How many kids enjoy school?

[PotMarigold]

DS has always found schoolwork hard. Now moved to a junior school, still he never says he enjoys school. Friends report their kids are really enjoying their new schools. Is it just that he finds it hard or should I think about whether the school suits?

DD-yr3 loves it absolutely.
DS-yr5 & DS-yr1 generally hate it .
Notice the gender divide? Can't help but wonder about that.

As a child, I hated primary with a passion and loved secondary with an equal passion. I still look back on my secondary days now and think of how much I enjoyed just about everything about it.

So it was a shock when DD1 loved primary but not secondary! Then, DD2 was a bad fit for school from the start - after 3 years I took her out and home educated her and we've never looked back. Weirdly, I think she might quite enjoy secondary if she could find her niche, but she's happy as she is so we are staying with home ed.

DD1 joined her in the home ed after a year at the same secondary I went to. It was quite hard taking her out when I had loved it so much and had thought she would be so happy there - but I had to tell myself that she isn't me, IYSWIM, and I think happiness is so important.

DS loves school, its the kids he doesn't like

I liked primary (all 4 of them), expat dc

I didn't much like secondary most of the time (3 different ones and I could have done without them all for the most part)

Thanks everyone, it is reassuring to hear there are so many different reactions to school. DS hardly ever talks about school day but I assumed that is a 'boy thing' rather than a sign he hates school! I hadn't thought about maybe worrying about being in a big group, I will explore that further...

We did an evaluation at the end of last term and part of it was asking the 58 children in the year group to write on post-its what they hadn't enjoyed. Over half of them said there was nothing they hadn't enjoyed, with others citing the odd topic they hadn't liked.
However, there was one little girl who wrote 'everything', and, on clarification (with hope in my heart that she'd misunderstood the question), she confirmed that she hadn't enjoyed one thing that we'd done! You win some, you lose some, eh?!

(I was quite sad about this, because this particular child never looks like she's unhappy, so she must be holding it all in! Aaah.)

HeavyMetal,
I feel exactly the same about school - My dd would also prefer to stay at home and I still have to wait and see how my ds (now 3) takes it when he goes.

In general, all the 'hates' you have are also my concerns, although not sure whether I would use 'hate' for all of them. I do not believe Home education is an option for everybody -it almost goes against the spirit of home ed. or unschooling.

I know that rationally, the institutionalisation of human beings -at any age- is not the way I conceive a perfect life. But it is never about perfection, is it? (...except for 'perfect' mothers that is)

In my case, I love my job and can hardly see myself giving it up to keep kids at home. More important: I am not a native speaker, we are a multicultural, multiracial, multinational family. The things I like the least about school provide my children with all the things I would not be able to offer myself: an identity, a sense of belonging, the 'standarisation'...

But no, in general terms, my dd is not really enjoying school so far.