Hating School

I remember being in elementary school and absolutely hating it. I had a reading problem and because of it school was terrible. I dreaded going so much that on Sunday nights, right after Wild Kingdom (yes, I am dating myself), I would get the most horrible upset stomach. I did not want to go to school and struggle with reading and spelling. I even remember being so scared of failing another spelling test that I asked the teacher if I could go to the bathroom. I stayed in there until the test was over. I don’t remember the outcome of that little experiment, but I do remember being very frightened of first grade. And I had the most unfriendly teacher ever, she had no sympathy for a little girl that couldn’t read.

Fast forward to Matthew’s first grade year, and here is my son dreading going to school. He hates school and he says he hates himself! We are so concerned and upset for him. We think there may be multiple issues going on at once, all contributing to his dislike of school. The first is the fact that writing is extremely difficult for him and therefore first grade, which requires a lot of writing, is difficult also. Secondly, the transition from summer to this very intense first grade is a struggle for him. There may be other issues, but they seem to be interwoven with these two main problems.

We are setting up a meeting to discuss these problems with his teachers as we can’t continue with him crying and refusing to go to school every morning. Nor can we allow him to continue to feel so bad about himself and his abilities. As he does his homework, and he begins to experience problems,