Yep. You read it right. Grayson was sent home today. Why? For kicking his teacher. Now you’re probably wondering WTF? Yeah we wondered the same thing.
The Asst. Director at Grayson’s school called me at 12:30 and said that Grayson needed to be picked up because he had been kicking his teacher. I was shocked- considering my child is 22 months old and in my opinion this would be considered normal toddler behavior. I mean- hello! Has anyone every heard of the terrible twos???? Anyhow, I couldn’t leave work, so Tim went to pick him up.
When Tim got there he had a conference with Grayson’s two teachers and the assistant director who told him that they have a policy of sending home children who continually hit and kick- especially if the consequences of time out do not seem to make a difference. According to his teachers he was hitting yesterday and kicking them today. Sometimes they would tell him no and he would say no, no, no back. Finally they put him in time out. In time out, he repeated no, no, no and/or laughed. That was when they decided he needed to go home. So Tim asked them what they wanted us to do. Their answer-1) Tim needs to be the head of the household and talk to Grayson about his behavior. (huh?) 2) Pray to God. 3) Read him a book about not hitting/kicking.
WTF???
When I got off work and Tim told me about his meeting, I was livid! I mean aren’t these people suppose to be experts on babies??? So of course I went in and asked to speak to the asst director. She was not there and so instead I spoke to the Director herself. After explaining to her that I work with kids Kg- middle school and that I have a Master’s degree in Psychology- she finally said that she wasn’t sure why Grayson was sent home. It is true that they have the policy about hitting and kicking, but that it is meant for older children. At 22 months, Grayson does not and will not understand being sent home. He thinks- Hey Dad’s here! Cool! In my opinion, he needs an immediate, consistent consequence. And if time out isn’t working, then figure out another time out spot. At home we have not problem with hitting or kicking and when he goes in time out- he screams the entire time. The Director agreed with me and is planning to meet with his teachers and figure out a better plan. I guess I will find out what the new plan is tomorrow.
So tonight we will be praying to God- but as I told the Director today, unless God is going to start issuing immediate, consistent consequences- then I am not sure that any of my prayers are going to make a difference.
So there you have it- Grayson’s first out of school suspension.
So again I say-
WTF?
March 8, 2008
Posted in The Baby |
14 Comments »
The URI to TrackBack this entry is: http://kellyinnc.blogsome.com/2008/03/08/graysons-1st-out-of-school-suspension/trackback/
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>
All I can say is wow. That’s almost as bad as our day care experience. Ty’s teacher kept putting his diaper on backwards, the director’s answer “We’ll make her write front on the diapers with a permanent marker”. Are you kidding me?? Needless to say, we didn’t take him back.
Comment by Rhiannon — March 8, 2008 @ 2:48 am
Wow! This definitely warrants you looking into it further. Things just don’t add up. Good luck and keep us posted
Comment by Tiffany — March 8, 2008 @ 6:45 pm
You’ve got to be kidding me?! I’d be livid, too. Sending him home isn’t teaching him a thing. It only punishes the parents. Their job is taking care of things like this. Sad!
Comment by dena — March 8, 2008 @ 8:40 pm
Seriously WTF! I would be seriously pissed! That is normal behavior. That is what you PAY them to deal with!
Comment by Katie Keyes — March 9, 2008 @ 12:33 am
http://newsletters.lifeworks.com/toddler_03_08.aspx?usr_id=656518
a good website… todder discipline info. We’re trying this.
Comment by Katie Keyes — March 9, 2008 @ 12:35 am
Oh my - That is hilarious. You two should video tape yourselves going through all 3 recommendations: Tim talking to Grayson, praying together, and reading a book. I could just picture Grayson. Then, maybe they would see how silly that is for his age.
BTW - I like the director much more than the assist. directors. Remember- Sam was banned from the classrooms. One also spoke to him about playing with the toys and getting his germs all over them. He said, Ï can’t touch my own toys here.
He should just move up to the next class.
Comment by Jacqueline — March 9, 2008 @ 2:21 pm
They did this shit to me with Ashton and biting at that age. When I finally found out that their way of disciplining was “having a talk with him” and making him have a time out (which was in a chair still near the group) - I laughed.
How the hell do you have a talk with a toddler? Like they are going to turn around and all of a sudden say “I understand now, and I am truly sorry for my toddler-like behavior!” - such crap!
They wanted me to help - but I was just like you. There is NOTHING I can do 5 hours after the fact. He needed INSTANT punishment. So I asked them to be a little sterner with the timeout and not just make it next to the group. Put a chair in the corner - facing the corner, so he feels a little alienated. Two days later we were done with biting!!!
Comment by soapbox.SUPERSTAR — March 10, 2008 @ 1:13 pm
Poor kid! Expelled from school and he can’t even remember it. Shouldn’t that tell the school something?!?!
Comment by Rebecca — March 10, 2008 @ 8:20 pm
My hearts breaks over this situation. Grayson is not an unruly kid. He’s going through a typical toddler phase. He needs to be with older kids instead of being the oldest in the classroom. As scary as it feels, I would seriously look into finding another setting for him…especially since he cannot be moved up with “Twos” until August.
Comment by NaeNae — March 11, 2008 @ 3:02 am
That Grayson is such trouble maker…rebel without a cause.
That’s total craziness Kelly, sorry you have to deal with that! I think I was a frequent visitor to “the discipline bench” in preschool. No surprise there. 
Hopefully they straighten the teachers out!
Comment by Anna Banana — March 11, 2008 @ 9:26 pm
Unfreakingbelievable. I would hate to see how they felt about Mason throwing phase he is going through.
Comment by shelly — March 12, 2008 @ 4:38 pm
Obviously his teachers are not as well-versed in toddler behavior as you thought. What a ridiculous consequence! I can barely think of a reason a kid that age would be sent home from school besides sickness. I think if I were you, I would look into another place. I would not be confident in their responses to his behavior in the future.
Comment by Angelle — March 13, 2008 @ 1:41 pm
WTF? That gets me all fired up just reading it. Then, I got a good little laugh reading about the 3 things YOU should do to fix it! Good Luck. Glad you are talking to the Director, though. I can’t believe they sent an almost 2 year old home for normal behavior.
Comment by Courtney — March 14, 2008 @ 7:24 pm
Unbelievable! I would be livid too. That school would feel my rath. This is thier job! All he sees is a day at home with Daddy not a punishment.
Comment by Miss Bitch — March 16, 2008 @ 3:01 pm