5-year old son too eager to please and not listening

[ChrisDad32]

My son just started Kindergarten and there are three things that worry me.  The first is he has trouble listening.  The teacher said she had to repeat something 9 times before he actually paid attention to listen to her.  The second is when it is time to be creative, he won't do it.  For instance, the teacher gives everyone paper and crayons or whatever to draw with and asks the class to draw something they did this weekend, or draw something they liked at recess, or whatever, and he won't do it.  He will sit there and draw nothing.  If you ask him to draw a slide, or draw something specific no problem.  I wonder if he just worries that he will feel that whatever he draws will be wrong.  The third thing is attachment issues.  I mean that he goes to an after school program, and the bus drops him off.  There is one other boy that takes the same bus and goes to the same program.  It was this boy's birthday last week and when my son found out the other boy would not be at after school care that afternoon he lost it.  He was crying and hugging the other boy.  He gets sad easy when things don't go his way.  We have spoken to the teacher, school counselor and his pediatrician.  I'm just a dad who is very worried about my son.  Anyone go through anything similar?

[RockRose]

I agree he sounds anxious,  but your story reminds me of this series of books called "uncoloring" books.  Instead of pictures to color,  each page has a prompt that says something like "what are these people pointing at?"  or "something's really scary under the bed" and you have to creatively draw something.  My kids loved that book,  but when I tried to get Tiger Cubs to do some for an activity many couldn't.  They sat there looking stumped.

I wonder if you can order one from Amazon,  or make up prompts of your own and practice creative thinking?

Secondly,  when you say he doesn't "listen" do you mean he doesn't obey?  Or do you sense he is actually unaware that the teacher has asked him to do something until she's said it 9 times?  At that age,  if you ask a child a question or tell them to do something that they don't know the answer to,  they'll often ignore you rather than ask for clarification.  

[ScalpMassager]

I think he'll also pick up cues from you (as you worry, he'll worry; if you're calm and confident, he'll pick up on some of that, too).

[AnnieBrooke]

He might be very anxious.  It's a lot to ask of a kindergartner, to go to school and have to also go to an after-care program.  (I know, many people have to do it.  But it can be hard on a sensitive kid.)  It is probably true that he is afraid of drawing something "wrong," you should talk to him about having three ideas in mind already, so when a free-drawing moment comes up, he will be prepared.  (A cat, dog, house, tree, flower ... but prepare in advance.)  Sometimes anxious kids don't attend to the teacher, but I would also get his hearing tested just in case.