6-year old doesn't like school

My son has gone to pres-school, kindergarten, and is now in 1st grade.  He was almost held back in kindergarten for not "showing" his teacher what he knew.  He tends to be very quiet and reserved, but likes to have a good time.  We've now been in school for 1 month.  He has been in trouble 4-5 times already for talking and messing around with other kids.  He is not paying attention in class, being disruptive, and not staying focused when they want him to.  He has no disorders or anything.  He wants to stay home everyday and constantly wants to know when the next day off is.  I don't know what to do to help him turn around in school.  Please help!

[specialmom]

1st grade can be a big transition from kindergarten that still has some play involved.  1st grade is a little more serious.  
However, I find it interesting that you say he has no delays at all.  Has he been evaluated?  I saw in an earlier post that his school wanted him to be evaluated for ADD and you took offense to this (so your post read to me and maybe I am wrong.)  Is it your believe that teachers just don't want to deal with difficult children?  Well,  if there is one or two kids in a class of 20 that stand out due to their behavior----  a teacher can be a good judge of what is typical overzealous boy stuff and what is problematic.  So your son may not be ADD at all, I think I would take the approach of trying to work with the school to help your child.  Labels that are given in confidence by a team at school are used to provide assistence to your child in his learning process.  For example, if your son requires running around or physical activity (as my son with a mild delay called sensory integration disorder does) to function well in school----  they must allow this to happen during the day for him.  I personally don't care what they call his need as long as he gets the service.  And believe you me, if he continues to have bad behavior at school----  he'll be labeled in other ways---- trouble maker, difficult, outcast (as peers usually shy away from kids like this), etc. that will make his self esteem nose dive.
So I don't know what is going on with your son, but I think a good place to start is to problem solve with the people that he deals with every day instead of fighting them on trying to help him.  (by the way, I've NEVER medicated my son if that is your concern.  You can still address a problem without medication.)  
I really do wish you luck and am not trying to be hard on you.  I'm just a parent that has been there (early in the preschool years), did intervention, and now have a kid who is doing awesome in school.  My best advice is to embrace whatever it takes to help your child.  Good luck.

[Sandman2]

Just being curious when is your son's birthday.  6 is a bit young for first grade (depending on the birthday).  Some times boys are not quite ready.  Typically, Aug, Sept., Oct. can have the most trouble.  The advice given above is very good.  If he is age appropriate, then what specialmom said is worth listening too.

[margypops]

It seems as if a talk with the teacher may be in order to find out exactly what is happening , quiet and reserved is okay isnt it,talking and messing around' well most children of 6 are talkative,and what messing around does he do, it would be hard to keep a 6 year old sat still,  it seems that the teacher could lighten up a bit, I dont think your son has anything complicated going on ....;..

[lois62]

Hello, you are fighting that your son has no disorders, but every single thing you listed he has problems are ADHD (or ADD, it's the same thing, I have it and so does my son) symptoms. Seems to me you don't want your son labeled because you are stuck in the pre-conceived notion that ADHD is a problem with behavior and not a problem with a chemical imbalance. Would you tell a diabetic they can "will" them selves to create and/or control insulin, or would you tell them to see a doctor and follow the advice? You'd tell them the second I'd hope, because believing they can will the sugar problem away can kill. I'm not saying ADHD is that sever, but think about it in the sense of helping your child deal emotionally with life. Low self esteem can result from untreated ADHD. And as stated above, medication is not always necessary, but do some research, I discovered a child's brain doesn't develop normally with out intervention from medication in a lot of cases. See a doctor and actually get him tested.