Our extrovert, smart, sociable six year old has told me that she is lonely at school and wanders around the play graound by herself at playtime. She says other kids won't let her play with them. She says she is the weirdest girl in the class. This has surprised me because of what I said in the first sentence. Could it be that she is too much for some other students? A few months ago when school started, her teacher said she was very popular. I can't think what has happened, but of course it is very upsetting.

She may have done one thing that made her an outcast at the drop of a hat, like tell everyone she likes green instead of purple. In their world, the little things are such a big deal. I say wait it out, by next month maybe she'll be back to being a social butterfly again. If you think it's that serious than maybe you could make an appointment with the school councelor.

I have to say that a lot of 6 year olds say they have no one to play with. My youngest is 7 and I know she has told me that but when I have asked further I have discovered that no-one wanted to play her games and she didn't want to play the other's games ... I have spoken to lots of other parents whose kids have said the same. So investigate ... ask the teacher as well. My eldest was a bit of a loner in school...it made me feel awful. She is smart and was sociable out of school. Her teacher once helped at a church weekend away and was amazed to see my daughter in a different context where she was quite extrovert. I invited other kids round, encouraged her to be more friendly. I was told she was a loner and quiet at school up until she was 10. I had to back off and stop worrying ( the first thing I used to ask her when I collected her was "Who did you play with?" and when she was about 8, 9 she told me "Stop asking that. Is that the only thing you care about ?"). By 10 she had a great group of friends around her and I was being told she was a chatter box!! I could encourage her but I couldn't make friends for her. She did it herself in her own time. I'm sure your daughter will too.

Hi Claudia,
My heart goes out to you on this one. My little lad's going through a similar experience (but I suspect for different reasons - See All Alone posted 20Feb). Got some good advice that might be more relevent to your situation.
Some schools have an initiative to counter this using a "friends waiting area" in the playground. Older children are designated the resposibility for ensureing that their younger peers are looked after during playtimes. If a child goes and waits in this area, one of the older kids goes over and finds a play buddy for them. It might be worth suggesting a similar system to your young lady's teacher or head-teacher.
Hope this helps and good luck..
Matt

Thanks for your advice and tips..it's just great to know that this is not uncommon.
Thanks again ...REALLY APPRECIATE ALL YOUR COMMENTS