Help me! Has anyone else had the same experience as me and would like to share some words of wisdom? I have a 7 year old boy in Grade 2 whom I have to FIGHT (literally) out the door to school pretty much everyday of his life. It is draining. For all of us. Some background - his original grad 2 teacher just exited on a mat leave. He had her last year as well. He got along well with her, though she had a very literacy intensive class and he was getting bored with reading and worksheets all day long. Not a lot of action there. So this did not just begin with the new teacher (a big fat jerk, to quote my son) but has, obviously, intensified.
Some of his concerns:
- school is boring (read: no activity. 1/2 an hour of gym class twice a week at this school. Not enough for boys by far. Recess often cancelled due to rain so inside time in classrooms playing games or finishing work. Yawn.)
- I hate reading. (He is very good at reading. Just sick of it.)
- I have no friends. (He gets along with everyone. I've never seen a kid invited to more birthday parties. He just doesn't have any special friends that he looks forward to seeing, and definitely never sees anyone outside of school hours.)
- All I do is sit in a desk all day. We never have hardly any center time. (translation: my teacher does not make learning fun or motivate me to figure things out in new ways.)
My concerns:
- my child hates learning. He already has a bad taste in his mouth for anything related to school or reading, which is a huge concern for boys anyhow. He's only in grade 2. Shouldn't school be fun? Encouraging? Exciting? Confidence boosting?
- it is upsetting our entire house. Tempers and frustration rule our morning hours and set the tone for the day. Madison is late for school everyday and that throws her completely off kilt and she suffers for it. I even started taking her, then coming home for him, but that just prolongs the agony and gives him another 1/2 hour of stall time.
- I am tired of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Great, happy, easy going kid on weekends, transitioning to the nightmare on elm street by Sunday evening or Monday morning.
- numerous excuses for why he should stay home
- I am tired of trying to threaten him into school. I think this just perpetuates the cycle and negates whatever feelings he has. Are we hitting the problem head on? Or are we skirting around real, big issues that he's not telling us?
I wish he would talk. I wish I had answers. I need to make an appointment with the principle. Maybe she has some suggestions. I need to meet this teacher. Three days into teaching and she hasn't even sent a note home letting us parents know her name. Can I say POOR COMMUNICATION/TRANSITION. For grade 2.
Anyway, just venting, but if anyone has any brilliant suggestions, please let me know.
p.s. Tammy - how's that homeschool going? I have never even considered it until this moment. I don't think I'd do a good job. I know I wouldn't. But I see now that sometimes you just can't fight anymore and the concern for your child's happiness and love of learning overrules convenience and prior prejudices. Arrrgh!
I would think a visit with the teacher would be a good place to start. Then on to the principal if you need to. Mom
ReplyDeleteHi! Funny I haven't been on here for awhile. Felt compelled to go on your blog tonight! Homeschooling is well homeschooling! There is good and not so good like everything else. For me the good still outweighs the crazy. Daniel went to grade 7 this year after homeschooling since grade 4. He is doing great and the problems he had before which prompted us to homeschool him in the first place seem to be gone. I'm still schooling Sam, Nate and Alex. We go between things going great and having awesome learning days to me wondering if I am completely crazy to try and be a teacher and a mom! I don't homeschool because I think the school will ruin my kids I homeschool because I decided that were a lot of benefits that were important to me and my family. I won't lie it is a lot of work but in the end I'm happy with the results. If you decide this is an option you want to consider just know why you are doing it. Sometimes it is a solution for a short period of time that just helps get things on track. I agree with your mom that your first stop should be the teacher. Maybe she or he will have some insights. Good luck, not the easiest of situations. I'll be praying for you all. Tammy
ReplyDelete