Hellobee Boards

Bumping! How concerned did the day care people seemed?

Sorry no advise but if the daycare people don't seem concerned I probably wouldn't be unless you had a gut feeling ... then maybe I would take him to my pediatrician.

I would come up with how you would like the teacher to handle it in a positive way and have her handle it. If he's not doing it at home, there's not much more you can do. And WTF at a teacher being mad a 3.5 year old is disrespectful. I think that's pretty much the definition of 3.

Since you said you practiced positive parenting, you could say something like "Do you remember when you covered your ears when Mrs. X was talking to you today?" If he says he remembers you can ask him why & go from there. If he says he doesn't, you can just say "Mrs. X and I were concerned because it's not respectful or safe to cover your ears when an adult is speaking to you. Our job is to keep you safe and we need you to listen to help us do that."

I wouldn't make a huge deal out of it unless it becomes a chronic thing. If the teacher brings it up again, you could gently address how *she* is handling it in the moment. In the past, I've told teachers "Oh, we do XYZ at home, maybe you could try that?" (Even if its not an issue at home). I don't think it's very effective or fair for teachers to ask parents to "work on it at home" - it's the teacher's job to address behaviors when they arise. (I think it's different if a teacher informs parents of a behavior to make sure everyone is on the same page, but "work on it" always sounds like passing the buck to me)

ETA: if it becomes a reoccurring behavior, I'd do what Jessi suggested and teach him words to use instead.