Hi Moms,
My son is soon to be 5 next month. He has the same childcare provider for 4 years. His behavior at school is that he is not doing the work or he is slow about doing it. He then hurrys and do it when they are going to due something fun. I talk to him about his behavior he just says he is bored and he wants to just go to kindergarten. He has been in the pre-k class since he was 3. I know alot of the work he already can do. He can write and spell his name he is reading words and he knows his letters, numbers, shapes,etc. I have spoken to the teachers they are telling me that they are giving him others things to do but he sees it as the same things he already worked on and we also work at home. I don't know what to do. He still has about 6 weeks to go. But most days when I pick him up I am hearing about the same things. I don't know what to do how do I get him to follow the things there and what else do I tell the teachers about work he could be doing.
Sorry it's is so long.
Thanks for the ideas. Christy thanks for the idead about the reward chart i had thought about that but i was not sure about. But that I am Going to try starting for neek week at school.
That is good advice from the other poster to go to teacher supply stores. A child also has to learn that they still have to do what the class is doing and then something extra. Even though the child feels they "know it already"(mine is five already and the same scenereo), they still need practice. Sometimes it helps my daughter to help another student i.e.)with their letters, shapes, etc.
I think I recall a similar post recently about the same thing, try to search the posts as she got a lot of responses if I recall. It sounds to me like your son is cognitively very ahead, but there is more the preschool than just the cognitive part. He needs to learn to follow direction from others even if he doesn't want to. That is a big part of preschool that parents often overlook. There is a social piece that is huge as well. Your son needs to learn that sometimes people have to do things that they don't want to do, but that is how school is. What I would do is try to lighten up on the educational stuff at home. It sounds like he is tired of doing it, and since he already knows it just let it be. If he wants to do it, then be there for him and do it. If not, just let him do what he wants. Maybe this will help. Then, try to talk to him about listening to his teachers at school. Try to rent videos from the library, or books about going to school. There are tons out there, and that may help him understand that doing things he already knows happens but he needs to do them. Also, don't try to tell the teachers how to do their job. I know that sounds harsh, but they have seen it before where kids don't want to do an activity because they already know it. There are many kids who are cognitively advanced for their age in preschool, just as there are many kids who are socially advanced for their age. All kids have strengths and weaknesses, and preschool teachers know how to deal with these things. They can't make up special lesson plans just for your son, and they shouldn't because your son needs to learn how to cope with boredom for grade school. The grade schools, from what I understand, do a good job of trying to keep all kids advancing regardless of cognitive level, but he will always need to do some repetitive things. At home, try to set up a reward system/chart for him where he gets rewarded if he comes home from school and his teachers don't talk to you about him acting up. Praise him a ton if this happens as well. Then, remind him before going into school about his reward system if he sits good and does all the work without complaining to the teachers. Also, try to get him to do that stuff at home as practice. Then, teach him how to handle himself when he is bored. Good luck!
He is bored. Ask the teachers to give him extra work or special tasks to do in the classroom. If they won't make up your own work, books to read, or workbooks and send it to school with him. Teacher supply stores have great stuff that you could choose from.
Helping with another child to learn what he/she already knows is brilliant, and is one of the foundation methods of Montessori. They recognise self-mastery through this, and learn inner sense of gratifcation through self-less service.
However, to get your teacher to participate in this???
He does sound bored, poor guy! I'm sure he will just take-off in Kindergarten! Maybe introduce new chores and projects (non school related) at home to help stimulate his mind and get back into discovery mode.
Best wishes, K.
