My dd is in yr1 at school and has had quite an unhappy year. At the beginning of the year all the classes were mixed and she has been quite unsettled compared with her reception year as most of her close friends are in other classes now.
The classroom assistant has had to talk to me a couple of times this term about her pushing and hitting fellow classmates which is very unlike her and I need some help. She knows it is wrong to hurt other people and I have withdrawn priveledges (bad spelling!)/so has the school , but she is so unhappy it makes me so sad.
I think tiredness is a factor as well as when she has not been sleeping well her patience is thin and she is more prone to lashing out than dealing in a correct way with her anger.
I have had a good chat today to try to find out what is making her so angry that she lashes out. Key provokes are:
- two particular girls who poke out tongues/ pull silly faces;
- Those two particular girls getting her into trouble or telling lies (beacuse now she has been in troiuble a few times the teacher assistant doesn;t believe her when she says she didn't do it)
- People pushing in the line/on the mat at school
We have both tried to come up with ideas of what to do if she does feel angry as follows:
- ignore people who pull silly faces;
- ask people politely to stop kicking/pushing me/pulling faces;
- tell the teacher (although it sounds like the class is a right lot of tell-tales and not sure whether they would believe her if she did tell)
- avoid standing/sitting next to two main provokers
- at lunchtimes concentrate on playing with good friends and avoid those who make you angry/annoy you
- If you feel really angry try and count to 10 very slowly in your head
I would love to hear of any other ideas/help you may be able to suggest - am so sad that she is not happy at school and lashing out at other people.