Granted it's only his third session (on Monday) and he's 5 weeks away from being 4 but he's already saying "I don't want to go to school on Monday" and last week I carried him (objecting vociferously) into the classroom. I have stayed with him for 2 x 3hour sessions and very gradually he will leave my side and start joining in activities. He doesn't look to me for approval when he joins in a game or follows teachers instructions, in other words he joins in fully once he decides to join in. I just sit as quietly as I can, not engaging with him but being there for reassurance. I am not worried about his ability to get on (eventually) but I am wondering if there's anything I could do to make this transition easier. He has never been looked after by other than me or his dad or his big sister and (I now realise) has never mixed with kids his own age before apart from in the playground a few times. I don't want to leave him there crying nor am I looking for absolution from him about leaving him there but if I felt he was happy to be left I would do so. I had this same problem with his sister and she never improved until she went to big school. I suppose I feel a bit of a failure as a mother as younger children skip along in without a backward glance. I have asked him to think about WHY he "doesn't like school" but he says he doesn't know why not and he talks about wanting friends so I explain that school is where he'll make friends and that's where his sister met her friends.Of course it's not obligatory to make him go but I feel that he will benefit from it (as will I!) and he will make friends which he really wants. Any advice for me would be most welcome!
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