Four Simple Steps to Ease Back to School Jitters
By: Dr. Pratiksha Rigley, Franchise Owner, Primrose School of Frisco West, Park Cities, Plano at Preston Meadow, and Prestonwood
The first day of school is quickly approaching, which makes parents and young children alike nervous. On top of that, young children thrive on predictable routines, which can make shifting from the often less structured activities of summertime to the busy school year schedule tricky. However, with a little preparation, you can help turn some of your family’s back to school anxiety into excitement.
Here are four tips to ease your child’s back to school jitters:
- Get back into a routine. Because children thrive on consistency, start easing into school-year habits – including morning and nighttime rituals, and consistent mealtimes and bedtimes – before the first day.
- Read, read and read some more. Anticipation of the unknown tends to make children anxious about school. Read books about starting school, like “The Kissing Hand” by Audrey Penn, to give your child an opportunity to imagine his or her experience beforehand and express any fears.
- Prepare your child for longer periods of separation. Before school starts, have your child stay with a grandparent or a babysitter for increasingly longer periods of time. This teaches your little one to trust that you will always return.
- Tour the school together. Visit the school and meet the teacher so the places and faces your child will see on the first day feel familiar and safe. Talk about what you saw and how fun the school looked. Refer to the teacher by name to help your child think of him or her as someone you know and trust.
For more helpful parenting tips and information, visit our blog at www.PrimroseSchools.com/blog and sign up for the Pointers for Parents newsletter.
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