Beating the Back-To-School Worries

When the summer ends, some kids get excited about transitioning back to their school year routines, while children who struggle with anxiety start to face their worries about school again. Here are a few tips that you can do at home to help your child face his or her fears about the start of another year.

1. Help your child focus on the positives. Sometimes with a new event we tend to focus on the negative changes instead of the parts of the change that are positive. Instead of allowing your child to focus on negatives like how their best friend isn’t in their class, or how they don’t like their new classroom as much, helping your child focus thoughts on the positive aspects of the new year could be a helpful way to empower them to face a new challenge. You could do this verbally, or even write a gratitude list to help them visualize the things that they’re excited about at school.
2. Teach your child to relax. Whether your child is nervous about new social settings or about academic challenges, teaching your child relaxation strategies such as deep breathing or stretching exercises is a key way to help them release anxiety from their body.
3. Talk it out. At the end of the school day, ask your child what the high and low of the day was. Let them process with you, validate the way they feel, and help them brainstorm solutions for the lows if needed!

Pray about it together. This could be a great addition to the bedtime routine. Praying about the things they’re worried about together, and then setting them aside is a great way to acknowledge the worries, but also equip your child to deal with them in a healthy way.