My son will be starting school in 2018. He is such a gentle, cheeky soul. He loves kinder and has a lot of kids. What worries me is school. Its my own anxiety and experience actually makes me worry how he's going to go. I know he'll love it and will flourish but...what scares me is bullying and other kids. I was horribly bullied for a few years as a child until I changed school twice to get away from it. To imagine that this could be something that he might experience, actually breaks my heart.
He is involved in sport, including martial arts and footy and we're thinking of getting him involved in Scouts because we like the whole ethos, plus I want to encourage him to have friends outside of school.. How have other IMs dealt with the transition from kinder to school? If you had a bad experience, what tools have you been able to provide your child to increase resilience and help with school transition?
To add, the school has zero tolerance for bullying.
4 Replies
Your son sounds a lot like mine, and mine is now in Year 6. He's had a great time throughout primary school. I remember I was worried about how it would go, but teachers have always enjoyed his gentle quirky personality and he's always had friends. Fortunately there are lots of different kinds of boy personality out there. Once or twice I have spoken to his teachers about difficulties he was having with a particular kid, if it went on for more than a couple of weeks without improvement. Mostly he's managed to cope with whatever problems as long as you provide a listening ear and encouragement that he can try some different strategies and see what works best. Try to project confidence and calm, expect that things will go wrong occasionally but that's how we learn!
Get counselling for yourself
My daughter has always loved school. She goes to a great school with a great philosophy and practice to support children and to resolve conflict of it arises. Chose the school carefully, ask questions and get a feeling for what would suit him then try to let go. Schools have changed in the last 20-30 years. Sounds like he's a lovely kid. Hope he has heaps of fun!
You are doing great so far building his self confidence with the martial arts. Look into some education books and videos for bullying. Just remember communication with him is important and to let him know he can tell you anything and you have to be empathic and understanding, so that way he will be more open to discussion. Teach him about boundaries and skills to use if he does come across any bullies, just know that's all you can do, give him the tools and let him learn. What skills do you wish you had known when you were bullied ??