Would this type of friendship worry you?

[workingonitagain]

Ds is in reception. Very outgoing makes friends easily and is very popular. A couple of year 6 boys seem very friendly towards his which he likes. He got xmas cards from them they run up to him and ask him if he wants a hug and today while walking to the playground after school , they came up to him and genuinely looked happy to see him and started asking him if he was going to miss them when they leave school then wanted to play with him. I watched them and they seemed to play fine but. The fact that my ds is very keen doesn't surprise me but the fact how keen they are just baffles me as they seem normal boys who play football and seem quite outgoing and nice too so what do they want from a 5 year old? I thought they are at a stage in their life where age matters so much to them?! Am i just being paranoid or making a bigger thing out of this. I always ask him if they are nice to him or if they ever make him do things he doesn't want but he always say no

Does your son have an older sibling (maybe in y6?) or do any of the boys have a sibling in your son's class?

I have a son in y9 (secondary) and another in y4 (primary) and many of the current y5 and y6 remember my oldest from primary. My younger son often has y5/6 asking him how ds1 is.

I would only worry if your son isn't making friends with other reception children (ie only plays with these y6s)

Unless there is more to it I think you are making more of this than it is. They just sound like nice kids who like your DS. They probably enjoy being the "big kids" and looking after the little ones.

No enderwoman they don't have younger siblings in my ds class and ds is my eldest.
Thanks comingoutofhibernation that is something i could believe as the way they speak to him sounds a bit like that.
Its just small things like one them always saying when they say goodbye that "i will try and come and see you tomorrow again" just seems far too keen for a yr 6 to a reception child

Ds1 was like this. His is quite a small school so the different year groups seem to mix much more than I remember from my day. Our school actively encourages this kind of thing - the older ones taking care of the little ones, helping them put on their coats, get changed for PE, cut up their dinner etc - so could it have followed on from that? I think if it were girls you wouldn't be so concerned. Boys can be caring towards younger children too you know!

Our school operates a buddy system where a couple of y6 kids go into foundation at lunchtime and play with them. Some of our y6 boys are fond of our little foundation children because they think they are cute and good fun and they like being caring and responsible for them.

?es same here and that is where it started i know

Our school actively encourages cross year friendships while our old one only encouraged cross-key stage friendships.

At our school y6 take it in turns to be on duty at playtime and talk to the kids on the friendship bench (place you go when you have nobody to play with) and run the playground games area. (What's the time Mr Wolf? Type games) It's one of those schools where you could probably do one of those 3 degrees of separation game for any 2 children.

I understand your concerns, but it seems sad that this modern world can often put an 'unhealthy' slant onto things, that in all probability, are entirely innocent.

Perhaps, consider the personality, academic ability, and range of interests of each of the boys. Is there some common link the older boys might share with your DS?

Also, how large is the school? Very small schools tend to have much closer contact with the various Year groups, almost to the extent that in the playground, there hardly seems to be a range of ages.

But I also accept that 'unhealthy' things can, in very exceptional circumstances, reveal themselves, with possibly unfortunate results, and very, very rarely tragic outcomes.

I would be interested to hear more about the the school, and the 'character' of the boys.

It's normal, honest!! and lovely.

year 6s often love the little ones. It's their last gasp of childhood before they go off to the big scary world of high school. They are encouraged by school to be role models and to look after the young ones often, too. The kids who don't go on y6 residential often spend the whole week helping out with little ones.

There was a badly behaved girl at DS school who got to play with Reception as a reward for good behaviour.

My little ones & my yr6s have all had relationships like this. More often yr1s because reception tend to be more scared of yr6s.