Is ds1 being bored at school or is there something else happening?

[Pitchounette]

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Ds2 (now 5yrs) went through something similar last year. He went from being very keen on pre-school to asking virtually every day if he could stay home instead because it was boring. It seems to be a fairly common thing for children (particularly the older ones like your ds) to become bored with the whole thing. By now most will have been there for 2 years and it can become a case of 'been there, done that'.

If your ds' nursery has worked with the Reception class in the past then I would've thought it would be fairly easy for them to give him something a little more challenging to do. It doesn't have to mean jumping ahead but more like moving sideways IYSWIM. Open-ended activities were popular with ds2 as he was able to take them further if he wanted to.

Ds2's behaviour was a nightmare when all this was happening. It was a little more complicated for us as ds2 also has AS and so he really needed the social side of pre-school. The last couple of months of the summer term were pretty rough at times but for us it was a case of riding it out until pre-school finished.

It might be that your ds is concentrating on behaving at nursery and then letting it all out when he gets home. This also seems to be the time of year when tiredness seems to start setting in, and that too might be affecting your ds' behaviour.

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My gut feeling is
A) he's 4, 4 is tough on parents.
B) he's very ready for school, all the ways it will extend him.
C) he's normal (mother of 3 boys here, so I must be wise, HarHarHar...)

personally, I don't think 'letting anger out' is the right approach. I recently read something I've long suspected, if you hit a pillow to get your anger out it doesn't make you less angry, it gets you worked up.

Anyway, I would make sure he's fed frequently enough, and try to make sure he's tired out in a relaxed way, but not over-tired (very tricky balance, i find).

It doesn't happen to be s'th like all his friends happened to be in the other half of the group that he now doesn't get to see? Which combined with no new input would drive any LO up the wall...

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I think at this point in the term, everyone starts pushing at the limits tbh. In the infants playground - suddenly the Y2 children look HUGE and everyone thinks 'god, they're too big to be here, they should be with the Juniors.'

In some ways it's good. He's ready for the next step - as you'd want him to be at this stage in the term.

It's not much longer. I doubt he's grumpy because he's not being intellectually challenged. I expect he's a bit bored, ready for something new, probably tired and pretty much ready for half term.

They do get grumpy when they come out of school. Ride it out. I think it just shows he's ready for the next stage - and that will come soon enough.

I suspect your instinct about sport is a good one, too. I have a highly strung child and if he doesn't run about for a good hour each day he's a nightmare. Hunger is another trigger factor so a snack when you pick him up from school might also help...

what ahundred said.

My ds was very nervous this time last yr (he had started reception in January 2007), mainly because he was having problems with some of his peers. The effort to adapt to other children seemed stronger than the effort to adapt to school.

I'm also personally not sure about being bore for a lack of academic challenges.
We moved back to Italy in December, so ds has been moved back to another 6 months of nursery school... he seems fine, he loves singing

bored

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Oh bless. I wish ds was so curious about reading and writing... I hope he'll be all right starting primary in September (it's more formal here).

I think they also get really tired at this time of the year... and ds is the same, has never ever volunteered any information about his day. Maybe it's a man's thing

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Yes, it's not right, plus we'd really want them to be happy the whole time .
Is he all right with his friends? As I said, ds had a very hard time adjusting to friendship's dynamics last year, and he seemed very unhappy for a while.

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How about introducing him to other things, like magnets? My ds was similar towards the end of the summer term, to the point that his deputy head (he went to day care with nursery provision included IYSWIM) pulled me to oe side because he had totally regressed in what he would do, from doing copy writing he wasnt even writing over words etc. Soon as he got to school he flew ahead again. But at the same time he became very interested in magnets (especially magnetix/geomag etc) and we spent hours at home stretching him with them, what was/wasnt magnetic, creating various things with magnetix. So rather than teaching him stuff that will be coming up, do something else which will stretch him without leaving him bored again next year,

Sorry if sounds preachy, I dont mean it like that, just that it may be better to let him explore something he wont be learning next year

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