Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Any others with a child struggling with year 2?

3 replies

Ifyoureoffering · 06/11/2023 20:17

My DD is shy and has found it hard to go to school from reception. She's finding her feet in some ways but is also struggling with it still.

She's got a set of friends now but she's telling me she falls out with her best friend daily. Then they make up.

She is quite tired and finding it all a big step up still.

Anyone else had similar experiences? Does it get better?

OP posts:
Labraradabrador · 06/11/2023 21:57

I have noticed that friendship dynamics have changed this year - y1 friendship was more of a sliding scale of how much I like to play with so and so, and everyone played with everyone to some extent, but now there are slightly more intense 1:1 relationships, and a bit more social sorting into smaller friendship circles. We haven’t had drama per se, but there is a little bit of cattiness that is creeping in.

academically this year has been easier for us than last, but we put a lot of work into the end of y1 and over the summer to address challenges and make sure we started y2 with a plan and good support system. Y1 for us sounds similar to what you are experiencing now - dc exhausted and emotional all the time, felt like struggled with classroom demands, etc. we are getting support for potential neurodiversity for one dc, but honestly it was tough for her twin as well.

This year we stripped back extracurriculars and have kept weekends pretty boring (mostly just hanging around house and doing low key activities) so that they have time to recharge between weeks. I was also really diligent about keeping up a school work practice over the summer (30mins a day), which I think helped maintain routine (important for my nd dc), but also helped stem learning loss and meant they both slid back into the y2 curriculum. I plan on doing the same over Christmas - was much looser over 2 weeks of half term and re-engaging with school was noticeably more difficult

I think many children grow and develop in spurts, which doesn’t always align with the steady progression of curriculum. We have lots of examples where one dc has struggled with something for ages, and then seems to click and also leap ahead in a matter of days.

JustWingItLifeEyelinerEverything · 07/11/2023 10:42

It is very common that children change friend in the primary school. You cannot guarantee for her more stability in that. Some kids are not bothered to change friends and see it as shopping in the toy shop, some are getting attached as they are more emotionally capable.
What you can do is to give her your support and emotional stability in you, at home.
Also, it is a good idea to develop more local frienships after school- neighbours's kids or maybe your friend from work has a girl her age and so on. The more companionship she has outside of school the less she will be invested at school in random kids.

Ifyoureoffering · 07/11/2023 21:09

Thank you for your replies, it really helps.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread