Despite your child being shy it is still very important that they are able to build and maintain positive peer relationships in and out of school. Having a shy child should not mean loneliness and it should not be a barrier to making friends. What it does mean is that they mean need a helping hand from you.

• Help them interact with small groups of children or just one at a time. Ask your child to invite some classmates to your house after school or at the weekend.
• Introduce them to hobbies where they can make friends with children who enjoy the same activities. Any child will often find it easier to talk to someone when they are doing the same thing.
• Suggest to their teacher that they work in a team rather than working alone.
• Talk about who they are, who they could be friends with in their class, who do they like and who has shared interests?
• Reassure your child that having friends is important but no-one needs more than a few close friends!

What have you done to help your child?

My children seem to have a love/hate relationship with boundaries. They love them because they make them feel safe and secure but hate them because it means they can’t do whatever they want when they want.

Parents set boundaries so their children know what they can and cannot do, and they know what is expected of them. They are part of growing up. If there are no boundaries then there are no consequences and children need to learn about adhering to rules – because they are everywhere. If a child receives everything they want it can make them spoilt and unappreciative of simple pleasures.

There needs to be a balance. There needs to be enough boundaries for the child to feel secure but not too many so that it hinders the child to try new things.

Wouldn’t the world be dull if we were all the same?  - we looked the same, liked the same activities and even had the same opinions. No-one would ever argue or would they?

I contributed to an article last week about a woman who was bullied because of her red hair. It struck a chord with me because I have auburn hair and it is unusual but I was never picked on because of my hair but I knew several other children who were.

Read all about Rachel’s story http://www.allabroadbaby.com/bullying-will-names-never-hurt-them/3871 and my advice about what you can do if you are being bullied for being different and tell me what were your childhood experiences of not being the same as everyone else. What did your parents and teachers tell you to do?