Very angry 6 year old.

[Nellsbells11]

My six year old son is kicking off big style about school. He’s very able, can read pretty much anything at any level and is particularly able in Maths. School say they can’t challenge him enough in Maths. His teacher says he’s the brightest 6 year old he’s ever taught. The issue now is that he’s refusing to go to school, this started off about a year ago by him just sitting down and refusing to move. At 5 I could pick him up and carry him in if all else failed but he’s getting too big now. His behaviour has escalated to him kicking the out of everything on the way to school, ( ie my car, front door, other people’s walls, bus stops !) He has always been very strong willed but is fine at home otherwise, often quite a sweet and sensitive little boy. His problem is with school. He says he hates the school work, especially maths. Im worries about his behaviour and also worried that he’s having such a negative experience of school at such a young age. It’s going to be important to sort this behaviour before he get bigger and less manageable. What can I do ? Does anyone have any similar experiences. Also has anyone used a tutor to offer a bit more challenge and where do I go to find one. Thanks for your help.

What sirfred and Twofishfingers said. I would go deeper into this. I arrived at school a fluent reader and found the whole first term was learning the alphabet, but I don't recall it causing this level of anxiety. Surely there must be other times of his life when he is bored for half an hour: it's a pretty common experience for children? Does he get as anxious over that?

It is clear that you do need to speak to the teacher, but I would go in with an open mind, concentrate on his unhappiness, and prepared to consider the maths as one factor.

Talk to the teacher and ask them if they want you to provide extra maths work for him to do. If not (and they won’t!) then ask what they will do to challenge him. Saying they can’t challenge a 6 yo in maths is a stupid comment to make, because most schools just supplement with primary / secondary school level maths instead!

I really doubt his behaviour is cause by being bored with maths at school. My initial thought was that he probably hates the attention and focus that is heaped on him with regards to maths. He probably feels pressured and is now resisting it.

It almost everything at school is about him and his maths ability he will feel that school is a pressure cooker.