Reassurance please! Normal behaviour for a 3.5 yr old?

[jakeandbensmummy]

Hi everyone. I am just looking for a bit of reassurance about my Ds1's behaviour. He is generally a good little chap, responds well to praise and rewards and (usually!) does as he is told. However. I am getting a bit concerned about his apparent lack of self control in lots of different situations. For example: at toddler group he often refuses to join in the singing and races off shouting at the top of his voice or making silly words and rhymes up. He does the same thing at pre-school (where he is also often quiet and withdrawn I'm told). He will sometimes run up to his friends or brother and shout in their face or has, occasionally, put his hands around their throats or pretended to hit them. He leaps about a lot, shouts, makes up nonsense songs, jumps about on sofas etc. I know he is quite a physical little boy but I am worried that he is starting school next September and may not have mastered the simple convention of sitting and listening by then!
I'm sure someone will tell me that this is all quite normal (at least I hope they will!) but I'm not sure what is and isn't 'normal' at this age.
I think academically he's ok, he can just about write his own name, loves books, can count things and say the alphabet...

[Orinoco]

Message withdrawn

[eastendgirl]

I think he is normal too.

[fridayschild]

My DS1 is 3.5 and does this too. Especially fond of the silly songs, try distracting yours by singing baa baa green sheep (whatever) next time he gets too highspirited / naughty. Worked like a charm the first couple of times with DS1

[jakeandbensmummy]

Ooooh! That's a good idea - he does love it when I join in but it sometimes makes him a bit worse!
I have noticed that his made up songs have exactly the same amount of syllables and the same rise and fall as the original version so it's all quite clever in a way I suppose!
Nice to have a little bit of gentle, friendly reassurance from other mums though, thank you!