For many children, the back-to-school season is filled with anxiety. This may be due to being surrounded by unknown people or having to adjust to a new and slightly unpredictable schedule. Other children may experience anxiety due to the pressures of school work, while even others may feel anxiety at the thought of being separated from their parents after two months at home. While these anxieties existed a few years ago, COVID has been the reason for increased anxiety in many children. All children have spent a large portion of their developmental years being surrounded by minimal people, having less of a schedule, and particularly young children have not yet fully adjusted to being away from their parents.
As a Parent, What Can You Do To Help?
While the back-to-school season is a time of heightened anxiety, there are many small steps that parents can take in order to ensure that your children have a smoother transition back into a school environment.
Create a daily schedule: Assist your children in adjusting to a daily school schedule through creating a daily home "schedule". This may include scheduled meals, snacks, outdoor play time, naps, etc,. Doing so will help your child "relearn" what to expect when they go into their first day back at school.
Create a good bedtime routine: Help your child re-establish a bedtime routine that ensures they are getting enough sleep. Having a well rested body is very important for reducing anxiety and improving mood.
Set up play-dates with friends: Help your children stay in contact with friends from school (or if they are starting school for the first time, get to know other parents and set up playdates for your child to make friends). This ensures that your child has a sense of familiarity when entering a new classroom with new people.
Introduce your child to their teacher: If you know that your child struggles to adjust to new people and new environments, set up an in-person or zoom meeting with their teacher to increase familiarity and decrease drop-off anxiety on the first day.
Create an action plan: talk privately with your child's teacher about their needs and create an action plan for how you can both work together to support your child.
The good news is, children are generally more adaptable to new situations than adults are! So, even if your child does have a difficult first day back at school, they will soon adjust and their new environment will become familiar before too long.