children home for lunch

[happierhigherstrongerwheezing]

My Ds is due to start school next week but only mornings.

However, I was talking to his reception teacher about when he eventually goes full time, I'd like to take him home for lunch. I've got another LO, so it's not as if I'm tied to the house or need to be in work.

I live next door to the school so picking him up wouldn't be a problem.

His reception teacher thought that taking him home was a no-no.apparently it's part of the school ethos that the eat together like a community.

I never had school dinners or packed lunch until I was in senior school and walked to my Gm's for lunch which was about 10 minutes away.

Does anyboby have meals at home anymore or do schools like to keep a close eye on what children are eating these days?

For the short time ds was in a primary, I collected him. He was bullied, and this mainly happened at lunch time so I told them that he'd have lunch at home. It worked out quite well. It's your child, you should be able to bring him home if that's what you want.

If you want to bring him home then do that. They can't make you leave him there for lunchtime. I have occasionally done this if my dc have been ill and are still at that worn out stage of recovering so that they can have a rest in the middle of the day. We also live next door to the school.

I did wonder whether it was a new healthy eating policy that schools had endorsed etc or whether it was my right to take him home if I wanted to.

I thought as well he might like to use our toilets!

In my dds school you are 'allowed' to take them home for lunch but no-one does. They do a lot of playing and making friends over lunch so to take him away from that may not benefit him.

It's absolutely your right to have home lunch - that is why there is afterrnoon registration.

Wish I'd done it with my DS in the early days when he used to say that that the school day was too long

As a teacher I think it's a bit selfish of you, lunchtime is a time for him to form friendships and learn other social skills through unstructured play. You would also be setting him out as different in the eyes of the other children and thus making him prone to other children picking on him.

I'd be more bothered about the missing of unstructured play with friends, and the socialisation aspects. Of course you should be free to take him home, but be very aware of the possible consequences. You do sound as if you are going to struggle with letting him go, and grow into a schoolchild. Is he a late summer-born?

I do agree that he will miss out on making friends if you take him out at lunch time.

Could you not see what he thinks about lunch times when he starts and keep impartial about it?

Not so much the other children picking on him as excluding him because he's not around when they play without close supervision.

Friendships are formed in the playground. I wouldn't deny my DS this without very good reason.

I think taking him home for lunch is being a bit unfair on him tbh.

Agree - your child, your choice.

But I'd be careful about the toilets thing - he does need to be able to use a communal toilet without worrying or thinking it might be a problem - if he already has a problem, then you would be reinforcing this and it could get worse. Speaking as one with children who wouldnt go all day and would run into the loo the minute they walked thru the door every afternoon....

Now that is is the norm for kids to stay at a school at lunchtime I would be very wary of taking a child out

At our primary school it's a time for the ages to mix, the reception kids get lots of attention from the older children

Play leaders in year5 & 6 arrange group games for the younger ones to join in

They eat with their friends and have a chance to bond away from the class room

I am old (!) and throughout my primary education went home for lunch, which was not considered unusual back then. I remember that i often used to go back to school once I had eaten so I could join in with the "playing" part of lunchtime. If my dad was home for lunch too, then i would get back just in time for lessons!
Best of both worlds.

Please let him stay for lunch.

My mum did exactly that when I was in primary- collected me and took me home for lunch as we lived in the next road from school. She genuinely felt that she was doing something nice for me, but in truth I never really made many friends until I started staying for lunch in the last couple of years of juniors. I definitely agree with the comments that it will mark him out as being 'different' to the other children.

I think that kids are very sensitive to wanting to please their Mums and even if they would rather be making friends would never say to their mum to spare their feelings.

YR children usually get lots of looking after from staff in the dinner hall too :)

I agree with other posters about the time to play and make friends. My dd's school sits them at mixed age tables, and encourages the older ones to help the reception and younger children. She's made friends with older girls as well as those in her class, and it was very evident at sports day how well the children mixed and looked after the younger ones.

I went home for lunch and loved it throughout junior school, I could have gone back to play with the others after eating and I remember my mum suggesting this many times, but I never did. I liked the break from school and being able to play what I wanted to. But it must be said I have always been a bit of a loner. I sent DS all day as I wanted him to socialise more and thought lunch and play with classmates might help. It didn't. DS is much like me, prefers his own company and spends lunchtimes by himself in a playground full of children. He is quite happy about this though, but very clear that he prefers his own games and company. He is now going into yr 5 and has been the same from yr r onwards. I don't think taking your DS home for lunch or not will make much difference socially, especially in eyfs and ks1, but your child's nature will.