure makes a difference when trying to figure out what the teachers are asking for.
Then there is personality. Some of our little boys are affronted by the situations that they are placed in. They react to 'getting less praise than everyone else' with anger. This makes compliance with adults, or even trust of adults really really hard. Most teachers do want to hear from a kid that they need to earn that child's trust. I would say that my son started off being willing to trust but not being able to ignore reasons to withdraw trust. Then he just started with 'prove it to me.'
Anyway, please don't compare your kid to your friends kids and feel badly about yourself or your kid. Even if they just plain are better at fitting in, oh well, that's the challenge you have been handed.
((shrug))
Grinity
