Bean cried herself to sleep after day one of the fifth grade, it broke my heart but what can you do? I'd really like an answer to this question. How do you convince a child that it's going to get better when in reality it may not? The first words out of her mouth Tuesday morning were, "I don't want to go to school anymore." Great.
Problem #1: Bean HAS to go to school whether she likes it or not because I'm a lousy teacher. The truth is I hated formal schooling from kindergarten all the way through college [1 year]. I was bored to tears, put as little effort into it as needed to maintain by A-B status and was greatly relieved when I was offered a management position with the company I was working for so I could avoid going back to college. I love to learn about things hands-on and love to teach the same way. I find teaching [in a classroom setting] just as tedious as learning so I'm in awe of anyone who can honestly say they love being a teacher. Bravo to you, my niche is mom and daycare provider and student of the learn as you go program.
Problem #2: Tomorrow isn't always a better day but you have to suck it up and move on. We lie to our kids and tell them "tomorrow will be better", but what if it's not? What if it's worse? I avoided telling Bean 'the lie' and concentrated on helping her solve some of the problems she was having the first day. Alot of what she was worrying about could've been solved by communicating with the teacher. So SPEAK UP, ASK QUESTIONS! If you aren't sure where a paper goes ask, if it's still unclear ask again, and again if necessary. When a teacher gives you directions, WRITE THEM DOWN, don't rely on your memory, there's to much going on and you may forget the details.
Problem #3: Bean's exact words here, "I feel like a preschooler who got put in a seventh grade classroom, I don't know anything." Think she was a little overwhelmed the first day? Yeah me too. I try to put things into perspective for Bean because she tends to over think situations and puts herself in a panic. The teacher told them they'd be held after school in detention for half an hour if they got to many "punches" on their responsibility cards. Bean's freaking out, "What if I get to many punches? What happens if I get detention to many times? How will I get home from school if I miss the bus?" Realistically that's not in Bean's future, she's a perfectionist and completely anal about following rules. I calmed her down and went over the last few years of school with her pointing out that she's NEVER had any sort of disciplinary problem and it wasn't likely to start now. Man am I exhausted I'm going to bed. Bye for now. T.