I got a phonecall from the school yesterday, and it was not a good one.
I hate to throw my child under the bus here for blog fodder, however I woke this morning and thought this was the best place for a discussion on adjustment. I do want to hear from those of you with children, and from those of you who may work in social work, or education.
My 6 year old (who loathes transition of any kind), has had a few sour days since starting his new school. Yesterday was the worst. He became very frustrated, and just could not be redirected. So a visit to the principles office ensued. As his mother, I think some of this is expected, but behaviors that impair others day are not OK with me. We were transient all summer, schlepping from relative to relative, and hotels. We have been in our home for about a month and a half. And of course with that goes "new school". We have went from 80 students at the old school to a whopping 700 in the new school. Big adjustments, all sorts of them.
We have tried to make the adjustment as painless as possible, but I forgot what it is like to be 6, feel small, and in a new place.
I sent the teacher an e-mail this morning, with a suggestion that we communicate how the day went in a notebook that will stay in his backpack. I have asked her to communicate how the day was with either a red,yellow, or green check. I also asked her to explain if anything out of the ordinary happens.
A part of me feels guilty for putting an extra work load on this teacher, but frankly, I think it will assist our family in focusing on rewards for good behavior, so the focus can be on the good days.
I would appreciate hearing any special ideas from the SpouseBuzz readers, and writers, as to how to help our children transition as well as we can.
