4 year old with social problems

[dannyet]

Hi -  I have a 4 year old girl in my class who is having a hard time making friends.  There are only 5 girls in the class, but the other 4 do not want to play with her.  I can see many of the problems - she does not share and often takes things away from others, she still engages in parallel play, often playing in the center but not with the other children. she also has a speech delay.  I feel really badly for her, and I've tried to encourage the other girls to play with her, but so far , nothing has worked.  The epitomy of it all was that they all had a play date aftrer school this week, but left her out.  What can I do to help?  I have addressed this issue with mom, but she has not been very open about getting help.  Is there anything that I can do to help include her in the group?

[lildebs]

Maybe you can record some Ni Hao Kai Lan episodes and show them in class reiterating their messages for your students.

I <3 that program for my daughter. 'Cept when she starts singing to me "When your mad, here's what you got to do, first take a minute and calm, calm, down."

[margypops]

I applaud your caring attitude towards this little girl I also agree with allmymarbles that it could result in the opposite effect, this may solve itself as she gets older.Good luck its great to hear this kind of care from teachers ..

[allmymarbles]

Encouraging the others to play with her may result in the opposite. You simply cannot make people like each other. Is the little girl an only child? Only children don't have to share. I am not sure the little girl needs the sort of help you are suggesting. The mother may need to improve her parenting.

Having said that, some children, like some adults, are not very sociable. They lead perfectly normal lives and are happy in their own way. Is this true of the little girl? Does she make overtures and get rejected? Or does she not want to be included? Or is she slightly immature for her age? Sociability increases with age.