This constriction in numbers can actually mean more resources for the child in that the child will more likely trust these friends with what is innermost in their heart. This means that the child will less likely shield others from understanding if there is a problem or difficulty in their life. A parent can encourage rotation of the smaller number of friends to prevent overdependence upon one child. A parent can rotate the list of children with whom the child is comfortable by having sleepovers, invitations to dinner outings or movies to a variety of the child's core of relationships. To aid transition issues, meaning issues which are problems with adjusting to different settings or acclimating to new tasks, the parent can encourage the child to create lists of things to accomplish or to approach a new problem with a list of what is already known before attempting to tackle it.
Some children are visual learners.
If your child does not seem to enjoy list writing, encourage them instead to draw a picture of each item rather than looking at crossing off words. Teachers often cooperate in this exercise, as many write on the chalkboard the adenda for the day. Similarly, parents can facilitate good after- school habits by listing on the refrigerator or posterboard what tasks are expected of the child before dinner. Do not forget to list items such as play, and other enjoyable tasks, so that the child does not equate list making with only those tasks he does not like. Separation anxiety can be upsetting for parents.