When my youngest son was 7 his teacher told us she was worried that the other kids thought he was weird because he liked to pretend he was a dog or cat. She also was concerned that it was disrupting the class.
We asked her if she had asked him to stop. Surprisingly, she had not. She indicated she was worried she would upset him. We encouraged her to ask him to stop, and we would reinforce this at home. Big shock – no more problem!
A few years later, his 4th grade teacher explained to me that this son’s creativity “bothered” her. Apparently, because he liked to draw pictures with ray guns and aliens, he was too “violent” for her. This same teacher allowed other kids to repeated abuse him on the playground. Oh, and she liked to assign homework that the parents had to participate in, because she felt parents didn’t spend enough time with their kids. (Gee, thanks for the great quality time idea – homework!)
I will say my son had some good experiences, too, but they were definitely the exception until high school. Thank goodness my sons are grown up now!
