Helpful back to school hints for the younger child.

I have talked about when Chelsea was older and the return to High School, however we as a family have been dealing with her anxiety for many years. The return to school has now happened many times, and it has always been a challenge. When she was in Elementary School, we had many issues with this, and I have had many emails and messages from parents who have younger children so I thought that I would write a post with things that helped us during the Elementary back to school days.

Back to school anxiety

There are a lot of factors with younger children to remember when they are either returning to school or going for the first time – the separation from you and their home is a big thing and can be very unsettling. I remember all too well how hard it was dropping Chelsea off at Kindergarten, even up to Grade 2. A big worry for Chelsea was “what if something bad happened to us while at school?” as well as the usual things like

· Who will be my teacher and will I like them

· Who will be in my class will I make friends – will they like ME

· Who will I sit with in class or at lunchtime

· Who will I play within the playground

And for those returning to school

· Will, I remember anything!!!

Of course, a lot of what the last blog post was written about is the same for any age child and family, getting back into the routine, sleep, school supplies etc. Anxiety doesn’t take summer holidays

Getting your child into a good sleep cycle will ultimately help in so many ways. Over the summer going to bed early so they can be awake early isn’t as important but for school, it kind of is, so one helpful thing we often did during any holiday was the 15 min trick. Its really quite simple for example if over the summer your child was going to bed lets say 10pm and the usual bedtime is 8 or 9pm…. (all depending on ages of your child) now get them to go to bed at 9.45pm for the next 2 nights then 9.30 till you get to the usual bedtime for school nights. The same applies to morning time, waking them up 15mins earlier!!!!

· During the week before school returns take a trip there, maybe arrange to meet a few friends in the playground and then as a group walk around the school grounds. We use to peer into windows if the blinds were open to see if the teachers had started getting the classrooms ready.

· Often the week before teachers were in the classes prepping so I would phone the school and ask if we could quickly meet with the teacher. A good way to help with nerves before the big day. If it is a new school often one thing that will be a BIG worry for your child is “where is the bathroom” so a little tour around to find these things out so they are not embarrassed or worried about asking is important.

· Do dry school run mornings, just to get into the swing of things. It’s a good way to finalize a “plan.”

MENTAL HEALTH