Thread: Need help with a crying kindergartener! *sobbing*

Originally Posted by Chrissy13

Where in PA are you?? Cause I'm in PA also and in my county if they are 5 than they HAVE to go to school..now if they turn 5 a little after school starts than they have to wait till there 6 but other wise if they are 5 before school they need to go to school..I never heard of kids going to kindergarten when they are 8

Are you saying if your child is 5 when school starts the parent can not chose to wait a year if they do not feel their child is ready? One of my neighbors kids (who is 12 now) was a June baby and startd K when he was 5. He struggled from the start. Every year they recommended the parents hold him back, she would bust her butt each summer trying to catch him up, but finally held him back.... but not until 5th grade. School is hard enough and so much more is expected to be be learned at an earlier age I would absolutely throw the mother of all fits if I had to send my child to school if I felt it was inn the childs best interest to wait a year.

All kids are different. My daughter is an April baby, started school at 5 and has never had a problem, but she was more than ready and always loved to learn. But that not all children.

Originally Posted by Chrissy13

Where in PA are you?? Cause I'm in PA also and in my county if they are 5 than they HAVE to go to school..now if they turn 5 a little after school starts than they have to wait till there 6 but other wise if they are 5 before school they need to go to school..I never heard of kids going to kindergarten when they are 8

I live in Schuylkill County. They may have changed that starting at age 8.
My kids started school in the 80's. So it has been almost 20 years.
Both of my kids started at age 5 but I held my daughter back in kindergarten. She wasn't ready for first grade.

I could be wrong here... Could he be crying now for the attention?(my son does stuff like this, he likes the attention, whether it be good or bad) I would honestly not make such a big deal of it.(I know this is hard) but the more of a REACTION he gets from you, the longer it is going to take for him to stop doing it. Just ignore it.(I know easier said than done) He may just stop on his own.

I'm sorry you're having such a hard time. Nothing rips a mother's heart more than seeing her child unhappy. One of my sons had to repeat kindergarten (yes, kindergarten) because he wasn't ready...he didn't mind going he just wasn't prepared to learn and did not learn 1 thing that year. My youngest is in 2nd grade, and we have a routine every night where we discuss what she did, go over any homework, and read a book. Maybe something to look forward to at night, incorporating what's gone on during the day, will help him overcome his separation anxiety. He can be the "teacher" and you can be his "student" and you can role play a bit. Best of luck to you. ((((((((hugs)))))))))

LOL Let me see if I can answer everyone's questions. First off he is actually one of the older kids in the class, he will be 6 next month. There is no one else to take him to school and the bus is out of the question. Unfortunately there is only one entrance to the school this year which is on the Jr. high side, then the kids have to walk though the gym to get to the cafeteria which is in the same building as my son's classroom. With so many older kids going through the gym there is no way I would let him go through there by himself in the mornings....on average there are about 100 kids of mixed grades going through there each morning.
Some days he cries for just a few minutes and then other days he cries most of the day and every once in a while he doesn't cry at all. Thankfully so far it hasn't interfered with what he is suppose to be learning. His teacher told me that he has mastered everything that has been covered up to this point.....at least that's one bright point to focus on lol.
I'm thinking that it's possible that he hasn't really made friends yet and it seems the teachers don't care much for going out to recess. I'm going to speak to the teachers and find out exactly what they do during the day and ask what fun things they do such as recess, activity period etc. If there isn't anything but work all day he will never be excited about going to school. I know that they didn't go to recess at all last week which to me is unacceptable. Why do we have playground equipment if the kids aren't going to be taken to the playground each day? Anyhow thanks for all the advice. I'm going to speak with his teacher this afternoon and set up a parent/teacher conference with her to see if we can't figure out exactly what is going on.

Would it be possible to arrange a beginning of school party for the kids in his class? Nothing big or expensive, maybe potluck style at a local park on a Saturday. Get to know the kids in his class on a less formal, structured basis. Maybe if he gets to know the kids in his class he will be less likely to cry.

Aww, I'm sorry he is having a hard time leaving you and going to school. My oldest son was so easy and he loved school, Harley seems ready and begs to go but we will see how that works out when he has to go. Courtney is to little to really know how she will react but I pray all of mine do good and don't cry on me. I was the one standing and crying when Chris went to school and he was happy go lucky. lol

I am glad you are going to meet with his teacher.

I hate to say the word but could someone be bullying him? That's long time for a child to still be crying. I would definately check out that possibility.

does your son have any phobias? i ask because mine has one of bugs...

one lil ant in the classroom makes him spastic and nuts... teacher thought he was being disruptive on purpose... i had to tell her noooo he really hates bugs...

teachers arent mindreaders... and kids arent talkative when they should be (ah but theyll talk about your loose cousin who shouldnt be wearing white)
the meeting is a great idea....

ask your son to draw a picture of why he cries... that may help you play detective...


ah motherhood... its a profession all its own..
detective
doctor
nurse
teacher
seamstress
taxi driver
etc..