Private school with social emotional support for a persistent 4th grader
Hi,
We are looking at schools for our rising 4th grade currently-homeschooled daughter, and in particular want to find schools that will be responsive and supportive in her tendency to be persistent with other kids when she has an idea she is excited about. As an only child, she does not get to practice negotiating with other kids at home. When she is excited about an idea, she tends to persist, and wears out other kids with her persistence, unless they are just as assertive/excited as her, in which case they quickly come to a compromise on their different ideas. While we work on it at home, we want for her to be in a supportive school environment that will help her gain awareness on how to read and respond to more subtle cues from kids who are more laid back, and practice how to let go of whatever it is she is after. This would need to be done by keeping an eye on her and giving her regular feedback, without making her feel too down on herself. (She is trying to work on it, but loses track of her behavior whenever she is excited about some idea she has on how to play).
I guess I'm talking about social emotional education? We are looking at a number of private progressive schools, but do any of you have a daughter like that and have found your school to be helpful in guiding her in this respect? (Strangely, she can also be very inhibited in a new environment, but I'm not worried about that, as I suspect that most schools are helpful in that regard)
Parent Replies
I really think your regular public school would be fine. There are many kids (for some reason especially girls) who sound like they have the same energy as your daughter. Public school teachers are generally amazing. In public school, your daughter will get used to being "one of many" and how to make that work in a positive way.
Have you looked at Walden? Our daughter is there in first grade. I've found their social emotional teaching to be excellent and given their arts integration, there are lots of steady teachers available for feedback.