Question: Our daughter just started kindergarten a few weeks ago. She turned 6 at the end of August and then started school. She is an outgoing girl, makes friends easily and has gone to a preschool since she was 3. She has always loved school and been excited to go, until now. She says she doesn't want to go, complains of stomachache, etc.
She has cried a few times even when just talking about school. We have seen her have a couple big meltdowns in the morning at school, not wanting to leave her dad and me. This has never happened before. She has never had anxiety about leaving us. When we talk about why she gets upset, she says she "doesn't want to leave us" and "it's just so big," and she did tell us a boy hit her on the playground. -- Concerned
Answer: Your daughter is in a new educational environment and still needs time to adjust. Adjustment is not easy for anyone, and anxieties definitely do increase as children get older. It is unfortunate that your daughter was hit on the playground, and this situation was apparently not resolved.
You need to delve a bit deeper into why she is now so reluctant to go to school. Is it the hitting incident, or more of an adjustment to the new environment? The hitting incident should be reported to the teacher, who can reassure your child that measures have been taken so it will not happen again.
You also need to talk to the teacher about your child's adjustment to school. A friendly greeting every day from the teacher and a lot of encouragement could make school more welcoming. It also might be more enjoyable if your child could go to school with a friend and even sit by the friend in the classroom.
If simple measures like these are not effective, a talk with the school counselor is in order.