He will be 4 near the end of August and will be full-time in Reception before the end of September. I think he'll deal with it fine, he's already in the school nursery and his confidence has come on loads (he was quite a shy toddler). He is happy and has friends who are moving up with him.
But he just never ever stands up for himself - there's just no assertiveness there at all. He will let a child hit him and not tell the teacher - he will let another child take a toy away from him. Last week a little boy who was quite a lot smaller than him was trying to take his watch off his wrist and he was just standing there letting him do it! He is very non-aggressive and doesn't hit back, which is a good thing, but I'd like him to stand up for himself a bit so that he doesn't become an easy target.
At this point he hasn't encountered enough of this sort of thing for it to be a problem, and he isn't old enough to understand it on a level where it would affect his self-esteem, but looking at his class this morning there are some boys who are much older, bigger and more confident than he is and it's got me worrying. I've told him over and over again that if someone hits him or is nasty to say NO and if it carries on to tell the teacher, but I know he doesn't do it.
Is there any way I can help him become more assertive before September? Would role-playing at home help maybe? I'm not assuming any of the other children will be a problem, but if they are I'd like him to have the skills to deal with it.
Or am I worrying over nothing?
TIA 