Pre-School and Daycare

Is DS just not a morning person?

Hi girls.  Most mornings we have to pry our almost 5-yo DS out of bed to go to school at 6am.  Sometimes he wakes up on his own.  We let him watch cartoons while he gets dressed, but often he is so absorbed (and sleepy) in the show that we need to keep reminding him to get dressed.  Lately we have been pausing the tv until he gets dressed.  Most mornings he whines and says he "can't do it" even though he can.  We have the exact same routine every morning and have been doing this for about 2 years.  I thought it would be better by now, but it actually seems to be getting worse.  Do you think we should just not do cartoons in the morning?  Its sort of his reward for getting dressed.  Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. 

 Also, on a side note, DS still doesn't know his letters very well.  Its getting better, but he just doesn't seem interested.  Every time I try to work with him he asks, "Are we done yet?"  I just feel like he should know most of them by now and be able to write his name.  He can spell his name, and identify the letters and put them in the correct order but can't write it.  Should I be concerned?

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Re: Is DS just not a morning person?

  • imagehocus:
    When does he wake up on weekends? If he's sleeping past 7 when he doesn't have to wake up then I think you need to move your bedtime up to get more sleep. Otherwise then yes I'd have him get dressed and watch cartoons after he's dressed. We do that now and it works pretty well.
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    This. As for the letters I'd ask his teacher.




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  • What does his teacher say about writing letters? My oldest traced letters in his first year of preschool and started practicing his name in his 2nd year of preschool. In kindergarten he was able to write all the letters. My middle son can write all his letters... does not trace. But only know how to spell his name, and his brothers names! As for waking up. We don't watch tv in the morning. We kind of fell easily into our routine, even though most days they would much rather play than get dressed. Bfast, brush teeth and get dressed, and then if they have time they get to play for a few mins. This mostly motivates them to get dressed quickly. I feel like they would get to absorbed in tv and not be able to stay on task.
    Boy 1 2/06 - Boy 2 12/07 - Boy 3 9/09
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  • We got DS an alarm clock.  He is a bear to wake up and is VERY crabby in the mornings.  With the alarm clock, I let it 'buzz' until he wakes up and calls for me to shut it off.  By that time, he's awake and will get out of bed.  Some mornings it takes up to 5-10 minutes.  Also, we don't turn on the tv or let him play with toys until he's ready for school.  Once he's ready, he can play until we have to leave.  Sometimes he gets upset if he can only play for a few minutes, so I tell him if he gets ready quicker, he'll have more time to play.

     

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  • DD is grumpy in the am. We have a hallway light I turn on when I wake them. It let some light in while they are getting adjusted. I sing a good morning song while I rub her back. I wake DS in the same way and turn on his light. I go back to DD's room and turn on her light. Kids pee, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush teeth THEN watch TV while DD does a breathing treatment. They'd never get around if the tv was on 1st thing. I'd talk to his teacher about his letters and interest level.
    Wendy Twins 1/27/06. DS and DD
  • On school mornings we do not allow DS to watch tv. The morning is often rushed and I don't want tv to compete with breakfast, getting dressed, etc. DS either just doesn't watch a show that day or sometimes watches one in the evening. We do have a rule that as soon as DS gets up he goes pee and gets dressed. Some mornings he fights it and wants to stay in pjs, but we keep it consistent and then it goes smoothy.

    As a former teacher who had an obsession I could write pages about how great it would be for 4/5 year olds to write their names.... that being said I won't :) If he is not yet ready to write than work on other things to build fine motors. Get a small knife and let him spread his own jam. Color together. Not scribble, but focused coloring. Work with beads and stickers. It all helps! And work with him to write his name... with only the first letter a capital. 

    And don't make letter learning a chore, but part of everyday. See a stop sign and talk about the letters. Learn the letters of family member's names. Label things in your house with the first letter they start with.

     

    Kumon makes great workbooks too.... DS loves them!

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  • I would definitely get rid of TV in the morning. I think it's making it harder to get out the door. Is there any way you can get him to bed earlier? That might help because having trouble getting up is a sign of sleep deprivation. He also may not be a morning person. I would have a very hard time being up at 6 every day and so would my kids. I would definitely try to get him to bed earlier and see if that helps. My kids need 11-12 hours of overnight sleep every night or they're miserable, so if we had to get up at 6 they would need to be asleep by 7 at the latest.
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  • DD is a crab if we wake her up and have to get her out of bed right away.  We found if we open the curtains, leave the door open and try to be a bit louder 15ish minutes before the time we'd normally have to wake her up that she wakes up on her own and gets out of bed when she's ready.  She's much less of a bear when we do that.
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  • Thanks everyone for the great advice.  I really think we need to decrease tv time altogether, but it is going to be difficult to completely do away with it in the morning.  It will have to be a transition.  I think slowly waking him up is a good idea.  The alarm clock might be good, too.  I will talk to his teacher about his letters.  He plays with beads and blocks.  He's not interested in puzzles or coloring really, but LOVES legos. Does that count as fine motor?
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