Issues At School

So we have already decided that we are over 95% sure that we will be homeschooling Elliott next year, but we are going to try to finish out second grade in public school.  That decision is getting harder and harder to stick with, though.

Elliott has always had an issue with bruising pretty easily, but never without a reason.  Well, it appears my child ends up with a whole lot more bruises than other kids anyway.  And because he tries to be tough, he doesn't get the help he needs at school.  It's driving me crazy.  Last Monday, he came home with scratches and bruising by his eye.  His face was STILL red when he got home from school at about 4, even though he told me it happened at his recess at noon.  I asked him what happened, and he informed me that one of his "friends" had pushed him down, and then shoved his face back into the snow when he tried to get up.  That same kid then jumped on his stomach.  I asked Elliott if he told his teacher, and he said he hadn't, because he didn't want to get in trouble.  I told him he needed to say something about it the next day to his teacher, but he insisted that it was fine, and he didn't want to get in trouble.  Tuesday and Wednesday he didn't play with that kid.  Then on Thursday, that same kid pushed him down at recess AGAIN.  And once again, Elliott didn't tell the teacher what was going on, even though he had a bump on his head again.  Neither of these issues had notes in his planner either.  And Elliott told me his teacher didn't even notice his face, until someone else said something about it.

So Friday morning my husband called the principal and we set up a meeting with him and Elliott's teacher.  We told them that we weren't happy with the fact that our child keeps getting hurt and he's afraid to tell the teacher because he will get in trouble. Back in October or November, this same kid pushed Elliott down, and Elliott apparently interrupted the teacher to tell her.  They both got sent to the principal to discuss what was going on.  According to the principal Elliott didn't get in any trouble for that incident, at least not from him.  But they both ended up missing recess for the next three days.  That seems a little harsh if you ask me, that the kid who gets hurt gets punished that much just for interrupting to tell the teacher what happened in the hall.

We talked about more stuff while we were there, but this is already long enough, so I won't go into it right now.  I'm fairly happy with the solution we came to regarding Elliott getting hurt (the principal sat both boys down and explained that they aren't allowed to play together at recess again until he tells them they can).  The principal and teacher both sat down with Elliott and explained to him that he WON'T get in trouble for coming to them when he's hurt, unless he did something wrong, too.  His teacher also reminded him how important it is to be honest about what happens, and that if he hurts, he needs to tell someone so they can help him feel better.  The teacher also said she would try to do better about letting me know if he gets hurt at school.