makemineaginandtonic Mon 23-Nov-09 15:58:29
My DD is 4 and started reception in September. She previously successfully attended play school and the nursery attached to the school and was always well behaved. However, now she won't sit on the carpet at quiet time. The teachers used a sad face on the board technique (I know this is contraversial) and it has now progressed to her having her own "smiley face" chart to be used throughout the day.
Neither seem to have had any effect.
I feel sorry for her that she has had to start school as one of the youngest in the class (july baby) and can't help thinking that surely it doesn't matter that, after 1 term at school, she is still finding it difficult to sit quietly for a long period of time. Now it seems the entire focus of going to school is the smiley face chart and "being good" rather than "naughty". THis seems entirely wrong for this stage of her education and I am worried it is going to put her off school forever and get her labelled as disruptive.
Has anyone else been through this or got any ideas of how to help her settle in?
makemineaginandtonic Tue 23-Feb-10 18:11:38
My daughter is exactly the same. She is a july baby and so also one of the youngest in her class. She finds it very difficult to sit still on the carpet and copies other disruptive children. She grins at the teacher when she gets told off! I find it hard to deal with too. One half of me is cross with my daughter for not toeing the line and the other half is horrified that they are trying to break her spirit at age 4.5!!
I have read a book called The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses (even the title made me feel better!), and although it goes to extremes and is really about ADHD it has made me realise that my daughter is normal and that it is not necessarily normal to expect at 4 year to sit quietly!
It is tricky to deal with though if the school sees it as being a very negative thing. My daughter sits on a coloured spot which helps and other children are allowed to hold a toy to help them concentrate. Being allowed to perform a special task or play with a special toy if she does sit quietly works for her too. Maybe you could suggest them at your school.
I just make sure I let my daughter know that i love her and that as long as she is trying her best that is ok with me
makemineaginandtonic Tue 01-Dec-09 16:50:38
Well unexpectedly there is a place available at another nearby school, so I have decided to move DD. Deciding factor was on collection on Monday when the teacher described her behaviour during the day as "not perfect" within her earshot, despite having all smiley faces for the day apart from PE. I find their negative focus on small non academic misdemeanours quite worrying.
At the new school she will also have the option to do half days for another term due to being a summer baby. I think this suit her much better.
Thanks for all your comments
