early primary Behaviour & Development
Your primary school child’s behaviour can start to become more noticeable as they grow. Throughout the early primary school years your child’s behaviours have become established and they have further developed their personality. You may start to have concerns about the early years of your child’s anxiety, confidence, ADHD, behavior or a variety of other things.
It’s not unusual and you’re not alone in this, some children become especially anxious about starting school or moving class. Exploring these issues with you and your child and identifying the cause can help with making a smoother transition. We can work out some unique strategies and communicate these to your child’s teacher.
Amy always cried going into school, she never wanted to leave me and I always needed to rush for work. It was months and months, she wasn’t like it at nursery and I didn’t know what to do. I phoned Parenting Commandos and we had 3 weeks intensive work. It started with a chat, then shopping for new school stuff to get Amy excited about the new school day. We had a supported conversation with school and changed our routines under their guidance. We discussed it over the phone every few days and it really did work. It seems simple, it was simple, I was overwhelmed and needed some expert advice and I got it from Parenting Commandos,
Rose (Falkirk)
Sometimes it’s a behaviour that starts to become more pronounced. A teacher or another parent may have highlighted it to you and you want to resolve it. A child becoming aggressive or fighting at school is something that worries both children and parents, no one wants their child to be ignored and not invited to social activities. P1 to P5/6 is a key time for a child to start to understand their role in society.
We are often called by parents and headteachers to help when a primary school child is fighting or becoming physically aggressive. We start with a non judgemental approach and look holistically at the situation. In our experience there is usually a reason when a child becomes physically aggressive and once identified we can organise a unique strategy to change the behaviour.
We have worked with children that have started to fight and be aggressive to other children in their class. As a result all the equipment, pens and toys were removed from class because of them being thrown around. We have known children suspended at age 6, we don’t lie, it’s not great to be suspended at 6 years old from school but it is recoverable. We can help put the steps in place to change and recover.
Jack was getting into trouble at school. He was fighting with other kids, he was a normal rough and tumble type kid but he was going a bit far. He pinned a girl down and hit her and one day he had hurt someone accidentally but everyone thought it was on purpose. School excluded him and I didn’t know what to do. We had CAHMS referral and were on the waiting list but it was ages. He didn’t get any play dates and no mums would speak to me. I knew he wasn’t a bad kid at heart but he was fighting all the time and I couldn’t stop him. School was useless, he ended up having 1-2-1 teaching but I don’t think there was any teaching going on, just babysitting. I called Parenting Commandos, after an initial talk they agreed to urgently come out, we had a long conversation and then he spoke to Jack. Parenting Commandos looked at everything, his history, routines, school life, hobbies and his whole life. It was really good to get someone to see the whole picture. We changed a lot of things, diet, bedtime, routine and most importantly activities. At first it got worse, I made mistakes on bedtimes and snacks and small thing but having someone helping me I felt reassured and able to keep going. It took 8 weeks to see the changes but it really really helped. We are still working with them and have got an urgent referral to CAHMS and some others to help. I don’t know what I would have done if Jack carried on. I’m so grateful to Parenting Commandos. I even got a please and thank you off of Jack last week.
Sally ( Glasgow)
School or your health visitor may have offered advice and a referral, CAHMS waiting list for primary school children mental health issues are long. When you need an issue resolved quickly or that bit of extra guidance we can help and support you through the education, NHS, local authority or Government system.
Sometimes it’s not counselling, sometimes it’s putting things in place for the child, family and school. We work by establishing what’s happening, why it’s happening and what can be put in place to change it. Have a look at our “our approach” to let us show you how we work differently and effectively and get in touch for a free non judgmental telephone call to see how we can help.