I don’t know what I’m looking for here. Perhaps advice from someone who has a similar DD and what helped.
I’ll start off by saying she’s brilliant and lots of fun. She makes friends easily and we have a great relationship which is why I’m so upset that I end up shouting at her.
The main challenges are: She has quite volatile relationships with the boys in her class - she’s fine with the girls but I’ve had a few calls since the beginning of year 3 where she has gotten into disagreements that have got out of hand.
Lots of things at home are met with ‘no’. Even fun things - I have to persuade her to do everything. Reading is a struggle every evening - there is no joy through reading for her. She doesn’t sit still and get into the story, constantly fiddling or just starting talking about something random.
It is a battle to get her dressed ready for school or bed everyday. I have to keep reminding her what she’s doing otherwise she’ll just jump about the place instead.
It’s the same with eating. If I put a plate of food in front of her she’ll just ignore it until I say eat your tea. Then I’ll have to remind her to keep eating about 10 times otherwise she just wouldn’t.
When she was younger she wasn’t into toys at all. People used to laugh when I said she didn’t play with toys as though I was making it up but it was true. She just wanted to play with me or ‘help’ me do things around the house. No independent play at all. She still doesn’t do anything by herself (would never just get out some paper and draw something for example).
She has poor short term memory and is being assessed for dyslexia at school.
The exhausting thing is that I find I’m constantly reminding her to do anything. She’ll only do things when I eventually lose my temper. It’s driving me mad! I’ve tried rewards but with limited success.
Does this ring any bells for anyone? Has anyone got any advice about how I can get her to use her initiative?
Thanks.