My 4.5 year old boy has been in a pre-k program since September. Starting last week, we started to get daily reports from school about his struggles throughout the day. The over-arching theme is that he is refusing to participate in activities he doesn't want to do and becoming overstimulated with peers leading to a lot of breaks where he'll work by himself (up until now my understanding is these things were happening but they were able to redirect him). He already receives OT and Speech but no one really has any ideas for me why his behavior has suddenly escalated and what we can do about correcting it. This behavior is only happening at school. He is fine at home, at play dates, at sports, at after school care, etc. Has anyone else been through this before and what did you do to fix it?
u/Lanky_Highlight_9574
I have a 4 year old boy in pre-k (has a mid-fall birthday). Starting last week, he suddenly has started to act out at school. He's defiant when he doesn't want to do an activity, is sensitive to his peers actions, and gets upset easily when he doesn't get his way. He has been in the same program since the fall and already receives OT. Nothing has changed at home or school. He is his normal self at daycare, outside of school with his friends, in his extracurriculars, and at home. Last week we tried to talk to him about it and it seemed like his behavior was improving but this week he's started to have trouble again. Today he refused to participate in circle time, music class and got frustrated when playing with friends. His teacher thinks it's developmental and he's testing boundaries because he's struggling to assert his independence in a more structured environment. My question is, is there a way to work on structure at home? Or do we just have to survive this phase? Or should I be seeking out a specialist?