Starting dreads on a 7 year old

I have a 7 year old daughter who has been asking for dreads and I've finally decided to let her do it. I don't have them, but her friends mom does so she knows that she's asking for (I almost did it a few times over the years but with super thin hair I've always been afraid they'd look bad on me). She is a brilliant child with a free spirit and likes what she likes regardless of what anyone else thinks. I think they'll suit her personality and help control (probably the wrong word) her wild hair. About her hair, it is very unmanagable fine, frizzy hair with a loose curl down to the waistband of her jeans that knots up so much I keep it braided almost 24/7... even then it manages to get tangled.

I have done a lot of research and plan to start them doing twist and rip using no wax or anything and washing with Trader Joe's tea tree tingle shampoo (on the list that ragingrootstudio has online). I have a few questions though.

1.With her length about how long would you guess it will take to start them (keep in mind I've never done it before)?

2.If she can't sit still for that long, is it possible to spread it out over a few days? If I spread it out, I was planning to start at the bottom of her head and work my way up is that fine?

3. Because she is in public school, I need them to look at least somewhat like dreadlocks and not just a mass of unbrushed hair, is there anything I can do that can help with this without damaging her hair (or will it be just fine only doing t&r). 

4. I've read about white people with dreads being harassed over cultural appropriation, does this really happen often? In town, I know it won't be a problem (we are a teeny tiny pop 500 rural town and those with dreads are accepted) but once a month we go to the city, will it be an issue there?

5. Is there anything you think I may not have considered?

1 don't trust raging roots 2 dreadlockshampoo.com is the best!

1 her hairs pect for naturally dreading! meet gilly https://www.dreadlockssite.com/gillys-mum/gallery/all/p=1

note gillybeans dreads are only 1 month old here they dreaded this beautifully in just a handful of weeks

gilly started dreading naturally at 6 years old or was it 5  around here shes a star!

2 if she cant sit still let them dread themselves! but if you insist on tnr  yes  you can do 1 a day even

3 that's false they do not need to look any particular way  no you cant make them look neater without damage and they will get messier before getting neater. natural dreadings more gradual so oftens more easily accepted as its not a sudden change. however  theres numerous ways to justify dreas as being spiritual or religios 'any sincerely held belief' wich can simply mean that she believes  dreads are the natural state of hair and she wants too live a natural lifestyle.

4 in all my life having dreads, knowing people like the move group, working in all black hoods, working with rival gangs from all black schools, I had never once had anyone with real dreads ever say anything about my dreads..not 1 and i had thousands of true rastas as friends straight out of jaimaica

nor had i had 1 black person on the streets or anywhere ever say anything  except how much they loved my dreads.

my best friends white with dreads and through dj'ing at a Ugandan bar most of her friends are straight out of Africa..not 1 ever said a thing

you know who does say things a lot? locticians! racists who themselves are appropriating dread culture with fake salon 'locs' who are so ashamed of dread culture they won't even call them dreads or locks.

all cultures, not just black culture wore dreads since beginning of time.

this is culture

this is cultural appropriation

his is culture  dread culture

this is dread culture

this is dread culture

dread culture

appropriation is the imitation of a culture

the culture  is about  spirituality about  living a pure life

not about commercializing and imitating a hairstyle

these are cultural appropriation

see the diference? 1 is so afraid of even being associated with the culture they are appropriating they spend 20 thousand dollars  and  even change the name of the style from locks to locs

they want the style but to be completely separate from the culture

its only those who are really guilty of appropriating culture that ever bring it up, and they are racist.. and very very few

in fact,i have only encountered it online never in person

in person i always get nothing but respect from others of all races.

5 only thing you haven't considered is letting them dread naturally

because kids will not like about 16 hours of hair pulling  i would only recommend natural for kids

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
updated by @soaring-eagle: 02/03/17 02:33:24PM

ps trader joes teatree tingle is a borderline safe  shampoo not recommended unless theres no other available choices

its one of the only safe-ish  available shampoo over the counter

but certainly nobodies 1st choice

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Thanks for replying. I checked out dreadlockshampoo.com, should I order their liquid shampoo for new dreads or just buy the bar? Gilly's dreads look great, I'll do some research on doing it natural, as fast as her hair knots t&r might be a waste of time. How do I keep natural dreads from being 1 big clump, just separate them a bit as they form with my fingers?

liquid for young dreads bars when mature.. though if her hairs dreading too fast and outta control u might want 1 of each  and switch back and forth the liquid makes it dread real fast meaning more separting early on  if your separating too often use the bars to slow the dreading a bit

seloarate by pulling dreads away from eachother

once they start forming sections and clumping together  separate any that form too big (over 1 inch at the roots) or when 2 dreads try to '"congo" which means growing together at the roots trying to merge into 1 dread

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

although I do agree with you about the cultural approriation stuff, i doont think its very nice to call them racicts and stuff. they're probs just people who wanna look "cool" within their group of friends and dont rly understand what dreads are about (in my opinion). also, about ur kid, if she rly thinks she wants dreads and it would fit her personality etc. i would suggest freeform, becuz if she's 5 years in, and wants them truly natural she has to start all over again...

i understand your point but you may not ever have dealt with these people..they truly are racist

like 1 insisted 'dominant genes' meant they were superior beings

and 'whitey' and 'cracker' and 'white devil' are thrown around alot

at the very same time 99% of acfrican decent defend the rights of all people to wear dreads.

i had 1 guy in 1 sentence say 'white people  represent everything that's wrong in the world' then the next "i cant be racist, i'm black you ignorant cracker'

you will see what i mean when you deal with them directly

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

well yeah, thats not very nice :D, but you said urself (i hope i remembered correctly) that u had only people like those online, and that's the illusion that the internet provides i think; thinking that there are a lot more people of a certain group then there rly are... whether u agree with them or not. take this site for example, it provides discussion about dreadlocks, but when u look at the real world there are very few people with dreadlocks compared with other hairstyles, yet we can still talk and feel like a community while its rly just typing to people from across the planet u'll probs never see....

yea well i did say that i have never run into this issue except online ..mostly on youtube but  theres a good number of locticians who behaved the same

no matter how many you come in contact with, online or in real life its a tiny fraction of those who give you nothing but praise

like 1 in 10,000 or less

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

I researched letting them dread naturally and explained it to AB yesterday. We spoke about it yesterday and today and she felt like I was going back on my promise to let her have them by not actively doing her hair. Since this is her decision in the first place I decided to let her take the lead (mostly). This evening I started what I guess I would call a gentle approach to t&r. I started trying to section her hair but the tiny fly aways kept getting caught and pulled so I gave up on that and did my best to section as I went. I left the hair pretty loose near her head and at the ends because they didn't tangle easily and I didn't want to force anything. I also made the sections on the small side (I think I did anyway) to help them dry more quickly (she lives at the pool all summer). 

We are taking a break and before I start again and get toward the top of the hair that people will see more, I wanted to get some input. Do my sections look too big/small? Am I on the right track or do I need to make some changes. I attached a before pic, a pic of how much I've done so far and a close up, because I think the 1st progress pic is a bit deceptive (frizz wise) in my opinion.

Thanks so much for all of your help so far!