Advice for a Mom Whose Child Refuses to Go to School
I received a question from a mother whose child is not attending school, so I’d like to share my answer.
Q: Even if my child is not going to school, is there an effective way to encourage her to wake up by 8:00 a.m. every morning?
A: In a case like this, I don’t think it is good to leave everything up to the child. Eventually, her days and nights may become completely reversed.
In severe cases, it may even lead to narcolepsy.
In fact, one of the students at my school developed narcolepsy and began suddenly falling asleep in the classroom and even on the hallway floor at school.
Human beings are free, but there are some things children need to understand:
- As long as we have a physical body, we cannot truly be free to do absolutely anything we want.
- By the end of junior high school, children need to develop healthy eating and lifestyle habits to keep their bodies healthy, as well as the basic knowledge needed to live in society.
- By around high school age, they need to develop specialized knowledge and skills to live in society.
- Otherwise, they may end up living a restricted life as adults.
- Going to school is a relatively easy way to develop these things. But if a child chooses not to go to school, she needs to make her own rules and follow them.
Please talk seriously with your child about these things.
But first of all, I would like parents themselves to think seriously about this.
If it were my child, I would explain the things above and start a lifestyle where we both wake up together at 5:00 a.m.
She is probably not getting enough exercise either, so I would exercise with her in the morning.
After that, we would sit at the same table and learn something together. I would have her study or read a book.
If she did not get up, I would wake her up no matter what.
I would make this agreement with her beforehand. Once we made the promise, I would make sure she kept it.
By the time children reach high school age, their sense of self becomes stronger and they often stop listening to their parents, so I believe the years up through junior high school are an important opportunity.
Golden time for learning
Continuing this kind of lifestyle may be hard for parents as well, but humans are diurnal, so the morning is the golden time when the brain works best.
Just after waking up, the brain is not tired yet, and after exercise, blood is circulating well through the brain, so it is a perfect time for learning.
This can be a great time not only for your child, but also for moms to learn knowledge that will be useful in the future.
If you are reading this blog, please give it a try!
