Flexi schooling

SallyB392 so sorry your GS isn't happy at school it doesn't suit everyone. I wonder about taking 1 day and would it be better to take a couple of afternoons off, or even 3. Literacy and numeracy are usually done in the morning so that might be less disruptive. There are children who even at 7 find a whole day too long, knowing they finish at lunchtime really helps. You need to discuss all the options with his school.
My friend's daughter was obsessed with wildlife problems when she was younger it helped her to feel she was doing something about it. Perhaps your GS could fundraise for something he feels worried about.
To take it forward his mum needs to raise the matter with the class teacher and then the head teacher. She should then ask for a meeting with the CT HT and whoever is special needs support. If she has evidence of his autism, a letter of support from her GP or any other thing she considers relevant she should take it with her. Hopefully they will agree something. If she has problems she may need to take things further and ask for a proper assesment of him by an educational psychologist. Hope things work out.

The child's parents need to discuss it with the school.

I have not heard of a child being allowed flexible attendance unless there is a strong medical reason, and usually that is when a child is recovering from a very serious illness.
You say that he has a small settled group of friends and gets on well with staff and children alike; it sounds more that he does not enjoy the curriculum he is being taught and wants to pursue his own agenda. I think the social aspects of his schooling are as important as the intellectual ones, and as he has a supportive family who give him every opportunity to extend his learning, I would keep him at school.

He may be happier at a small private school , but listen to what the school say, as they seem to have a good understanding of him.

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That's a good one Sally., Geo mag. My two GSs had that.

Lovely that he gets replies.

Good news re your granddaughter so glad she’s ok suedomin

Thank you to those expressing concern for my granddaughter. She was having breathing difficulties. She's back home now after three days in hospital (including her birthday) on steroids and oxygen amongst other things. My poor dd is more frazzled than the wee one, I think!

Thank you everyone for your input. I've shown my daughter, as its her and her husband who will make any decisions, and its good to have the input of others.

Just to reassure folk, my GS is usually too busy doing 'his' thing to watch much TV, and what he does watch tends to be nature programmes and explorers. He has been receiving the Geo Kids magazine on subscription for a couple of years now, and thoroughly enjoys them.

As for concerns raised about the letters he is writing, no one tells him to, he just appears with his latest missive asking for help in finding the address and for a stamp, it would be very wrong to tell him no, and I have to say the vast majority of the people he writes to do respond.

SueDonim I hope your DGD is OK.

Some people think a parent has a far greater control over a child' mind than they do.

If a child is a worrier then there is little you can do about it and there is little you can do to control what they worry about. It is not the parents engendering the worry by encouraging the child to be caring. That is not what is said in the OP. and their worries can overwhelm them.

The best approach is to look at each worry and show where there is hope. In this case that more children are coming out of poverty and getting education every year, look at all the initiatives that are reducing emissions from insulation to new types of battery to the thousands of wind turbines now being built and the increasing concern about animal welfare.

Worrying runs in DH's family and I have a son and a GD who could win Olympic medals for worrying, when they were chikdren we just discussed worries and en couraged them to face worries with optimism that sees improvements rather than dwelling onthe worst.

SueDonim, so sorry for you - you must be frantic. I hope the news will be better when you know more.

SallyB392 I've sent you a PM.

SueDonim so sorry to hear this, you must be on tenterhooks, hope all is well with your granddaughter and you get good news soon. (((hugs)))

Really hope she's ok SueDonim.

No, Gonegirl I don't see that worrying about being shot in your own classroom is any different from worrying about children in developing countries or animal welfare or climate change.

It's not patting them on their little heads to say that these are problems that adults should be solving and that when he/she is older they then can help solve problems too. Of course children should be encouraged to care but it shouldn't be to the detriment of their happiness, which in this case it seem so to be.

Anyway, no more from me as I've just heard my tiny granddaughter has been blue-lighted to hospital.

