kindergartener can't get to school on time. Any suggestions?

[babynurse244]

My daughter started kindergarten this year. She loves school, but getting her out the door in the mornings is a nightmare. She won't go potty, won't get dressed, runs and hides behind the sofa. Im currently on 2 more weeks of bedrest with a twin pregnancy, scheduled CS on 10/26, so I'm not much help in the mornings. She's making us crazy. She also goofs off, laughs and hides behind the sofa and won't come out until we physically drag her. She's late at least once a week requiring we get a tardy slip. I don't know how to motivate ger to get out the door in the mornings. Any suggestions? She gets enough sleep and we're allowing enough time, but having to force her to do things and chase her suck up every minute we have. We've taken away TV and her StarFall time and that doesn't seem to phase her or she isn't making the connection.

[sherilu65]

My sister did the same thing for her kids & it worked for her!!!!

[momof3jam]

I may get bashed for this, but try turning on the TV in the morning (just for a few days/weeks, until she gets the hang of getting ready). The TV will drag her out from behind the couch and get her at least sitting. Then you can get her ready. If it's a short trip to school, don't worry if she goes potty. She'll go when she gets there. (If it's a long ride, idk...) Other than that, ignore her silly behavior, she's just doing it to get attention - "Look how silly mom and dad look trying to chase me around"... Have a talk with her teacher about this, so she's aware of the situation. They're usually pretty lenient and understanding in kindergarten and can maybe have a talk with her too.

[mckinneymom918]

What if the mornings were used to earn her screen time? Like, for everything done WHEN asked earns 5 minutes of screen time. Get/make a board where she can put stickers on what she's done as asked on the way to school. And then maybe if she earns all her stickers all week, she receives a special something after school Friday. My kids will do about anything for the dollar ice creams at McDonald's!

Also, it sounds like she's reacting to the arrival of the twins. Which I'm sure you have considered :) we recently went thru the same thing with our 4 year old. We just had a baby sept 1, and probably from the beginning of August til like a week ago we were having daily bouts of crazy misbehavior. My advice would be to stand your ground! You will all come out stronger on the other side.

Good luck!

[babynurse244]

No buses where we live. The school is seriously a quarter mile away. I eas walking her in the mornings before I was put on bedrest.

Quoting AleaKat:

Have her ride the bus

[AleaKat]

Oh, maybe see if she can carpool with a friend it might motivate her to see her friend in the morning

Quoting babynurse244:

No buses where we live. The school is seriously a quarter mile away. I eas walking her in the mornings before I was put on bedrest.

Quoting AleaKat:

Have her ride the bus

[babynurse244]

It had crossed our minds. It just makes me nutso that DH never seems to care about being on time, I'm afraid he's transferring that to our daughter. And the school considers her late. She does need to get there on time. I understand it disrupts the class.

Quoting mckinneymom918:

What if the mornings were used to earn her screen time? Like, for everything done WHEN asked earns 5 minutes of screen time. Get/make a board where she can put stickers on what she's done as asked on the way to school. And then maybe if she earns all her stickers all week, she receives a special something after school Friday. My kids will do about anything for the dollar ice creams at McDonald's!



Also, it sounds like she's reacting to the arrival of the twins. Which I'm sure you have considered :) we recently went thru the same thing with our 4 year old. We just had a baby sept 1, and probably from the beginning of August til like a week ago we were having daily bouts of crazy misbehavior. My advice would be to stand your ground! You will all come out stronger on the other side.



Good luck!

[Traci_Momof2]

Don't play her games.  If she won't get dressed, then send her in her pj's (and put clothes in a bag so she can change at school).  If she won't use the potty, she'll have to hold it until she gets to school.  If she won't eat breakfast, she can go hungry.  If she's hiding behind the furniture, outsmart her and rearrange the furniture so it's impossible for her to hide behind it.  Sounds like she needs some good tough love to let her know who is in charge.

Also, tell your DH he needs to step up.  If he's not taking tardiness seriously then he's setting a bad example for your DD.  He needs to get serious with her and let her know that this being late and goofing off thing just isn't going to happen.  He then needs to reinforce it through the things I mentioned above.  Because once those babies are born it is going to be even more his responsibility to get DD out the door on time.  He needs to take this seriously so she will too.

[AmandaMichele]

His butt will care if the truancy officer shows up.

I know you are super pregnant you can just turn into mean mommy like me. She has 2 choices on what to wear. She picks and that is the end of the story. I have sent her to school without eating breakfast. Well she got a bag a fruit to eat on the way. She knows that when the clock say 7:20 we leave ready or not.

Quoting babynurse244:

It had crossed our minds. It just makes me nutso that DH never seems to care about being on time, I'm afraid he's transferring that to our daughter. And the school considers her late. She does need to get there on time. I understand it disrupts the class.

Quoting mckinneymom918:

What if the mornings were used to earn her screen time? Like, for everything done WHEN asked earns 5 minutes of screen time. Get/make a board where she can put stickers on what she's done as asked on the way to school. And then maybe if she earns all her stickers all week, she receives a special something after school Friday. My kids will do about anything for the dollar ice creams at McDonald's!



Also, it sounds like she's reacting to the arrival of the twins. Which I'm sure you have considered :) we recently went thru the same thing with our 4 year old. We just had a baby sept 1, and probably from the beginning of August til like a week ago we were having daily bouts of crazy misbehavior. My advice would be to stand your ground! You will all come out stronger on the other side.



Good luck!

[tableof6]

Make a schedule and post it were she can see it and STICK TO IT! If she doesn't get dressed when the schedule says to oh well move on to breakfast or whatever.  Whatever she misses is just tough she;ll get the picture.  At school I garantee there is a class schedule posted and they dont deviate from it.  It will take time and trust it is definitely going to get worse before better but she's used to the control and not going to give it up easily.  You HAVE to stick to your guns! When 7:00 or what ever time you leave comes walk out the door on execptions!

[knagsmom]

this is what i would do. if she goes in her jammies and kids tease her for wearing them she'll make a better choice in the morning then going around playing

Quoting natesmom1228:

Make her go to school in whatever she is dressed in at the time. She needs to know who is in control.