Excitable/strong willed/emotional DD starting reception this week

[Allegrogirl]

DD1 will be 5 in October. She is very tall and articulate but can be a real whinging baby at times. She can be life and soul of the party, fun, imaginative, chatty one minute and a complete oversensitive drama queen the next. She can seem very confident and grown up but actually she is very hard on herself and gives up on things very easily.

I'm so worried about her in reception. Not everyone will want to be her best friend and this will hurt like hell. She will get frustrated that she can't do everything first time and some people will be better than her. She will have the occasional melt down when the noise and stimulation gets too much.

I know she needs to learn some hard lessons for herself but can I do anything to support or, or is it time for pfb to just get on with it?

Do you know for sure that she will be like this - has she been to preschool, for example, or does she have "form" for melting down in other non-home environments?

I ask because my oversensitive drama queen DD apparently never melts down, or whinges, or says "I can't do it, it's too hard" at school, even though she does it all the bloody time quite frequently at home. I know this not just because it has not been reported, but because I specifically asked at parents' evening, and her teachers face proved to me that she is quite a different child at school.

Did your DD1 attend nursery/pre-school? If so, then a lot of your fears will have probably been addressed in the last year of pre-school. Your DD probably has a lot more of the tools to cope than she lets you know about! If you have been happy with preschool/nursery and your DD's happiness there, then I am sure that once she has adapted to the new surroundings/environment/staff/children/hours (which looks a huge amount to cope with when written down) she will sail through. She certainly sounds a lot like both my DD's. My DD2 is starting school this week and she only turned 4 a week ago. I am sure hope that all will be fine with my baby DD2 eventually

DD has been at nursery pt since she was a baby. In the preschool room nearly two years. She does have meltdowns and a cuddle and a bit of time on a cushion in the quiet area usually sorts her out. Occasional incident form due to hitting. The nursery staff were used to her and there was enough of them to have a chat and a cuddle. I'm worried she won't have somewhere to go and chill out at school.

stealhsquiggle you may be right about the whinges and drama queen behaviour being for my benefit. Had several fusses at the park today about not being able to climb things but she climbs perfectly well (heart attack inducing) when I'm not watching.

alaro my DD2 will be just 4 when she starts school. I'm less worried about her as she is less extreme in her emotions than DD1, and more biddable (at the moment anyway).

I'm sure it will be fine. The teacher will have seen it all before, right?

Definitely