Cry-er, still!

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Kindergarten Teachers Chatboard

Cry-er, still!

by DonnaR/CA

Mar 23, 2015

I have a little guy in my classroom who still cries over one thing or another, EVERY DAY. Most days he bursts out into tears at least two or three times. It's usually that he didn't get his way about something, or somebody took cuts in front of him, or something that might look "petty" to us big-people, but are very important to him.

One of the kids finally said something to him today, after he burst into tears because somebody moved his paper across the table, "You cry EVERY day, stop it!" That caused the little guy to cry even harder and insist that he did NOT cry every day.

I took him aside and quietly tried to calm him down, and I told him, yes, you do cry every day. We don't know whether it's something really important, like you got physically hurt, if you got your feelings hurt, which does hurt, or if you just misunderstood somebody else. This isn't the first time I've tried to talk with him about this problem.

I don't know what els...See More

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Terri Gosh Donna I wish I could help, I teach in a mixed grade class, 1,2,3,6,7,8, and I still have two of my grade 2 and 1 grade 3 student crying for no reason.

One day they all started crying because I said, "good job", to just one of them, and one was jealous, and the other was sympathetic, and the first one cried because he was ha...See More

Mar 23, 2015

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Diane I have had several criers over the years. I had a discussion with one about how her parents work out to exercise their muscles and make them stronger. We were going to work on her feelings to make them stronger so they wouldn't be so easily hurt. Then she wouldn't need to cry so much. When she would start to whimper, I would flex my arm like making...See MoreI have had several criers over the years. I had a discussion with one about how her parents work out to exercise their muscles and make them stronger. We were going to work on her feelings to make them stronger so they wouldn't be so easily hurt. Then she wouldn't need to cry so much. When she would start to whimper, I would flex my arm like making a muscle and look at her. This was our private signal for strong feelings and helped her pull it together.

With another, I explained that I wanted to help him but I couldn't understand him if he was crying. As soon as he could catch his breath and use his words, I stepped in to try to help him out, usually by holding his hand at the front of the line and making him my special helper. I explained that I was rewarding his STOPPING crying, not his crying.

For another, I designated a small step stool as the crying chair. Anytime she needed to cry she was free to do so, but had to sit in that chair while crying. It didn't take too long and the chair became more boring than what the rest of the class was doing.

No one solution fits all, and they all take patience. None will work right away especially if this has been going on since the beginning of the year. I always did this in consultation with the parents and the school's counselor. Don't try to work in a vacuum. Reach out and good luck to you and your kinder!

Diane

On 3/23/15, DonnaR/CA wrote: > I have a little guy in my classroom who still cries over one > thing or another, EVERY DAY. Most days he bursts out into > tears at least two or three times. It's usually that he > didn't get his way about something, or somebody took cuts in > front of him, or something that might look "petty" to us > big-people, but are very important to him. > > One of the kids finally said something to him today, after > he burst into tears because somebody moved his paper across > the table, "You cry EVERY day, stop it!" That caused the > little guy to cry even harder and insist that he did NOT cry > every day. > > I took him aside and quietly tried to calm him down, and I > told him, yes, you do cry every day. We don't know whether > it's something really important, like you got physically > hurt, if you got your feelings hurt, which does hurt, or if > you just misunderstood somebody else. This isn't the first > time I've tried to talk with him about this problem. > > I don't know what else I can do or say to him. Any ideas? Is > this just a maturity thing? This is my first year teaching > straight K after 10 years of Music K-12, so I'm still > learning about full-timing it with 5 and 6 year olds. > > > Donna

Mar 23, 2015

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pksped One thing I do with surprising success is to have him bring a picture of his Mom/Dad in (and put it in a ziplock bag.) When he gets sad, he can carry it with him. He can write them a note that says "I missed you today." (Depending on his skills, he may draw a pic/scribble/copy your dictation/actually attempt it.) That seems to help. Good ...See MoreOne thing I do with surprising success is to have him bring a picture of his Mom/Dad in (and put it in a ziplock bag.) When he gets sad, he can carry it with him. He can write them a note that says "I missed you today." (Depending on his skills, he may draw a pic/scribble/copy your dictation/actually attempt it.) That seems to help. Good luck. It is so frustrating (as the teacher) if the crying is loud and affects the class environment, but if a child is heartbroken, that has to come first.

On 3/23/15, Diane wrote: > I have had several criers over the years. I had a discussion > with one about how her parents work out to exercise their > muscles and make them stronger. We were going to work > on her feelings to make them stronger so they wouldn't be > so easily hurt. Then she wouldn't need to cry so much. > When she would start to whimper, I would flex my arm like > making a muscle and look at her. This was our private > signal for strong feelings and helped her pull it together. > > With another, I explained that I wanted to help him but I > couldn't understand him if he was crying. As soon as he > could catch his breath and use his words, I stepped in to > try to help him out, usually by holding his hand at the front > of the line and making him my special helper. I explained > that I was rewarding his STOPPING crying, not his crying. > > For another, I designated a small step stool as the crying > chair. Anytime she needed to cry she was free to do so, > but had to sit in that chair while crying. It didn't take too > long and the chair became more boring than what the rest > of the class was doing. > > No one solution fits all, and they all take patience. None > will work right away especially if this has been going on > since the beginning of the year. I always did this in > consultation with the parents and the school's counselor. > Don't try to work in a vacuum. Reach out and good luck to > you and your kinder! > > Diane > > On 3/23/15, DonnaR/CA wrote: >> I have a little guy in my classroom who still cries over > one >> thing or another, EVERY DAY. Most days he bursts out > into >> tears at least two or three times. It's usually that he >> didn't get his way about something, or somebody took > cuts in >> front of him, or something that might look "petty" to us >> big-people, but are very important to him. >> >> One of the kids finally said something to him today, after >> he burst into tears because somebody moved his paper > across >> the table, "You cry EVERY day, stop it!" That caused the >> little guy to cry even harder and insist that he did NOT > cry >> every day. >> >> I took him aside and quietly tried to calm him down, and I >> told him, yes, you do cry every day. We don't know > whether >> it's something really important, like you got physically >> hurt, if you got your feelings hurt, which does hurt, or if >> you just misunderstood somebody else. This isn't the first >> time I've tried to talk with him about this problem. >> >> I don't know what else I can do or say to him. Any ideas? > Is >> this just a maturity thing? This is my first year teaching >> straight K after 10 years of Music K-12, so I'm still >> learning about full-timing it with 5 and 6 year olds. >> >> >> Donna

Apr 4, 2015

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