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10-26-2012 at 3:28 PM
LoveLossHo...
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Kindergartner Acting Up

My 5-year old went from a preschool program at a daycare center into kindergarten this year, and I feel like her behavior is all over the map. 

There are some days that she comes home and she's stayed on green, so she had a good day. But we get a good number of yellow and even some red (blue is worse than red and she hasn't hit that yet). When I ask her why she's on yellow or red, she occasionally can't remember, but it's a lot of her needing to be told multiple times what to do or she won't stop talking.

The biggest concern for me, though, is that we've had three incidents of her putting her hands on other children. In one case all I know is that she was touching others, in another she pushed someone because they were "in [her] way", and today, she smacked someone because they cut in line. We also heard from a child on the bus that she was touching them and wouldn't stop when asked. This is entirely new, not something we ever heard about in preschool, and I'm at a loss.

Her father and I have both talked to her at length about keeping her hands to herself and how it's utterly unacceptable to push, shove, smack, etc. And even if she thinks she's being funny and cute, it's not okay to touch others when they don't want to be touched (which is what was happening on the bus). She loses privileges when she comes home on yellow or red, and she earns rewards when she comes home on green.

She's always been a pretty well-behaved child. Her preschool teachers praised her to the heavens and the only issues we had with her there were with naptime, and that was because she no longer needed or wanted a 2-hour nap every day. When they began allowing her to quietly read books on her cot, her behavior at naptime approved.

I should also note, as you can see from my sig, that we have a new baby in the house. I don't want to excuse her behavior as it being due to the baby, but I'm wondering if there's a connection. And if so, how to handle it.

I'm sorry this is so long, and I appreciate anyone who took the time to read this. I've felt pretty confident in my parenting for the past 5 1/2 years, but I'm suddenly feeling totally out of my depth. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  


ed + dani 10.31.08 | miranda 04.10.07 | liam 09.06.12

 

10-26-2012 at 3:44 PM
neverblush...
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A bunch of factors could be contributing to this, so it's hard to answer the question "why's she doing this?"

Starting school and becoming a big sister all in the same few weeks is a pretty big deal, so it wouldn't be too weird for her to react by acting out a bit.  Or, maybe she's always seemed like "an angel" prior to this because her preschool/daycare was less strict.  I think many daycare situations tolerate more of this type of "not keeping self to self" behavior because it's less disruptive in the looser setting of preschool/daycare than it is in a K classroom.

Instead of spending too much time worrying about the "whys" of this and beating yourself up over your parenting, I think you want to focus on how to handle the issue.  As far as that goes, I think your consistent approach is right on track. Just keep on top of her about it and give her some time to gain the self-control she needs.

I would make sure you spend a little time with her one on one.  It may be hard for her to know that the baby is with you all day, while she is at school.  Then at home, she has to share you with that stinky old baby!  She may be feeling that she can't show her resentment to you or to the baby, so it comes out in impulsive behavior at school.


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10-26-2012 at 10:25 PM
LoveLossHo...
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Thanks you so much for the thoughtful advice!

I think spending time with her one-on-one is key, from both her father and myself. Not only did we have a baby, but there have been a lot of other factors contributing to some major chaos during my maternity leave, and I can see how she may have felt lost in the shuffle.

I emailed her teacher this afternoon and we ended up on the phone for about 20 minutes, talking at length about what's going on. She reassured me that my daughter is bright, kind, eager, inquisitive, and a genuinely good child. She's just having trouble channeling her frustrations and anger. The guidance counselor is working with her, as is her teacher, and we'll be ramping up our efforts at home, making sure to keep communicating with her about how she's feeling and how she's handling those feelings. 


ed + dani 10.31.08 | miranda 04.10.07 | liam 09.06.12

 

10-27-2012 at 4:25 PM
neverblush...
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My kids were 4 years apart.  My oldest was smart enough to know that a baby coming into our family was basically going to mean a lot of negative changes to the sweet deal she'd had for the past few years.  She was not looking forward to sharing the spotlight (especially the attention of grandparents and aunts) with a sibling.

You hear a lot of people really encouraging small kids to "love" the new baby.  I think too much emphasis/pressure to love the baby sends a really conflicting message to the older child.  It's like saying "Hey, your feelings of frustration and resentment (that are natural for you to have) are unacceptable to me.  It only pleases me when you don't show those feelings"  We felt pretty strongly that we didn't want to push our older kid to show love she didn't feel for the baby.  

It took a long time for her to feel anything other than annoyed by him.  And when I say "a long time," I mean years.  It wasn't until he was 4 and she was 8 that they really became friends.  

If you find yourself encouraging your daughter to profess her love for the new baby, it could be raising the pressure on her and causing her let off more of her steam at school.  


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10-30-2012 at 1:20 PM
Maybride2
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Mine are also 4 years apart, and we are dealing with a lot of the same issues with our son who just started kindergarten.  He has lots of "green" days, but we've had a few yellows and two reds.  He is acting out, not listening and doing what he's told, he has gotten into a fight with some other kids, and has been wetting his pants at school.

I've talked to his teacher, and both at home and school we are really laying the positive reinforcment on heavy.  If he goes 15 minutes at school being good, she either gives him a sticker or some kind of verbal acknowledgment.  He gets praised and rewarded (usually with M&Ms) when he gets home for green stars and not having an accident.  If he has a good week, he gets a small toy.  This has been our first solution to helping with his issues.

We are seeing an ENT this week - our son snores a lot, and we and our pediatrician think he might have sleep apnea and is suffering from chronic overtiredness.  We're hopeful that this will help a lot.

And we try to give him as much one-on-one attention as we can at home, but like you know it's hard to do when there's a sibling that also needs attention.  DH and I often tag-team - one of us reads/does homework with the older one while the other one plays with the younger one, then we switch. 

Just wanted to let you know that you aren't alone.  It's frustrating.


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11-01-2012 at 1:22 PM
smithpaint
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Wow!  Your daughter sounds like my son.  However, we don't have a new baby at home so for us that can't be the issue.  My son is in kindergarten and was in a preschool program last year.  We had no problems while he was in preschool.  Now that he has started kindergarten he has hit kids multiple times (maybe 4-5 times) so far this year.  Once the teacher told me about it (after he had already hit 3 times) then I had a talk with him about hitting, pushing, etc.  The teacher said he has been doing better since our talk, but he hit again a couple weeks ago. 

It is crazy.  I don't understand it either.  I try to talk to him about why he would hit, but he doesn't give a consistent answer and I feel like I'm forcing an answer out of him.  I'll ask him things like "Are you angry when you hit?"  "Did the other kid hit you or tease you?  Which I don't think is the best way for me to address it. 

The teacher said he is the sweetest little boy.  He loves school. Then he'll hit someone and not want to admit it to the teacher and get angry.  How fun. 

I hope things get better for you.  I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone. I have 2 other kids who have never hit another child.  We do not know where it is coming from at all.  He is pretty well behaved at home, sometimes a little ornery but nothing that makes me think he would hit at school.  Good luck!


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11-01-2012 at 3:24 PM
KatFCo
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There could be a lot of things going on. DD is in a similar situation (just started K, new baby, just turned 5). Things are pretty new to her, even though she was in pre-school for a few years before.

One thing I've noticed is that she's being exposed to behaviors that she wasn't in preschool. Is it possible your DD is seeing other kids act like this?

In addition to talking to her about it, have you tried practicing appropriate responses to situations? Like act out when someone is in her way and what she should do instead of hitting or pushing.

DD has a problem obeying or listening when she's being spoken to. I think part of it is the age and another part is the chaos of kindergarten can be hard to adjust to sometimes.


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