School Issues

During Camerons 2nd week of school we had this conversation in the car on the way home

Me: Did you have fun at school?
Cam: Yeah!
Me: Do you like Mrs F (the director who helps out in the classroom)
Cam: Yeah
Me: Is she nice?
Cam: Yep
Me: Do like Mrs A (the teacher on Mon, Tues and Wed)
Cam: No
Me: Why?
Cam: She is mean
Me: How is she mean?
Cam: Because she tells me to stop crying
Me: Does she say it mean?
Cam: Yes

I took note of it because I have never had Cameron tell me someone was mean and that she didn't like someone. For the rest of that week and all of last week I just kind of paid attention to her moods about school. She always gets teary eyed in the mornings and kind of whiney about going to school, but on the days that Mrs A is there it seems to be worse than on Thur and Fri when Mrs M is there (who she says she really likes). However she is always in a great mood when I pick her up and tells me about all the things she did and the fun she had with her friends and always asks if she can come back tomorrow. So by the end of last week I was just telling myself she was still adjusting.

Last night I told her it was time for bed and she asked what we were going to do tomorrow. I told her she had school and she asked if Mrs A was going to be there. I told her yes and for the next 10 minutes while getting ready for bed she whined about Mrs A. She said she was "mean", "yells at me to stop crying", "Mrs A doesn't like me" and so on. This morning she woke me up at 6:30 saying she didn't like Mrs. A and whined all morning about it. She doesn't seem to be upset about school, just Mrs. A. and she had tears all the way to school this morning.

Well, since it is the summer program they are pretty relaxed and they don't require the kids to be there at 8:00. I got there about 10 after hoping that a lot of the kids would be there and it would be helpful for her to settle in playing. We were the first ones there. Ugh! When we got in the door Mrs. A asked her what was wrong and reached out to her and Cameron flat out pulled away from her. She has been asking if she can wave to me at the door when I leave so we did that and when I pulled out of the parking lot I could see that she was still at the door and that's when something really clicked.

Cameron was the only one there. No one else was in the school but her and Mrs A. When I walked out the door Mrs. A was with her, but after I was in the parking lot Cameron was standing by herself. Where was Mrs. A? Why wasn't she there comforting Cameron while she was crying? This is not the first time I have noticed this either. She has never seemed to comfort any of the children. For example on the 2nd day of school there was 2 other girls and Cameron crying and not wanting their parent to go. One parent finally said he had to go and handed the child over to Mrs. A who just held her for a minute and then set her in a chair at the table and left her crying. Another time when Cameron came in and was clingy to me and teary eyed Mrs. A asked Cameron if she was "going to do this every time".

Mrs. A is a lady in her 60's I would have to guess. During the school year she teaches the elementary age kids. Mrs. M (who Cameron likes) is more my age and has a daughter that just turned 3. Also the director, Mrs. F (who Cam also really likes) is around my age and also has a 3 year old daughter. Just from what I have observed myself and what Cam has told me, it seems very obvious to me that Mrs. A is just not a very comforting teacher. I don't think she should have to drop everything to make my kid happy, but when there is no one else in the school and my daughter is standing at the door window crying, she needs to be there with her to assure her that it will be okay. I think she is getting the "cold shoulder" from this teacher and that is why she has a hard time first thing in the morning.

This is getting longer than I planned. I just don't know what to do. I feel bad that she is telling me she doesn't like this teacher and here I am making her go and leaving her with this person she doesn't like. It just breaks my heart to see her standing at the window with tears running down her cheeks. An knowing that other children weren't there yet just made me nervous about leaving her there with Mrs A. At least with the kids there she can play and kind of take her mind of Mrs. A.

I don't want to pull her out because aside from Mrs A she seems to really enjoy school and she needs to be there. Once the actual school year starts in August, the pace is going to change and I want her to be use to going to school by then so that she is at least adjusted to the change of being away from me for several hours. I am just going to pay real close attention this week to make sure it is not just in my head that the she acts different in the mornings based on which teacher is there.

1 comments:

Dawn said...

Do you feel comfortable talking to the teacher that Cameron does like? Or possibly one of the other parents and getting their input and how they feel about the mean teacher? Or if their kids are having problems with her too?