Does your Kindergartner not like school?

[Tenasparkl]

my child goes the complete opposite direction with LOVING school, but i'm not sure this is typical at all. my friends children (kindergarten) all LOVE snow days, even with all the ones we've been having (too many!!!). whenever i bemoan the fact that my child would rather be at school than home with me, everyone says how lucky i am--so it must not be the norm, right?

This is my DD too. She loves school! I was the same way.

[Tenasparkl]

oops, posted twice for some reason

[ckso]

I think it's very normal. It's a big transition going from Preschool (or just staying home) since they probably play all day to Kindergarten which is more structure, more rules and a lot less individual attention. DD is in TK and transitioned pretty well from a playbased preschool. She loves school and her teacher. But she still complains sometimes about school especially if she hears that DD2 went somewhere fun like the zoo or the indoor playground.

I usually downplays what we do all day with DD2 but then also emphasize all the fun things she gets to do in school that her sister doesn't. Like how she have field trips and got to go on a bus with her friends, the "parties" that the teacher have, the performances, etc.

Some of my friends tell me that their kids were hating school in the beginning and would complain and whine every morning. But just recently started loving it. So it just takes a little more time.

[TwinFoxes]

As my girls are fond of saying, they don't like school...

THEY LOVE SCHOOL!

i do think it's totally normal that some kids don't like school One of DDs' friends was telling them she hates school. They were shocked, they'd never heard of such a thing...but I certainly have heard kids say that.

[azzeps]

My DD says she "hates school" and don't get me started on what a battle it is to get her to do her homework!!!

I'm sooooooo HAPPY that she's being instilled with a lifelong love of learning!!!! She tells me that she prefers after care because there's more playtime and less kids. Of course, I don't let on that I'm upset by this, and of course she has to go. But boy is it like pulling teeth to get her up and out to the bus stop every day! phew!

[magnoliaparadise]

You guys are making me feel so much better. My K DD has been saying she hates school/doesn't want to get up, too. She seems to like it once there, so I think that the reasons she is balking at school is:
- it's a long day
- it's structured and she needs more play time, which she isn't getting right now
- she misses me and thinks more fun things are happening at home
But... I am trying to get her to like school more and be shiny happy to get her out...

[american_mama]

It sounds like the whole range is normal. My kindergartener does like school a lot, but he had the same attitude you describe all through preschool. Since he was always happy at the end of the day, I generally ignored his grumpiness earlier in the day. My older two girls also lied kindergarten.

FWIW a neighbor's DD was complaining about kindergarten a lot, saying she was sick, and sometimes crying at the end of the day. The mom kept asking me about DS' teacher and whether she should request a teacher change. Finally, I said that I thought her DD's teacher (who one of my kids had previously had) was kind of sarcastic, which the mom said with relief she'd noticed too. I think that sealed the deal for the mom, and they got a teacher change to my DS' teacher. Problem solved - her DD is much happier now. So, sometimes there is an issue that makes a child dislike school.

[ZeeBaby]

DD1 loves school. She cries whenever there is a snow day. DD2 likes school once she is there, but would rather stay home and play. She does great in school and as long DD1 is going too it is not a battle. On days DD1 does not have school, it is a struggle. Not looking forward to Monday.

[kbud]

My dd is 6 and in full day kinder. I have always stayed home with her except when she was at preschool. She loves school. She is so excited to go every day and even wants to stay for after care so she can keep doing fun things. She is old for her class. She was 10 days shy of the cut off so she is the oldest in her class. I am certain that if she had made the cut off and went to kindy last year she would not have loved it as much. Last year she loved staying home with me on Tues and Thurs when she didn't have school.