8 yr old started juniors lost confidence and timid in new class

[t875]

Hi, my daughter is 8 and started in junior school in sept just gone.

She had to get used to being without her best friends as they were split up.

She seems to be doing well academically and she 'was' doing ok socially. But we are finding now that she really has gone into herself and bothered about things more, unconfident and not herself.

What I dont think helps is she has half the class as bossy children which I think she is feeling intimidated by.

I'm going to get her to try martial arts or something like that as she will have to shout and also it will be good excersise!
also thinking of other clubs to get her involved in.

Play dates are a no go as she doesnt make the effort her end with the other children.

Were thinking of asking her to move class as i know the other class doesnt have such big characters, plus she has also mentioned that she doesnt feel she can approach the teacher about anything.

Anyone else find this when their child started junior school?

Thanks for any advise/help

BUMP

Has anyone gone through this atall? Just wondered if they settle down better as the year goes on.

Thanks for any replys

Why was she split from her friends? Does she still see them at lunch or playtime?
I would go in and see the teacher and find out what she is like in class-see if she will help to get her to interact with others.
I think you could persevere with having a friend home-encourage them by getting them involved in an activity like cooking.

She was split from the friends as they split the classes, she does play with them on and off at playtimes.
I spoke to our daughter tonight and said to her about our concerns and she said she is going to make more effort, she likes her class and she isnt going to let the bossier children influence how she feels etc.

I said if we dont see a change then were bring it up with the teacher

Yeah I will persevere with having someone round for her. I will try my best to sort something out for christmas holidays.

Thanks for your advise piscesmoon.

If she likes her class that is a positive start. I would see which DCs she likes best and have a quiet word with the teacher who could perhaps pair her with one of them to do special jobs etc.

No advice t875, but just wanted to say this sounds just like my dd1 who is also 8 and started in the juniors in September.

She goes to a really small school, so left her friends behind in the infants. The kids in her class go up to yr 6, so she also has a problem with bossy kids. And likewise, she doesn't make the effort with other children - maybe this is something to do with their ages?

Martial Arts would be a non-starter with my dd - she's not physical at all. It was her birthday last week so at the weekend we had 8 girls from her class over, so hopefully that might kick-start things for her. Otherwise, I don't know what we'll do - three months is an awful long time to be unhappy when you're little