Glad to hear that the program is full time. That really makes it much easier in my opinion. He'll be going to school - period. Just that the school will be more interesting... Remember, this is 2nd grade we're talking about - the teaching is geared to this age group and there will be art, music, and all sorts of discovery activities. It's early, so he'll make friends easily - rather than later when 'cliques' form after being together for years. Also, starting earlier in the program means there won't be gaps later (in knowledge, skills, etc.).

[My perspective: I too needed my time after school to decompress... But having gone through a G&T program starting from 1st grade (built into our standard public school system in PA) I can say that my gifted classes were far and away the more interesting/stimulating. I still vividly remember some of the "projects" we had in those early classes. Another important point is that I related better to these class mates than to others - we had similar family support and social goals (such as going to college/grad school, level of careers, etc.). The differences between these classmates and my friends not in the gifted program were extreme... but that's a symptom of a much larger problem in the US. ]