Our 4 year old child just started kindergarten. He's the youngest kid in his class. There's a kid on our street that he has played with this past summer who's a little older than him, yet they played a lot. Now that school has started, this kid wants nothing to do with our son. Our little boy doesn't understand why his friend doesn't want to sit with him on the bus or talk to him at the bus stop or play with him after school. He's such a nice boy and always happy and smiling - it seems like his friend, and others at the bus stop, are picking on him and he doesn't recognize it. I want to give him the independence to work through these things on his own, but I know his feelings are getting hurt. There are other kids that he can talk to but he's become so attached to this other boy that he doesn't consider other kids. I don't know how to explain this to him so he understands. How do I get him to leave this boy alone and look for other friends to play with? Is he just not mature enough for kindergarten?