Oh the one thing that seemed to help my DS be more empathetic towards his teacher was in a calm moment we went into some detail educating him on how public education is structured. Basically made gross generalizations and told him that people in our state capital, who don't even know his name, dictate specifically what the teacher is to say. That they make rules based on what worked for some group of kids at some school some years ago, and that they then apply that logic across the state. Therefore any other teacher, even in another town, would have the same expectations and might even be using the same words. This was all a big surprise to DS. He had assumed that the teacher (or if not then the principal) organizes the day, chooses the material, says what she wants, decides what students are allowed to say and do, etc. Certainly helps him like the teacher more in theory, but getting through the day is still hard for him.
Per the principal at DSs school the teacher is allowed to exempt DS from assignments, change the content or challenge of them, etc. If his teacher would just do so, even just a little bit, he would likely be a lot happier and less difficult for her. It's first grade and they have no testing that matters to the school. How is it that difficult to see?
Do you have any other school choices for next year?
