Why do so many parents say their kids are bored at school?

[Anonymous]

I have heard parents say this in preschool, elementary and now middle school. The worst behaved kid at our preschool was supposedly bored so he acted out and hit and bit classmates. I have a kindergarten child who loves kindergarten and I find it insulting when parents say their kid is bored. They are implying that their kid is so much smarter and more advanced than the other kids in the class. I have 3 kids and they all do well in school. They are happy and don’t complain they are bored. They get good grades with minimal effort.

[Anonymous]

Oh here we go again.

All sorts of children are bored in school, OP, from the ones with low attention span and little academic interest to truly gifted children who are not provided enrichment to their level.

AND there are children who have ADHD/LDs + giftedness, and who are very challenging to slot anywhere.

You're looking for an echo chamber of "stupid parents thinking their kid is gifted when he's not just because he can't focus". Have at it.

But the world is a more complicated place.

[Anonymous]

Why aren't you just happy that you have 3 smart easy kids? Why crap on the rest of us who don't have perfect kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh here we go again.

All sorts of children are bored in school, OP, from the ones with low attention span and little academic interest to truly gifted children who are not provided enrichment to their level.

AND there are children who have ADHD/LDs + giftedness, and who are very challenging to slot anywhere.

You're looking for an echo chamber of "stupid parents thinking their kid is gifted when he's not just because he can't focus". Have at it.

But the world is a more complicated place.

Op here. Actually I was just feeling insulted because my perfectly bright 5yo is learning to read in an age appropriate manner and having a wonderful time in kindergarten and feel it is rude for parents to say their kid is so bored because they know everything and not learning anything.

[Anonymous]

They have made school a lot more boring than when we were in school. Part of it is the legacy of NCLB. I'm not sure that explains all of it, but however it happened, school is a lot more boring than it used to be 10 or 20 years ago.

I feel sorry for our kids, yours and mine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why aren't you just happy that you have 3 smart easy kids? Why crap on the rest of us who don't have perfect kids?

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

And I remembered the mom from preschool who used to say her 3yo was so bored in preschool because he was so smart and so advanced. At the same time, we all tried to avoid the kid because he was always hitting other kids. At every birthday party, the parents had to hover to protect their own kid from the hitting kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh here we go again.

All sorts of children are bored in school, OP, from the ones with low attention span and little academic interest to truly gifted children who are not provided enrichment to their level.

AND there are children who have ADHD/LDs + giftedness, and who are very challenging to slot anywhere.

You're looking for an echo chamber of "stupid parents thinking their kid is gifted when he's not just because he can't focus". Have at it.

But the world is a more complicated place.

Op here. Actually I was just feeling insulted because my perfectly bright 5yo is learning to read in an age appropriate manner and having a wonderful time in kindergarten and feel it is rude for parents to say their kid is so bored because they know everything and not learning anything.

It's not about you, OP.

[Anonymous]

Because some kids learned to read before K. For whatever reason. Some because they wanted to. So in K they are in the highest reading group and the teacher is not paying attention to them and they zone out when the teacher explains what the word THE sounds like.
My first grader did not know how to read in K. So she enjoyed that and got to progress some. Same with math. But now in K they are doing almost the same stuff as middle of K and yes she is bored. She knows the methods for adding single digit numbers and decomposition of numbers up to 10. She paid attention last year and has a good memory. She asks to play math games ay home and do word problems and other things. So we do fun math at home. Its not that shes way smarter, she has a good memory and learned last years material when it was given and is curious about math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And I remembered the mom from preschool who used to say her 3yo was so bored in preschool because he was so smart and so advanced. At the same time, we all tried to avoid the kid because he was always hitting other kids. At every birthday party, the parents had to hover to protect their own kid from the hitting kid.

Exactly. Tons of these “bored” kids are really just behavior issues the parents are trying to justify. That said, my bright kids were never bored so I get what your mean. We have to recognize your kids and mine fall into a sweet spot for school success and we should just count our blessings and not worry about others.

[Anonymous]

I hear you OP. But as the parent of a much older child (though I don't know how old your kids are) this is real.

My child was "bored" in PreK and K and the school reacted appropriately by sending them up to the next grade during nap time for acceleration. A year later that unfortunately resulted in us moving school districts for formalized enrichment opportunities, which our child was granted and have been a godsend, though sometimes they are still bored. They are now in HS. So in our case, boredom was correctly identified, remedied, and addressed for the most part. If it had not been I think my child would have hated school and perhaps they would have acted out. I don't know.

Other kids might be bored because they can't focus. Or because they already know the content or because don't like it. Or whatever. But to say that you're offended that some kids are legitimately bored? As if that implies your kids are dumb? Which I am sure they are not! That's really short sighted. It is actually some kids' actual experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh here we go again.

All sorts of children are bored in school, OP, from the ones with low attention span and little academic interest to truly gifted children who are not provided enrichment to their level.

AND there are children who have ADHD/LDs + giftedness, and who are very challenging to slot anywhere.

You're looking for an echo chamber of "stupid parents thinking their kid is gifted when he's not just because he can't focus". Have at it.

But the world is a more complicated place.

Op here. Actually I was just feeling insulted because my perfectly bright 5yo is learning to read in an age appropriate manner and having a wonderful time in kindergarten and feel it is rude for parents to say their kid is so bored because they know everything and not learning anything.

Wait until you see people buying nicer houses and cars than you have. Or telling you that their kids are applying to different colleges. Hoo Boy!

[Anonymous]

What’s your theory, op? That they are lying about being bored? Or they are not bored but simply miscreants, unlike your eager and non-bored child?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And I remembered the mom from preschool who used to say her 3yo was so bored in preschool because he was so smart and so advanced. At the same time, we all tried to avoid the kid because he was always hitting other kids. At every birthday party, the parents had to hover to protect their own kid from the hitting kid.

Exactly. Tons of these “bored” kids are really just behavior issues the parents are trying to justify. That said, my bright kids were never bored so I get what your mean. We have to recognize your kids and mine fall into a sweet spot for school success and we should just count our blessings and not worry about others.

+1. I think this was OP's point....trying to justify hitting and biting by saying your kid is bored? It's absurd. If your child's reaction to being bored is to hit or bite, then the problem is a child that is hitting and biting, not a child that is bored.

[Anonymous]

Well it is school. Like most of what they are doing wouldn’t help the first choice of any kid but it’s what you have to do.