Is it possible that he is being bullied by another child? My nephew reacted the same when he was being teased by a kid in his class.He took his anger out on other kids who were easy targets for him. I would talk to your son and see if there is a problem with another child.

Hello everyone,
I just wanted to say thank you for all of you that responded to my cry for help. It is nice to know that there are people who care. Last night my boyfriend and I decided to do the reward poster. We are going to send one to school every week for his teacher to fill out. We have 9 rules: Keep your hands to yourself, listen, be respectful...things like that. If he gets 4 stars on each of his rules at the end of the week then we will give him a big star and he can trade it in for a treat (ice cream, pie)or he can save them and when he gets enough big ones he can trade all of them in for going to a movie or the arcade. He is super excited!!!
After talking with him we found out that the reason he hit the little girl was because she was singing the word SH*T over and over. He didn't like it so he punched her. It still isn't right but it made me feel better that she was saying that and not mary had a little lamb. (Wow that sounds bad to say but at least I'm being honest)

Dear Mariah,

Please don't spank or punish your boy when he gets home. He is too young to learn to behave well at school by you punishing him after the event when he gets home!

You can't control his behavior when you aren't there, this is not your fault and the teachers should be handling the behavior appropriately at school instead of trying to make you feel guilty.

I would suggest talking it through with your boy by discussing what are good ways to behave, praising him up no end when he is good at home and saying that when he can be a good boy like that at school you will be very proud of him.

Try a reward chart with pretty stars and treat him every day when he has a good day at school. In other words, focus on the good behavior to try and encourage it.

You can also work positively with your son on his listening skills, he is a great age to do this with.

Child Listening Skills article

Parenting support from Monicka and Cassie at www.kidsgoals.com.

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Good advice from Cassie there....
I would add, make an appointment to see the teacher to discuss how tey are managing the bahaviour..... As the bad behaviour is happening at school, the school needs to devise strategies to help him improve his behaviour. Is he rewarded at school for good behaviour? He could have a sticker chart at school. You can encourage him to behave at school but as you are not at school with him, the school has to devise ways of managing his behaviour.

Good luck

Here is a bit of professional advice. I am the author of Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves, and thought I would step in for a bit and help out.

Your child is expressing himself about some real difficulties. He may not want to be away from you in school altogether. If he must go to school, please find out what he is reacting to. Every child's behavior is a reaction to something that is hurting him. Punishment or spanking will only make things worse, and your child will lose trust in you.

Find out what isn't working for him in school. If the problem can be solved great. If not, consider a different school or delaying school for another year. Some children aren't ready until much later and pushing them ahead of themselves can do loads of harm.
Going to a school he loves when he is ready can make a huge difference.

Naomi Aldort Ph.D.