Wednesday, September 2, 2015

We got the tail wagging the dog

Well the saga continues.  My daughter just called me and said today the childcare bus dropped off her problem student.  Total meltdown again.  This time he threw chairs and was really going to town.  The teacher's aide had to remove him from the class and dodge his blows.  They finally ended up in the principal's office.

Since this is pre-k for the younger child my daughter and I both think he is just not ready for school.  Since pre-k is not required I asked if she could talk to the parents about waiting another year before sending him to school.  She said she already had that conversation but they wouldn't hear of it.  Mom doesn't even work but she doesn't want him at home with her.  He already goes to daycare in the morning and then to school for 2 1/2 hours in the afternoon.  Good grief. 

My daughter told me the older brother was the same way the year she had him in pre-k and he is still a problem.  I think he is in 3rd grade and this is only the 3rd week of school and he was suspended today.  Wow!

I think teachers have their hands tied anymore and very few options available to them.  At another school where my daughter taught she had a child that constantly acted out spitting on her.  She wanted to use a time-out room and was told she couldn't because that would be considered isolation.  The principal told her to wear a raincoat...........

I wouldn't teach today for any amount of money!

2 comments:

Olga said...

Wow. Well, I understand why the mother wants respite but this is yet another failing of the mental health system in my view.

Deb said...

I'm betting those kids are eating nothing but processed food and sugar. Our kids couldn't tolerate dyes or artificial flavourings, and still can't even now as adults. Neither can their dad. Our older son and his dad have Restless Leg Syndrome so badly they can't sleep if they get into artificial colours/flavours or sugar. The younger one has severe ADHD. As a child he cried and acted out non-stop (our neighbour called him 'The Devil's Child!) until we discovered it was food dyes causing his tantrums. He's now in his 40s and he still can't focus enough to work unless he eats a sugar and additive free diet.