Just saw the post and wanted to add a few things.
Both my kids were shy and when they started school, both had socially challenges in terms of making friends and participating in class discussions. I have been trying several things over the years and I have to say that practice in different social situations helped the most.
I tried to provide them lots of social interaction so that they can practice their social skills. I invited class friends for a playdate. (Sometimes, even they didn't invite my kids back and I invited them again and again. :-) ) I invited one child at a time so that it's not overwhelming. I tried to arrange birthday parties and include all class friends. When it's school break, I tried to send them to camps, so they will be in a group of kids that they have never seen. Interacting with different kids will help them in different ways vs playing with the same kids over and over again. I started to send them with school bus (social interaction opportunity of 15-20 mins every weekday). I also tried to empower their independence. Coming from our culture, I figured I was doing too much for my kids and doing all those things slowed them down to learn to do many things by themselves. When I drop them off to classes, I started to send them from my car instead of walking them to their class. When we were in café or so, I gave them the money and asked them to go buy a food/drink themselves. In short, I took each and every opportunity to practice their social skills.
In short, I would suggest lot of practice this year. You have plenty of time until next year :-)
Last edited by Leyla; 12/07/15 11:28 AM.
