my sons will be 5 at the end of the month and are headed to kindergarten in September. i am so nervous and so concerned for them in kindergarten! one of my sons is sooooo silly when he's around other kids! when it's us, we are out to eat - basically if my DH and i are there - he's an angel. perfection. in school he's silly. hands-on, will sometimes use potty words and put his hands on other kids. i feel like its 2 days a week, sometimes 3. is this normal for the age? if so what can i do! we do a sticker chart. i literally buy him fro yo, a gift, take him out, etc. if he has a 'good day.' sometimes he is just not good though!
I would say that your son's behavior is not unusual for kindergarteners, not at all. But if you know that this is a concern, I would definitely start drilling it into his head that in kindergarten you will get in trouble for this behavior. Depending on the teacher, he might have a transition period but as time goes on, it might become a disciplinary issue. That's not to say that he will never, ever do it again. That behavior is not unusual for kindergarten and if you do have an opportunity to meet his teacher before school starts, I would bring it up with her and if it is a problem in the classroom (which it might or might not be, you just never know how kids change in a couple of months) let the teacher know you are willing to work with them in finding a solution to the behavior.
So normal! When my girls were in pre k and k, they didn't necessarily start the silliness, but they were definitely all over it once it started! That said it always amazed me how quickly kids learn about appropriate school behavior and well they can act for the teachers. But I agree with nancy, start talking to them about it now, and if you know who their teachers will be, contact them about your concerns too. But don't worry, 5 year olds are so silly and I think the main goal of kindergarten is just learning how to be in school.
Yes, silliness is normal at this age. As long as it doesn't turn into 'mocking' the teachers. I think the teachers are well aware of this behavior. Talking to the teacher ahead of time may help. 4 months is still a lot of time to work towards curving it. A lot can change in that time.
We had this issue with our DS when they started Kindergarten this year. We spent last summer telling him "hands to yourself". When they got to kindergarten they had the School's Life Rules of hands & feet to yourself, be respectful of others, no bad words, be a reporter not a tattletale, etc.. When they did not follow the rules their clip on the rainbow chart got moved down to yellow. They start each day on green "ready to learn". Yellow is "be aware of your actions, orange is "2nd warning", and red is "parent contact". To encourage the positives of the rainbow blue is "great behavior" with a thumbs up ticket to show their parents, and purple is "outstanding behavior" where they earn a "gem" to be glued to their clip that will given to them at year-end. By the 6th week or so DS had finally earned a "gem" because he wanted to be respectful and earn more than the two "gems" his sister had in her kindergarten class next door. I would just keep explaining that when he plays with other kids or his friends he needs to keep his hands and feet to himself. We also started instituting the soap on his tongue when he went through his potty mouth stage. It only took two separate dabs of soap for the potty mouth to disappear. Now if he says a word that he did not know was bad I explain why it is considered bad and he typically apologizes quickly while I explain there will be no soap for a 1st time offense since he was unaware he is using language that we feel is unacceptable. Not only does this count as swearing, but for calling his sister or others stupid because I do not want his words to lead to bullying behaviors. Good luck. It sounds like you are aware of the situation and if you stay on top of things the behavior will pass. However, I have learned with each behavior that ends a new one begins :gah:
