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| Making Friends in a New Class |
| Look for someone playing alone. When you’re on the playground wishing for a friend, look for someone in the same boat. Invite him to play a game with you or join in with whatever he is doing.
Remember that you can play with anyone on the playground—a playmate doesn’t have to be in your class. For some reason, children in the primary grades think they must play with children in their own class. Remind your child that she has friends on the playground from her last year’s class and that she is free to play with them.
Make a “playdate” for recess. If you love tetherball, invite another child at your table to play tetherball at recess. Don’t be too concerned if you get turned down. Try again another time with another child. Studies show that children who are skilled in the art of making friends get turned down a lot, but don’t let it bother or stop them.
Ask to join a game. In First Day Blues, Megan asks to join a volleyball game and then begins to make friends with the players. The key thing here is that she watches for a few minutes to see how the game is going (who is ahead, who is behind) and then waits for a pause in the play before asking the losing team if she can join in. (It irritates other children if someone wants to join the winning side or interrupts at a bad time during the game.) Some children will need coaching from a parent beforehand—in a public park, perhaps—in order to be able to discern these things.
Reprinted with permission from Parenting Press News for Parents, copyright © 2004. |
| See also: social skills, school, playground |
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