Not a joiner inner - should I be worried?

[MiaSparrow]

Hi all,

looking for some friendly advice: DD's always been a bit of a free spirit (to put it mildly), she's so bright and creative and has the most amazing imagination.

But she's nearly three and increasingly, I'm finding she's joining in less at playgroup etc and it's getting to the stage where she can be quite disruptive in her little dance class. Often she's the only one not joining in and I'm sorry to say, she can be a bad influence - if there's a sniff of naughtiness, she's on it, and quite often she's the one instigating it. I know she's still very young and maybe I'm reading too much into this but surely there has to come a point where it's just not cute anymore.

She's never been to nursery and I'm wondering if this is part of the reason she is the way she is. (On the flip side she's totally secure and really confident).

Anyone else's LO like this? Do free spirited toddlers conform just a little bit once they're at school?

Thanks! If I'm honest, sometimes it makes me wonder about possible ADD/ADHD

She sounds like a normal 3 year old. I wouldn't dream of expecting my 4 year old to join in until recently and that was after he'd been at preschool for a while. My 2 year old goes to gumnastics but to be honest she just does her own thing.

Does she WANT to go to playgroup and dance class? If she doesn't want to, and isn't happy there, maybe that has something to do with it.

Obviously, she has to conform when older at school, but maybe try giving her the choice for now? Children have very little 'control' over their own lives, so I think it an advantage if they can have some opportunities to make little decisions on their own.