DD5 started kindergarten this year and she doesn't like it at all. First it was a girl at her table who was annoying her, then it was all of the changing of classes that she does (for specials), then it was that everything is too easy, then she doesn't like it when the teacher has to raise their voice to get the other kids to listen and behave, then it was that she didn't actually have to learn how to spell the spelling words, just what the first letter of each was - do I need to go on?
So, we tried all sorts of things at home to lessen her stress about going to school and didn't get too far. So, since it was deja vu from when her older sister started school, we had a meeting with her teacher the beginning of the week. We didn't leave the meeting feeling like anything was going to get changed until November sometime because she wants 2 more math tests before she thinks about changing math up for DD. She indicated that they would be breaking into different reading groups, and DD would be in the higher one, but her solution to DD finishing all of her work first with lots of time to spare and being the teacher's helper was more work, not different work.
Fast forward to the end of this week: I was sitting at my desk getting ready to leave (I work at DD's school, but not in the elementary) and the head of school came in to discuss DD. They want her to go to phonics lab in the morning for about a month because she has some holes in her reading (she can read things like butterfly and fluttering easily but then can't read was or read), then she will get to go to reading lab and read chapter books with the 3rd grade teacher to keep her going. Once she has finished those labs they will retest her reading and figure out what to do with her from there.
I was shocked, I really didn't expect any movement at all and that we would be going back in to her teacher in a week or so and request different work.
Hopefully this is be enough of something different to get DD into liking school, or at least not hating it. I'm not sure it will be completely successful, but the labs are usually only for 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders, so we are selling it to DD as a special privilege and treat for her. When she finishes the labs she is also going to get a treat of being able to go to art club with her favorite teacher.
