Teacher-Student Relationships: Ages 6-10

Detective Duty

When a grade-schooler complains about a super-strict teacher, don’t impulsively jump to calling the principal or filing a complaint, says child and adolescent psychologist Kristen Wynns, founder of Wynns Family Psychology in Cary. Instead, go into detective mode: Gather information about the conflict in a log. After a few weeks of documenting the problem, request a meeting with the teacher to talk about a solution before you consider alternative options like changing teachers.

Sometimes, there’s more to the “mean teacher” situation than meets the eye. Zimmer’s stepson, Harrison, felt targeted by his teacher, but it turned out that he had undiagnosed attention deficit disorder. “Once the problem was treated, he made progress in leaps and bounds, and realized that it wasn’t a matter of the teacher not liking him, but his own perceptions about his lack of progress in school,” says Zimmer. 

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