Is it usual for summer born boys to dislike school in Reception?

[Lily7050]

Spring term has just started but it is already a struggle to get my son to school. He is often in tears in the morning and we count days till Saturday. Is it just age thing or shall I look for another school?

You'll get loads of different opinions but one thing if you wanted to consider it is to speak to your local authority about pulling him out for this year, restart reception next year when he's 5 instead of 4.

There is a Facebook page "flexible admissions for summerborns" if you're interested at all, totally appreciate it's not for everyone for a huge variety of reasons 🙂

All the best whatever you decide!

Summer born DS has been keen to go school his entire life.

I'm also summer born and have always loved school.

It might be something else rather than relative age...

My DS is in Year 1 and seems to struggle going to school in winter. The darkness and cold really bothers him.

Could it be that your son just doesn't like winter? (Rather than it being an age thing).

Impossible for us to tell you. Speak to his teacher for their thoughts/advice.

Ds1 is summer born. Loves school, has always loved school and will not have a day off unless really really poorly. However he was a bit confused after the Christmas holidays in his reception year as he thought he had 'done' school.

Ds2 is a spring baby. Loved school although he did struggle and found 'lock down' so much easier

Ds 3 is summer born. Has never wanted to go to school, never wanted to leave me at baby and toddlers , cried when left at pre school, took a term to be happy walking in in reception and even now in year 9 regularly has reasons why he should not go to school.

with my ds it is definitely personality which influences their views on school.

I have a summer born DS who started reception this year. He loves school and is making good progress.

As others have said, it could be a personality reason rather than an age issue , although it is not uncommon for summer born children to take longer to settle and get used to school life.

I think it very much depends on the dc. My ds and another dc have bdays one week apart....both started school age three 8:10am-3pm. My ds was fine always. But the other dc cried daily for a while. Some dc are more prone to crying for whatever reason. My youngest when she started nursery age 3 she was fine to go in, but would cry at the sight of me at pick up for the first 6 months....like she got so emotional and wanted to run right to me, but teachers made them stand in line and wait until they were called to go (torture for her!)

Thanks everyone. After posting here and on other forums I think I understand what I am looking for. I will start a new thread.

My son is in seniors. Summer born and still cries every day going to school xx

It will more likely be a personality thing rather than anything else. I wouldn't automatically assume it's the wrong school for him based on this. Some children do find separation hard regardless of gender or age (although many do improve as the year goes on, simply as they get more use to it, but it's not necessarily a summer born vs autumn born thing). Honestly, it's quite normal 2 terms in for some children to still cry every morning at drop off. Especially this time of year with the dark, freezing cold mornings. I could cry at the thought of going to work at this time of year so I totally understand how hard it must be for a 4 year old to get up and out during what feels like the middle of the night! As hard as it is on you, it can often he out of habit more than anything else too, especially if they know it gets a reaction. The enter the school grounds, the tears automatically come. It can be a really hard habit to break too.

Have you spoken to his teacher about how quickly he settles and how he copes emotionally throughout the day etc? Do you see photos on Tapestry or the like of him enjoying school? Has he ever mentioned why he cries/what it is he doesn't like etc? It feels a big leap to assume it's this school in particular and consider moving him unless you are sure it's the school themselves which is causing the problem. If anything, a child struggling to regulate emotionally needs consistency and moving them could unsettle them further.

Obviously you know your child better than anyone else though. Did he go to nursery? What was he like there when you did drop off?