Only Sally knows how unhappy he really is. Getting on well with his teachers and his group of friends doesn't sound too bad to me.

., but quite apart from this he is unhappy. Here gonegirl

Children can attend school part time but how you go about it and the rules that govern it are different in England and Wales so it depends where your family lives.

In England you would need to speak to the SEND Co-ordinator and in Wales the ALNCO at the school and they will help.

I am a retired Vice Principal and currently volunteer for a charity that supports parents to ensure their child’s needs are met and have arranged many part time timetables.

Good luck

You cannot change a child's essential nature. If a child is a worrier they are a worrier. My DS was/is a worrier. His life was full of worries when he was small. In fact when he started in junior school he was asked to write about himself and he wrote:
'I have fair hair and blue eyes and I worry a lot'
but it hasn't ever, at any age stopped him living a full and happy life. I always discussed his worries with him and gave him help and support where needed it.

This is the best anyone can do.

SallyB392, you don't say whether your GS's parents have spoken to the school. I would suggest talking to the class teacher to get their opinion and also talking to the Head and the SEN co-ordinator.

My GS has similar problems, though he is not for the main part unhappy, though he was in the first primary school he went to. Now he has a very sympathetic Head, class teacher and SENCo. The school is very supportive of such children and therefore attracts them which adds to the feeling of community and fitting in.

It might be that though the school served the older child well, it may not be the right one for your GS.

I can't see where in the OP it says he is unhappy. He doesn't like school. So what? A lot of children say that. He gets on well with staff and his friends. He sounds normal to me.

I'm not even sure you can pick and choose how many days a child attends. Surely, once he has been given a place he has to make full use of it. Most schools aim for 100% attendance.

Seriously wish I could correct my own posts! Irritating when preview gobbles up posts so has to be avoided, then you spot silly errors!

Is he around when the news is on tv? I ask because my son was somewhat younger but horrified when told to tell a policeman if he got lost at the carnival. “They punch and hit and kick you”. He’d been in the room when foreign riot police were on the news and obviously taken in far more than we realised. Much more difficult now with hourly news bulletins. Easy enough then not to have the earlier news on at all.

Really sad for a seven year old to be so angst ridden at such an early age.

Is there a homeschool group in your area? When I was volunteering at a local museum a group of home schooled children visited as a group. Apparently quite a regular occurrence. It seemed to be run a bit like a cooperative. The children were very polite and very caring of each other with the older ones patiently helping the younger ones to buy pocket money toys.

But Monica sally says he is unhappy, emotionally stressed, and worries about many things beyond his own little world surely that’s far more than being interested and enquiring and would be a big concern if he was my child
Life needs balancing between fun and seriousness this little chap sounds as if he is bogged down by anxiety and teaching him some positives and fun is very different to patting him on the head and telling him not to worry

MOnica

Well, he sounds to be an unhappy, worried little boy. If his precocious interest is making him feel like that, it isn’t doing him much good.

Exactly calendergirl It’s brilliant to be interested in animals environment global warming , underfed kids but it needs fine balancing so it doesn’t turn into complex anxiety
My friends five year old is so interested in animals insects and the land in general far beyond his age , but he has such fun doing it, has a wormer, keeps chickens, grows pumpkins and can talk about every kind of insect and bug around I m sure as an older child he will learn all about the problems of over farming, pollution, animal cruelty and global warming but for now his interest is kept as fun not super anxiety

Calendargirl I think what you are saying is insulting to children who do have a precocious interest in current affairs and express concern.

All the ones I know have grown up to be perfectly normal caring adults with no mental health issues at all. Showing a concern about world problems does not mean being angst[ridden and stressed.

Take the children seriously and discuss their concerns does far less harm than being talked down to by adults telling them not to worry their little curly heads about these issues.

AndGonegirl yes, we all want ‘caring’ children, but not angst ridden, stressed out ones who will have time to address such issues when they are older and mature enough to cope.