Hi All,
I only recently found this board and I think it's going to be a godsend for me, so thank you for being here! I would love some advice on how to proceed from here with my 7yo daughter. Sorry I don't have a signature yet, I will work on that!
So let's see. Besides being a sort of cranky baby (but not too bad) my daughter was totally normal and happy until about 3-4 when she began to hate going to preschool because she was feeling excluded by some girls she liked. When she hit kindergarten we sent her to a tiny private school and she literally cried and clung to me every day at drop off for pretty much the whole year. We started CBT that year in the winter but it didn't really help at all. Her behavior at school was pretty much okay, besides the separation stuff we had few concerns. When she hit 1st grade, same school and same multi-age classroom, she started to become oppositional with her teachers and downright mean to her classmates. She had difficulty making/keeping friends and "didn't care" how she was hurting other people. We re-started CBT with a new therapist and my daughter went for several months and we ended up stopping because it wasn't working (therapist agreed).
Besides school, my daughter is extremely mean to her 5 yo sister. She CAN be sweet, but when she wants to be mean she can be quite hurtful, physically and emotionally. She has been this way with her sister since day one. She is quite oppositional with my husband (her dad) and I, as well. Screaming, throwing huge fits, trying to hurt us, sometimes destroying things. She also has anxiety.
I decided to pull her out of school right before the end of 1st grade because I thought her behavior was so out of hand and decided to homeschool her for 2nd grade. We thought she would do well in a tiny homeschool program with a few other kids for a few hours a week but her behavior was so out of control (I think it was mostly fueled by her anxiety about the program) she was kicked out after eight classes. She is becoming impossible to homeschool at home, she screams and refuses to do anything and yesterday was throwing things at me. I don't *want* to homeschool her, but I am not sure where else to send her. Her little sister is in public school and when/if they have room for my 7 yo I want to try and get her in to the same school, but I fear it will be an absolute nightmare for her, us and the school. The one good thing is my daughter is smart and at or above grade level on all subjects.
We have had a psychiatrist tell us to put her on medications, and we are getting close to being okay with that. We have another appointment next week to talk more seriously about it.
So what am I hoping to get advice on? What are your thoughts/experiences on medicating a 7 yo? Anything else we can try? We have done therapists, parenting classes (and therefor a whole host of parenting changes that didn't help), seen an MD and an ND, done food allergy testing. Any thoughts on the right kind of schooling situation?
Thank you thank you thank you in advance. I really appreciate it.
I only recently found this board and I think it's going to be a godsend for me, so thank you for being here! I would love some advice on how to proceed from here with my 7yo daughter. Sorry I don't have a signature yet, I will work on that!
So let's see. Besides being a sort of cranky baby (but not too bad) my daughter was totally normal and happy until about 3-4 when she began to hate going to preschool because she was feeling excluded by some girls she liked. When she hit kindergarten we sent her to a tiny private school and she literally cried and clung to me every day at drop off for pretty much the whole year. We started CBT that year in the winter but it didn't really help at all. Her behavior at school was pretty much okay, besides the separation stuff we had few concerns. When she hit 1st grade, same school and same multi-age classroom, she started to become oppositional with her teachers and downright mean to her classmates. She had difficulty making/keeping friends and "didn't care" how she was hurting other people. We re-started CBT with a new therapist and my daughter went for several months and we ended up stopping because it wasn't working (therapist agreed).
Besides school, my daughter is extremely mean to her 5 yo sister. She CAN be sweet, but when she wants to be mean she can be quite hurtful, physically and emotionally. She has been this way with her sister since day one. She is quite oppositional with my husband (her dad) and I, as well. Screaming, throwing huge fits, trying to hurt us, sometimes destroying things. She also has anxiety.
I decided to pull her out of school right before the end of 1st grade because I thought her behavior was so out of hand and decided to homeschool her for 2nd grade. We thought she would do well in a tiny homeschool program with a few other kids for a few hours a week but her behavior was so out of control (I think it was mostly fueled by her anxiety about the program) she was kicked out after eight classes. She is becoming impossible to homeschool at home, she screams and refuses to do anything and yesterday was throwing things at me. I don't *want* to homeschool her, but I am not sure where else to send her. Her little sister is in public school and when/if they have room for my 7 yo I want to try and get her in to the same school, but I fear it will be an absolute nightmare for her, us and the school. The one good thing is my daughter is smart and at or above grade level on all subjects.
We have had a psychiatrist tell us to put her on medications, and we are getting close to being okay with that. We have another appointment next week to talk more seriously about it.
So what am I hoping to get advice on? What are your thoughts/experiences on medicating a 7 yo? Anything else we can try? We have done therapists, parenting classes (and therefor a whole host of parenting changes that didn't help), seen an MD and an ND, done food allergy testing. Any thoughts on the right kind of schooling situation?
Thank you thank you thank you in advance. I really appreciate it.