What to do if your child says they don’t want to go to school. Part 1

This is a multi-part series, in this first article I’ll talk about putting the problem into context and getting some more perspective on it.  Next post I’ll talk about how to put together a clear plan to make a change. If you are dealing with an urgent problem please email me at [email protected] and I can mail you parts two and three.

Some mornings we just don’t feel like getting up and getting into our day.  Most of us have learned that the best thing to do when we are feeling that way is to get up and get going on the routine. Before too long we are getting on with our day and finding that really, it isn’t that bad and maybe it’s even pretty good.  We know that life is a mixture of good and not so good and that our reward for managing the stuff we don’t like so much is that we get to enjoy the things we do. I’m not sure many of us enjoy filling in tax forms but we know that it’s a necessity of life (apologies to the tax accountants).

When our children say that they don’t want to go to school we are given an opportunity to help children to learn how to cope with the ups and downs of life.  The reason I can say this so confidently is that we know from research into resilience that getting through the challenges that life presents us develops resilience.  Also, from Carol Dweck’s research into fixed and growth mindset we know that folks who celebrate challenges are much more successful in life.

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