My grandson is six years old now. He will be in 1st grade this year. He went to a special preschool program at the Elementary School since he was three.
We have found also that he lets it all go on us but when hes with others hes an Angel.
My daughter and grandson live with us.
He attended regular Kindergarten last yr.
He loved preschool and he loved Kindergarten. We had trouble with him also throwing a fix kicking screaming you name it. All because he didnt want to get dressed. My daughter waits till the last second to get up and is also in a bad mood because she is not a morning person. The more she told him to get dressed or said she was going to punish him. The more of a fit he would throw.
I get up with him in the morning because he is an early riser. Usually between 5:00am and 6:00. Occassionally like this morning 4:15 am. I finally started making a habit of getting him dressed before she gets up. I think he feeds off her anger and doesnt like to be pressured because shes in a hurry. If i ask im if hes ready or wants to get ready for school rather than telling him to do it. It works much better. I also got him to brush him teeth by teasing him and saying i was going to beat him brushing my teeth. He runs to the bathroom and i go to. He gets it done!
Most of the time i can talk calmly to him and try to get him to laugh then hes ready to do what i want.
On the sleeping; he was having a lot of trouble waking up and crying at night. It was like he was having nightmares. The Dr finally sugested Melatonin. It has been a lifesaver. He takes it at 6:45 pm and in just a few minutes is asking to go to bed. He stays asleep all night with the exception if he has had a very busy long day. Then sometimes he will cry and move around in bed alot. I would recommend anyone having this problem just try it. It works wonders for him.
She also bought a weighted blanket for him. If you dont know anything about the weighted stuff you cant just put something a little heavy on them. It goes by their weight. He loves his weighted blanket at night. I read recently that they are making them for adults now. So if you have trouble sleeping you might try one.
They are pretty pricey for children and adults though.
Sorry this is so long. Hope it helps someone.

My Grandson is 3yrs old he will be 4 in 2weeks ...my daughter struggles on most mornings..she has tried the visual schedules ...I think some morning's my grandson just dont want to wake up becouse hes sleepy and tired becouse he wakes up usually at 2:30am or 3:00am. Haveing a meltdown giving himself pressure on his chin ...he will usally cry and throw things and hit his head over and over again on his pillows and stand up and jump over and over again in an angry manner.we live upstairs and the niehbor has already complained ro us .so usally they get my grandson and take him for a long drive unril he falls asleep...so naturally i feel my grandson would not to get up to go to school ..but we notice if we use sensory freindly clothing. It tends to work ...try soft sweat pants and soft shirts that are tagless...Target now sells sensory clothing for kids. Made with soft material and no tags..maybe put your chids clothes in the dryer for a few minutes before you put it on him. Good luck ..some mornings will be worse than others and what works for one child may not work for another...but it does not hurt to try.

I also struggled making my 5 year old ready in the morning when she started school. It took forever for her to pick a dress and a toy to take with her which was absolutely a Must! After a while, i figured out that dressing her before bed and preparing her backpack with her toy saved a lot of time in the morning. Later on after we had school bus come and take her, and she loves a yellow school bus. So she wakes up right away if i say school bus is coming.

Ps. My 5 year old is also angel in front of stranger esp, teachers. I cant figure out why.

Token chart helped a lot-Avery my 5 year old son earns tokens (Star Wars themed) for each activity he does. He's supposed to only earn them if he gets the behavior done with bo problem behavior and within 5 seconds of being asked and indeoendtly-well that's the long term goal anyway. I pay him money for each token he earns. Then he gets to save up his money and spend on it his favorite toy-lego kits or other toy of high interest. I faded the token chart out. I am bringing it back to help motivate him again-we are having regression. I really don't want him to revert back to physically battling me when getting ready for school or bed. The chart also serves as a bedtime chart. Activities/tokens secured with Velcro. At bedtime he earns books. He also has a star chart for getting ready for bed on time, going to sleep without me in bed/room, and sleeping in bed until 6:30 am. Going to bring that one back into action too. He earns electronic device time on the weekend from that chart. Immediate Praise, repetition, finding out how to deal best with problem behavior....every day, every night.

Hi, I have gone through this with my daughter.
Every Sunday night we pick out clothes for five days, including socks and add a clothing pin with the words Monday - Friday.
I reliazed visual helps her, and to go through it with her on Sunday helps prepare for her week.
I tell her these are
The clothes to wear, and be on time so her brother is also not late for school.
So far she follows it, but I have to come dress her if she is running late.
I try to have her favorite breakfast item ready to motivate her to come downstairs and that has worked.
My next step is a reward for dressing herself for a week (she can do something fun Friday after school).