DEAR ABBY: This is in response to "Had It in San Diego," who complained about the unruly behavior of her nephews. You replied, "Imagine when the 6-year-old must be in a structured environment such as school."
Well, Abby, I teach first grade and can TELL you what happens. When it's time to open the reading book, point to the words and follow along, the well-behaved child will do just that and will soon be reading. The poorly behaved child may look elsewhere, spin his book or make faces. He will need more direction and will probably be learning-delayed, even though he may be quite able.
The well-behaved child will take turns, follow school rules, and interact positively with other students and adults. The poorly behaved child may hit others, throw tantrums or damage school property, which will result in many telephone calls home, detention, referrals to the principal and other negative consequences.
Students who are successful in first grade are usually the successes in fifth grade. They have developed good school habits.
If I could give parents one piece of advice, it would be: Teach your children what "no" means. Do not give in! Your child needs self-control, language and effort to achieve success. -- A TEACHER WHO CARES ABOUT THE FUTURE
DEAR TEACHER: Thank you for a compelling letter. Extremely bright children may act out because they are bored. And, of course, a child who consistently misbehaves should be evaluated to rule out attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). I hope your letter will serve as an admonition to parents who shrug off their children's misbehavior as "kids will be kids."
Children need to be prepared before they are thrust into a classroom environment, but they cannot know what they have not been taught. Among the lessons they should master are respect for other people, sharing, making good use of spare time, how to channel their aggressions and how to tolerate a degree of frustration.