January 4, 2012 ~ Daycare Follow Up

Oh well. I'm skipping Drawn In this week. Instead, I'm opting for a follow-up on the post relating to issues at daycare.

Original post

After yesterday's issues with refusing to go to school, I finally had the opportunity to speak to the director and I used it. (With holiday and work schedules I was not able to catch up with her and did not have the time/ability to make an appointment). She happened to be in the office and not dealing with an unhappy parent or child this morning when I dropped the payment off.

See, not only is it the teacher being unprofessional, but the kids seem to be mean to him. Listen, I'm not going to blame the other kids. Kids will be kids and they are all much older than him, most by a year. And the difference between a three year old and a two year old can be huge.

Billy tells me that the other children call him "little baby" and "bad guy". He doesn't know how to respond to name calling, so he tells me that he calls them names back or hits them (the go-to toddler response when not getting their way).

I asked him who his friends were at school. He said "no one." But if I ask him who his friends are he will tell me "Cub", "A" and "J". He knows those kids- all children of my friends- will play with him and be nice to him. That's an issue.

I explained the situation to the director. Billy likes school, but since October he hates school and doesn't want to go. It's a problem. And while kids go through phases, several months is likely more than a phase.

She was very concerned and told me she would monitor him in the classroom to determine what's going on. She was surprised, given that he is on par with his three-year-old classmates in learning ability and even ahead of some in the potty training arena.

BUT... just because he can keep up intellectually with the three year olds, doesn't mean he's emotionally ready to be in that class. And the social dynamic is one of the most important parts of being in school. It's training for the adult world as much as learning "ABC".

I will follow up with the daycare's recommendation when I receive it.