Back-to-school time is filled with supplies shopping, new clothes buying, and open houses. However, other things can also crowd back-to-school festivities for children. Anxiety over returning to school after being away all summer may cause noticeable changes in your child as the days wind down to the return to the fall semester. Rather than dismiss your child’s anxiety as back-to-school jitters, you can better prepare them for the transition by acknowledging their anxiety and easing their fears.
What Triggers Anxiety
Children suffer from similar anxiety triggers as adults do. After all, adults were once children too. Returning to school presents many stressors that children have to think about as they count down the days. Brillia for children reviews suggests that depending on their general temperament, most children will gloss over the less savory parts of returning to school in favor of the excitement of seeing their friends and old teachers. For children who may be entering a new school or have spent most of the last few years online, meeting people in person and doing school again can be overwhelming.
Preparing for the Transition
To better prepare children for the transition back to school, try Brillia for kids and identify their specific stressors. If they have trouble communicating their needs to you, it may be fruitful to give them options to choose from. Be prepared for your child to say something that may not make sense to you. You may get a response like, I am afraid my sandwich won’t taste good at lunch. If your child is unfamiliar with vocalizing social stressors, critical evaluation of their lunch may be a more comfortable target. Continue to try and ease their anxiety by simply addressing general fears that all children experience returning to school.
How To Ease Anxiety
You can ease your child’s anxiety from school in several ways. Routinely acknowledge that returning to school can be stressful.
- Attending an open house and meeting the teacher is a great first impression of the school and how the building looks.
- Be sure to help them find the bathrooms and where the cafeteria is located.
- Note how to get to the office and the counselor’s room if they have an emergency. Children feel safer and more secure knowing they can quickly contact you if need be.
- If you can, run through their schedule of classes by visiting each room and going a couple of different routes to get there. If your child is in younger grades, travel to particular areas and the library, so they know the way.
- Before you end your visit, practice entering the building from a car and bus and where to go once you get inside. Do the same for dismissal procedures.
Remind your student that despite not being able to control other students or teachers, they know a lot about how their school day works already, and being patient and kind goes a long way after that. Prepare your child for the new school year by familiarizing them with new places and procedures to avoid feeling stressed.
