Thanks, Val. My D is desparately unhappy, but one of the things he said when I met with him was that she didn't seem to be in enough "emotional distress" for him to allow this (or even transfer her to the other teacher's classroom with the same curriculum). That is so frustrating, as she was working very hard to keep her cool and be professional in her discussion with both the teacher and him. She is not a kid who wears her emotions on her sleeve to start with, and is a little bit Aspie. She knows she isn't good at "people", so she was treading very carefully in this discussion. Maybe too carefully. I know a couple of stories over the years of kids who have left school for a few weeks for psychiatric treatment and then come back -- is that what it takes to get even a classroom change? Arggghhh...
Yeah, my DD6 is miserable in school, does everything she can to hold it together for the school day, and then melts down when she gets home. Her demonstrations at home were becoming a real concern, because she started saying things like, "I wish I was dead."
So here are some things we've been doing to ensure the school gets the message of just how unhappy she truly is:
- I wrote an email to the principal and her teachers detailing her recent behavior at home, where it's coming from.
- We had a meeting at the school, and requested the school counselor begin meeting with her. This gives my DD an opportunity to share how she really feels with someone on staff.
- We enlisted a private psychologist with experience with gifted kids. He immediately had a suggestion we could take back to the school that we weren't even aware was an available option.
All of this is still ongoing, and we have another meeting in January, so I can't report on any results... but at least you can take these as suggestions for your own DD's situation.
