Dealing with Kids who Hate Going to School
It’s rare to find a child that truly loves school, but few kids hate it. Some, unfortunately, dislike it so much that sometimes they downright refuse to go. These kids can be tough to deal with, so here are some tips.
1. Make it positive – Children take from our behaviors all the time. In fact, they learn from our actions more than from our words. Every time you speak about school, do so positively. Your kids don’t have to go to school, they get to go. Don’t refer to it as an obligation (“If I have to go to work, you have to go to school”) but as a privilege (“I wish I were still in school; it’s much better than working”).
2. Figure out what they don’t like – Often the problem is much smaller than your child makes it out to be. If they struggle in math, but it’s the first subject of the day, their anxiety and frustration can make the whole experience painful. Maybe they just need extra math help to feel more confident about their day.
3. Try a new teacher – Most teachers try very hard to remain professional and connect with every student, but sometimes there isn’t much that can be done with a personality conflict or teaching style. A teacher can’t change everything they do for a class just for one student. It’s worth looking into a teacher change if that’s possible.
4. Examine social reasons – School isn’t just about learning. Well, it is, but not just book learning. Children learn how to behave in a social environment as well. If your child is having trouble with friends (or making friends at all), those challenges can bleed into other aspects of school. Their grades might slip or they may just hate the entire experience. Helping your child make friends is tough, however. You can’t do it for them. Try to help put them in situations near like-minded kids.
5. Look for bullying – If your child is being bullied by another student, they might find the experience humiliating and won’t talk to you about it. “I hate school” is easier to tell mom and dad than “Someone is being so mean to me that I can’t walk in those doors again.” Look for signs that your child is being tormented by a peer.
6. Speak with the teacher – Other than your own child, your best place for insight is his/her teacher. The teacher might be able to shed some light on why your child just hates school. Maybe they are working with a challenging topic or their grades are beginning to slip or they were recently isolated from their social clique. Sometimes your child won’t tell you these issues, so you have to get them from another source.
Also read: Getting Organized for Back to School
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Written by Stephanie Parker from Sleepingbaby.com, inventors of the Zipadee-Zip
The motto for Sleeping Baby, makers of the Zipadee-Zip, is: "Inspiring Dreams One Night at A time," and that, in a nutshell, is how it all started…with one little dream that has since become the Parker family's reality. When Brett and Stephanie Parker's daughter, Charlotte, was born, the feeling that welled up inside of them was indescribable; they never realized until first looking into those baby blues of hers that they were even capable of that kind of love.
When it was time to transition baby from swaddling, the Parkers tried every sleep sack on the market and every swaddle weaning trick they could find for nearly two weeks and nothing worked to get baby Charlotte to fall and stay asleep.
Stephanie became determined to restore sleep and sanity to their household and set out to find a solution that would soothe Charlotte's startle reflex and provide her the cozy womb-like environment she loved so much but still give her the freedom to roll over and wiggle around in her crib safely. Out of sheer desperation and exhaustion, the Zipadee-Zip was born. The first Zipadee-Zip(R) Stephanie put together on her little sewing machine worked like magic!
To date tens of thousands of Zipadee-Zips have been sold and all from word-of-mouth marketing. It is so rewarding for the Parkers to see other parents and babies getting the sleep they both need and deserve!
Interested in writing a guest blog for Sleeping Baby? Send your topic idea to pr@sleepingbaby.com.
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