My daughter will not stop crying in her Pre-school class?

Question

My daughter will not stop crying in her Pre-school class, she is 4 years old and cries when the teachers ask her to do something such as pick up or change activities. She has her good days and her bad days but hasnt gone a day without crying.. The teachers do not know what to make of it but they made a video tape of her behavior so we could see what she is doing. It is almost like she wants the attention of the teacher or is bored. We have tried talking to her or disciplining her but do not know what to do... She says she likes her class and teachers but the tape shows something different. Her crying has become extremely difficult and disruptive. I think she might be a little spoiled but im not sure if that is it. She hasn’t been in a structured environment such as school before. Her mom and I are as a lose...

Any help would be appreciated...

Answer 1

maybe she is miss her mum and dad

Answer 2

she may have trouble adjusting from one activity to another.  does she do this at home when you ask her to pick up or stop playing to eat dinner/take a bath etc?  if this is consistent behavior, then you should talk to her pediatrician.  if it only happens at school, they may not be giving her enough warning, she might be bored, or it might be a power struggle thing.  If she's never been to a school environment and she is spoiled, she just may be having a hard time adjusting to someone else being in charge.  Keep her in school; once she figures out that she has to do what she's told, she'll settle down, and its better she gets used to it now than in kindergarten.

Answer 3

Don't pay attention to it.  When she starts crying, tell the teachers to put her in a "quiet" area where she can sit until she stops crying.  When she stops, let her resume whatever activity she was doing, or whatever the class is doing.  But the last thing you should do is show attention and concern over it.  Just let the teacher calmly place her by herself until she stops.  That way she won't get the attention she's seeking, and teach her that not everyone is going to stop for her.

Answer 4

I am a Mom of four and I got a suggestion that may help. Try to get her into a play group with kids in her class outside of school. It will get her used to the kids around her and I got a daughter that age as well and this really works. It will take a few of these but there is nothing like getting her with her peers. Above all talk to her all the time about school and what she does there. Make a big deal about all her creative works she brings home. Have a ceremony to place it on the wall of fame(refrigerator). Brag amongst the in-laws and grandparents, Aunts and Uncles about the work she's done there(especially when she could hear it). When she has good days plan something special as a reward. don't pull here preschool is a learning experience (socially most of all). Good luck she will grow out of it, have faith.

Answer 5

Seriously all the previous answers are good but it just might be as simple as changing preschools.   I think you might be giving her too much attention when she cries.  Reward good behaviour, ignore bad behaviour.

Answer 6

well try and comforting her or ask help from a more proffesional person.

Answer 7

Best thing you can do at the moment is home school her until kindergarten. thats what happened to me. my parents put me in pre-school when i was 4. i only stayed there for 3 months.

Answer 8

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I wouldn't know but I still remember my pre-school days....

they were horrible... so I don't blame her.

I just remember missing my mom or dad and wanting to go home....

plus... naps sucked....

but i wish we had naps now. =[

Answer 9

I would suggest a meeting with the teachers at the preschool to discuss your parenting style, and their discipline style.  It could simply be a way for her to exercise control over her situation when she may feel like she has none.  Maybe between you and her teachers, you could figure out what's going on.

Answer 10

If this is your daughters first time in a structured environment then she is going through a big change.  It also sounds like maybe she has a personality that has a hard time switching from one task to the next as well so when they ask her to do something she doesn't know how to react.  Do the teachers let her know maybe 5 minutes before a change or they need her to do something a reminder (such as in 5 minutes we are going to need you to pick up?)  

Also, she may not be ready for a structured environment like pre-school yet and this is how she is communicating it to her parents.  Is there a way pre-school hours can be cut back a little?  Sometimes transition takes a long time especially if this is her first time.

Answer 11

My daughter did this at daycare when she was 3. One day they asked her what would make her happy and she said going into the kindy room. She has been in the kindy room ever since (not ment to go up until nearly 4) and has been a different child. We think that maybe she was getting board.

Answer 12

Ask her teachers if when they ask her to clean up her activities if they give her a 5-10 minute warning prior to clean up time. She may feel like she didn't have enough time to finish playing. If she knows play time is nearing to an end, she may start to reach the end of her play quicker, or at least feel like her teachers gave her the respect of warning. People often think kids don't have a sense of time, but they do. If they tell the class, 5 more minutes to play, and then we need to clean up for lunch or out side time, then she might not feel like what she is doing is being yanked away from her in a sense. I hope this helps. Her teachers can also try playing on the floor with her and when it gets close to clean up time mention it and then help her clean up, but she has to help too. Good luck!

Answer 13

Change is hard for some kids at that age, separation anxiety. It got worse when he started kindergarden, he cried for a week then stopped but for three weeks after that my friend would walk him to class and sit on the bench outside his class till school was over! I had to drag her away! Try talking to her pediatrician, you'd be surprised how wise they are or try taking her to mommy and me classes at a Gymboree so that she can get used to being around other kids her age for periods of time.

Answer 14

find a friend for her so she can not be lonely, and convince her how fun school is.

Answer 15

ok i will tell u what to do

u try to go play with her u need to be all the days with the girl and try to take her to disneyland and every where she hasnt been there and see what happen

AND GOD BLESS U

Answer 16

My daughter was unhappy in preschool. There were things she liked about it but overall she didn't like it. She asked not to go back this year (she is 4) so instead I am home schooling her. It is going very well. She is a very intelligent child and says she likes our school because she learns more.

Maybe your daughter is bored in preschool, and doesn't like being away from mommy and daddy.

If it were me I'd pull her out and home school. I really wish I had done it earlier.

Good luck and God Bless!

Answer 17

Pray for her in Jesus' name.