By Eloke-Young Splendor
“If you are nervous about school starting, then your child is certainly going to be nervous about school starting,” Edward Christopherson, a Kansas City-based child psychologist said this concerning back to school moms.
When summer breeze says goodbye and school resumption knocks the door it is normal for anxiety to arise both for mothers and their children too but never mind, take a chill pill and seek ways to fix it. A lot of things can present themselves as sources of worry during the back to the school transition period. It is important mothers realize what to expect during this period of transition from summer to school and these expectations can apply to different situations such as, handling the fears of moving to a new school, handling the feeling of being in a new grade or class, handling the scolding from last grade failure, handling a child who had a fun-filled holiday and handling the fear of first time in school. Below are ways to tackle these circumstances, thereby creating an unimaginable back to a school fever pitch.
1. Handling the fears of moving to a new school : Jane might be excited about getting a new school Uniform, being in a new school environment and going home in a new and different school bus but be very sure that underneath this excitement is a loud ranting fear ready for expression in the next few weeks. Now that she is moving to a new school mom should always be willing to answer her questions about her new school and incite her with interesting facts about her school such as the library features, playground facilities, cafeteria facilities, school bus comfort and even extracurricular activities listed in the school calendar for the academic year. She should also make conscious efforts to visit the new school with her daughter, several times before resumption. This can easily translate the fears to absolute confidence as well as create a positive enthusiasm.
2. Handling the Feeling of Being in a new grade or class: A new grade implies more responsibilities, assignments and higher expectations which kids often find stressful during the first few weeks of resumption. When mothers learn to recognize this, the ability to eliminate stress is quite predictable. A great way to tackle the overwhelming feeling of uncertainty which may be associated with this period is engaging your kids in summer coaching classes. This gives her the privilege of being tutored on a personal level which is more interactive and less competitive. Summer coaching classes will help the child familiarize with the upcoming lessons as well as create the right zeal needed for the new school session.
3. Handling the scolding from last grade failure: You might think that visiting the cinema and other kiddies fun places during summer will make your little 10-year-old loose memory of the distention she had to undergo for flopping her arithmetic exams last academic session, but that’s a big lie. The transition from summer to school might be the child’s worst nightmare if she has not dealt properly with the failures of the previous session. Learn to spend time discussing the achievements and failures of the previous session; allow her to express her fears or even make efforts to spot out the fears from her body language and words. Then help her build confidence for the new session. Every kid likes to know that mum believes in them so let her know you believe she is going to bring in the distinctions this term. Give her the good luck charm which is your approval of success as this can ignite the back to a school fever pitch.
4. Handling a child who had a fun-filled summer: Even after the summer your child might still be basking in the euphoria of the fun-filled moments experienced during summer, and this might hinder the zeal and productivity required for the forthcoming academic session. Helping your child get back to her daily routine is a great way to whine down the fun-filled summer. You can begin this by discussing with your child the new routines for the upcoming session at least two weeks to supposed resumption date. You could also go back to the usual early wake-up timing (maybe 5 am) for school session.
5. Handling the fear of first time in school: The deafening sound of tears and screams emerging from school buses and school environment at the beginning of a New Year and session can be so deafening. Since it’s a new session and so many kids will find themselves within the four walls of a learning institution for the first time it’s not absurd for children to raise sounds of displeasure on their first day of school. Visiting the school with your kid before resumption can help her get familiar with the school environment. Kindergarten’s first drop off in school can be very tough for both the kid and her mom as well but she has to find smart ways to deal with it. Be strong enough to say goodbye without looking back as well as avoid long goodbye routines. Trusting your kids’ teacher will be very helpful in handling this fear.
Of course, here’s a new school year and you are about to begin another journey of nurturing your child’s learning experience, giving her an extraordinary back to school experience will create the big path of success needed for the year. For children, learning becomes more impactful when it is spiced up with fun, not fears. Finding creative measures to ignite the back to a school fever pitch in your child will make learning easier and more fun for them, as well as help you ensure you are familiar with her school life.
