Daycare.com Forum
Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Help With a Preschool Boy
NoMoreJuice! 08:26 PM 01-15-2015
I am begging all the collective years of wisdom on here to help me with this child. Dcb3 has been with me since August. He's always been a bit on the naughty side, but never malicious. He wouldn't harm a fly, let alone another child. He just seems to never EVER understand what we want from him. Here's an example of our day:
7:00 Dcb arrives, I ask him to remove his shoes(same request every morning) and he messes around until I repeat myself. Then he removes one shoe and starts playing with the chair he's sitting on. Repeat request again, finally shoes are off. Request to put them on the shoe rack...repeat....repeat.
8:00 I serve all 12 kiddos breakfast, ask dcb to keep his hands to himself. Minutes tick by as kids eat, then Dcb helps himself to his neighbor's blackberries. I remove them from his hand and remind him to never touch any food that isn't on his plate. Four seconds go by and he reaches for another blackberry. BIG SIGH from me. Repeat lecture.
8:30 This is when the toddlers go downstairs and the preschoolers(dcb's class) go to the classroom. EVERY MORNING for the last six months he jumps up and tries to go downstairs with the toddlers. EVERY MORNING for the last six months I remind him that he goes to the classroom with his preschool class.
Preschool is a nightmare, his poor teacher has to glue him to her side or he'll literally glue his face to the table. He can't follow a single direction, such as "pick up the blue crayon." He stares blankly often. I am so fortunate to be surrounded by the most patient, loving staff and I have always been convinced that kids thrive in a positive, caring environment and try to provide that 100% of the time. But I think if we lived near an active volcano today, I'd have thrown him in.
Any ideas on how to address this? It's non-stop redirecting, repeating, requesting, etc. I'm exhausted, and finally my sweet patient preschool teacher told me today that she'd had enough. If it weren't for his sweet, loving nature, I would've termed months ago. Dearly love the parents too. I want so badly to help this guy, does anyone have any advice? Thank you a million for reading this whole thing if you made it this far!! Feels so good to finally get it off my chest.
7:00 Dcb arrives, I ask him to remove his shoes(same request every morning) and he messes around until I repeat myself. Then he removes one shoe and starts playing with the chair he's sitting on. Repeat request again, finally shoes are off. Request to put them on the shoe rack...repeat....repeat.
8:00 I serve all 12 kiddos breakfast, ask dcb to keep his hands to himself. Minutes tick by as kids eat, then Dcb helps himself to his neighbor's blackberries. I remove them from his hand and remind him to never touch any food that isn't on his plate. Four seconds go by and he reaches for another blackberry. BIG SIGH from me. Repeat lecture.
8:30 This is when the toddlers go downstairs and the preschoolers(dcb's class) go to the classroom. EVERY MORNING for the last six months he jumps up and tries to go downstairs with the toddlers. EVERY MORNING for the last six months I remind him that he goes to the classroom with his preschool class.
Preschool is a nightmare, his poor teacher has to glue him to her side or he'll literally glue his face to the table. He can't follow a single direction, such as "pick up the blue crayon." He stares blankly often. I am so fortunate to be surrounded by the most patient, loving staff and I have always been convinced that kids thrive in a positive, caring environment and try to provide that 100% of the time. But I think if we lived near an active volcano today, I'd have thrown him in.
Any ideas on how to address this? It's non-stop redirecting, repeating, requesting, etc. I'm exhausted, and finally my sweet patient preschool teacher told me today that she'd had enough. If it weren't for his sweet, loving nature, I would've termed months ago. Dearly love the parents too. I want so badly to help this guy, does anyone have any advice? Thank you a million for reading this whole thing if you made it this far!! Feels so good to finally get it off my chest.
Josiegirl 02:46 AM 01-16-2015
I'll be watching for replies. So sorry I don't have any good suggestions. 
I have a dcg turning 3 next week and I'm constantly having to move her physically to get her to do what I need her to.
Getting ready to go outside she used to put her snow pants and boots on all by herself. But now she goes and plays with other kids' mittens or runs into the other room or just sits there and watches everybody else. It's as if she's off in lala land.
She takes other kids' silverware, tries to play with their cups, draws on their papers. It's as if she wants to interact with the others but hasn't quite figured out how to yet.
I keep doing the redirection, gently guiding, speaking firmly, it gets so frustrating because you think they'd be getting it. But I guess one day it'll click and just be a frustrating memory for all.
I have a dcg turning 3 next week and I'm constantly having to move her physically to get her to do what I need her to.
Getting ready to go outside she used to put her snow pants and boots on all by herself. But now she goes and plays with other kids' mittens or runs into the other room or just sits there and watches everybody else. It's as if she's off in lala land.
She takes other kids' silverware, tries to play with their cups, draws on their papers. It's as if she wants to interact with the others but hasn't quite figured out how to yet.
I keep doing the redirection, gently guiding, speaking firmly, it gets so frustrating because you think they'd be getting it. But I guess one day it'll click and just be a frustrating memory for all.
Leigh 06:26 AM 01-16-2015
Has the child had a professional assessment? I think that's the first step.
mamamanda 06:53 AM 01-16-2015
Sounds like he's not developmentally ready for preschool yet. Do his parents specifically want him in there? Could you allow him to go with the toddlers for a set amount of time and reevaluate his behavior at that point? He's obviously not thriving in a "preschool" environment so it's probably not a good fit for him or the teacher. I know because I had this child. Lol I spent a solid year working to correct the behavior and feeling defeated I finally suggested to mom that she move him to a new program. I was sad to see him go, but my program didn't allow for the one-on-one time he needed. He seems to be doing better in his new environment. I would try to work with his parents to find a good fit for him within your program & definitely recommend an evaluation, but if you can't find a solution you may have to let him go for everyone's well being.