Making school fun

After weeks and weeks of “Amma, the teacher hates me. I don’t want to go to school”
I decided I needed to get to the root of these feelings.
The previous term he had loved going to school, the only fights we used to have was about what he should wear. Then too on uniform days, I only had to say “today is uniform day” and he was up and ready to go. But this term everyday has been a nightmare. It would start the previous night and would continue into the morning, the incessant whining of
“No school today please.”
I spoke to the teacher, “But he is doing fine in class. He does his colouring. He is doing fine.”
This went on for sometime but he still hated going.
So I called the teacher again last week, “I need your help. Thom is always complaining about his class. He says the teacher does not like him. So if you could make a little fuss over him everyday before he leaves for home, it would really help.”
She was apologetic, “But maam it is really not like that. We do that everyday, when they leave class, we tell them goodbye and see tomorrow.”
“But it does not seem to be enough. Fuss over him a little more so that he will want to come to school the next day.”
She seemed scared, “But he is fine in class.”
I try to calm her down; “Well children say a lot of things that is necessarily not true. So don’t worry, I am not blaming you. All I am saying is I want you to make him feel you like him a lot.”
The problem with these teachers is that being underpaid, they prefer to do the bare minimum. But the moment you raise an issue with them they are on the defensive worried about their jobs. Considering the Dubai market system, which is really client/customer, based than worker based, anyone can lose his or her jobs on the slightest complaint from the client. I did not want her to lose her job nor did I want my son to go through playschool hating it. Anyway I left it at that and waited for the next day.
The morning was as usual, “The teacher will scold me” and tears. At 1.00Pm I picked up a very different child. He was actually smiling after school. He was eager to tell me things that happened in the class and told me, “When I go to class tomorrow, I want Idli for lunch.”
“Did you finish today’s lunch?”
“Yes, and the teacher said I am a good boy.”
“Then I finished my coloring and she again said I am a good boy.”
Well, he couldn’t stop telling me about the day, which was something that had not happened before this term.
So the teacher had changed her methods and we were getting results fast. This morning has been the best in a very long time. He actually went to school smiling and happy and came back the same. I have to call up the teacher and thank her for her help, for making my morning’s stress free.